Featured December, 2022
A former research scientist at Caltech in Pasadena, CA, Vince Farnsworth worked in the biological sciences inventing and developing analytical instrumentation, and he holds “20 or so” patents. He was active as a hobbyist with the highly respected Ventura County Astronomical Society, where he learned to photograph deep space images. It is his love of photography—especially the types of otherworldly, deep space imagery revealed through the use of telescopes—that has turned into a second career.
Since retiring to Montrose in 2006 with wife Maggie, Vince has become a well-known, respected, and sought-after landscape photographer and astrophotographer of Western night skies. Many consider him to be the premier photographer of the internationally renowned dark skies of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. He’s the author of Getting Up Early: The Visitor’s Guide to Photographing the Black Canyon. He even discovered a natural phenomenon visible during early mornings in spring and summer at the Black Canyon in April 2012. He and park rangers named his find Dragon’s Tongue.
It’s the balance between the artistic and the technical, the creative and the scientific, that drew him to the field—and that also led to him invent a new piece of equipment in 2011: the BluPano. Manufactured in Montrose and made of blue anodized aluminum, it’s an adapter used in panoramic photography to correct parallax error, the distortion that occurs when photographing images that include objects both near and far, and is used in night sky photography, when elements of a landscape are included. Night sky photographers the world over owe Vince a debt of gratitude.
Since settling in Montrose, he and Maggie have opened several photography-related businesses. Vince’s photos hang in many local businesses, including the Pavilion lobby—check them out! The couple currently owns two photo art galleries—one located at Montrose Center For Arts (11 S Park Ave)—where he enjoys meeting lots of interesting people from all over the world.
Vince got his start in music playing the clarinet in middle and high school. In college, he taught himself to play guitar. It wasn’t until 20 years ago that he started taking violin lessons. He has been playing with various groups for the past 19 years, and joined the VSA Orchestra in 2013. “I love classical music, and being a part of a performing symphony orchestra is definitely a highlight of my life!”