This hobby has provided me with much appreciation in the last 10 years, for which, of course, I am grateful. However, I have come to see the value of these awards – or more appropriately, the value of competitions and accolades in general – in a different light. As of today, I find the excitement of working under the sky and the thrill of developing new photos more rewarding than any recognition for my results. If I still had to single out one of them, that would be, without doubt, my earliest international success: in 2012, I was awarded the Best Newcomer prize by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, at the Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest. I had applied for this prestigious competition with my simple equipment and with the nothing-to-lose attitude of an underdog. Never had a Hungarian astrophotographer been rewarded at this competition before, so I was following the grand prize-giving ceremony like an outsider enthusiast – online, from home. Then suddenly I heard my name, and my photo being praised… It was as if the world was turning around me; at once, I became a member of a club I had never imagined joining. It meant a lot to me that the evaluation highlighted the achievement of the artistic quality in spite of the simple equipment. To me, in astrophotography, the value of creating photos is also important – in addition to the scientific work –, so this was not just a huge honor but a confirming feedback, which determined the basic values of my later work as well.