This view shows Rick's home-made astro camera at the focus of his telescope.  It is built from an old Graflex medium format film holder from the 1950s.  Rick machined a plate that attaches the film holder to an accessory called a Giant Easy Guider, which attaches it to the telescope.  He can also substitute a 4x5 sheet film holder for the medium format film holder.  During long exposure astrophotos, the pointing of the telescope must be corrected to very accurately follow the object across the sky.  For this job, Rick uses an autoguider, visible at the top.

There is no shutter on this camera.  To start an exposure, Rick must cover the front of the telescope, then pull out the dark slide, visible on the right side of the film holder, then uncover the telescope.  He prints the resulting pictures in his darkroom on a photographic paper called Ilfochrome.