@astroChris Probably not gonna be hard (newbie here tho) 🙂

Welcome!

@astroChris
I only follow this account, but maybe it will lead you to other accounts?

https://botsin.space/@APoD/112919556344878588

@astroChris Welcome!

Unfortunately I don't know any astrophotographers specifically but two photography accounts I follow are:

@sharongascoigne is a great account to follow. She runs a business selling her husband's photos from a bricks and mortar on the Isle of wight.

And @Glastomichelle is a Glastonbury based landscape photographer who does beautiful daily photos from the Tor.

@astroChris I’d love to boost this (I have at least one mutual you could connect with) but I don’t interact with content with no alt text. I’m only replying because I know the bird site doesn’t have the same culture.

Would you please add it?

@astroChris

Welcome Chris! There are lots of very interesting people here. You are responsible for finding your folks.

What I do is when someone posts something interesting, I tap on their avatar image left of their screen name at the top of their post and look at their profile page. If they seem like interesting people, I follow them. If someone turns out to be not who you thought, you can unfollow them later. Follow lots of people starting out.

@astroChris

You should follow @iangriffin for some fascinating NZ-based astro-photography.

@astroChris

@2ndStar

@astroChris

🔭🪐✨
@thomasfuchs

@astroChris
I prefer to follow subject matter, i.e. hashtags rather than individual accounts, which is how your post enlivened my timeline.

Following hashtags which you post with and/or which you have listed in your profile as interests is probably a good start.

@astroChris astrodon.social main page is a good place to start your search...

edit: looking at it now it's not what it used to be

@astroChris Welcome! Besides following hashtags like others have recommended, you can also check out the astrodon.social local timeline:

https://astrodon.social/public/local

And the search function does work on bios, so searching for "astronomer" or "astrophotographer" will return quite a few hits.

@astroChris

@dlr_next 🌠

@astroChris Welcome to ‘here’. Every new person makes this place more stimulating and interesting!

Looking forward to your work, as it is within my personal ‘danger zone’…

(PS: “Boosting is the algorithm” here. So boost freely!)

https://mastodon.social/@verbeeld/112897240555435704

@astroChris

I got your #Space memes covered here: @space

@paco

@astroChris

If you haven’t checked out @FediTips , it’s a great place to start.

There’s no algorithm to feed you here, so you need to put in a bit of effort at the start to kick things off.

As others have mentioned, you can search on people and their main hashtags. Following hashtags and people related to your interests is the best way to start filling your feed with things of interest to you.

Using hashtags enthusiastically will help people find you.

A couple of other cultural points. Please use Alt-text on every image you post if possible. This is a platform with a high proportion of users for whom accessibility matters, and there is solidarity on this point. Many users won’t interact with you or boost posts with images without Alt-text. If you’re not yet ready to describe your images, there is a hashtag Alt4Me, that invites others to describe your images.

Last, you’ve chosen a large instance that brings with it some of the challenges of a large platform like the one you have just fled. As you go forward, you might wish to migrate to another instance that aligns more closely with your personal stance on moderation.

@astroChris Welcome!

As others have said, follow the astrophotography hashtag for some time. You'll see who posts there.

Also, do not forget to boost other's content, people are "the algorithm" here.