I had a vision for an image like this for a few years but had a lot of learning to do before I could achieve it, the conditions also needed to be perfect. The weather, star alignment, and the location.
Standing under the night sky for long periods of time gets me thinking, thinking about existential questions. Like if there's life out there? How do we comprehend the incomprehensible vastness and scale of the universe? I never have the answers but it's nice knowing I'm capturing photons that have travelled lightyears to reach my camera sensor.
I shot the mountain at blue hour after the sun had set, this allowed me to get a clearer image and more detail in the mountain.
I then waited for darkness and tracked the Orion Constellation (also known as The Hunter) across the sky taking multiple exposures, Orion’s orientation and position in the summer sky aligned perfectly with this mountain.
This was shot on New Year's Eve in the Canterbury High Country, New Zealand. Near Lake Ohau.
This image was shortlisted for the Royal Museums Greenwich Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.
I'm so pleased that just recently an article was published in the “BBC Sky at Night Magazine” alongside an in-depth and technical article I wrote on how this image was created.
![image showing I captured my dream shot after years of trying. The Orion complex over a New Zealand mountain [OC]](45c08917-d712-52da-b5b6-86172bc2f88a.jpg)
paul_wilson_images on December 2nd, 2021 at 03:19 UTC »
I had a vision for an image like this for a few years but had a lot of learning to do before I could achieve it, the conditions also needed to be perfect. The weather, star alignment, and the location.
Standing under the night sky for long periods of time gets me thinking, thinking about existential questions. Like if there's life out there? How do we comprehend the incomprehensible vastness and scale of the universe? I never have the answers but it's nice knowing I'm capturing photons that have travelled lightyears to reach my camera sensor.
I shot the mountain at blue hour after the sun had set, this allowed me to get a clearer image and more detail in the mountain.
I then waited for darkness and tracked the Orion Constellation (also known as The Hunter) across the sky taking multiple exposures, Orion’s orientation and position in the summer sky aligned perfectly with this mountain.
This was shot on New Year's Eve in the Canterbury High Country, New Zealand. Near Lake Ohau.
This image was shortlisted for the Royal Museums Greenwich Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.
I'm so pleased that just recently an article was published in the “BBC Sky at Night Magazine” alongside an in-depth and technical article I wrote on how this image was created.
My social media / NFT links can be found here or in my profile Thanks for viewing!
mygallows on December 2nd, 2021 at 03:20 UTC »
That’s probably the most amazing photo I’ve ever seen, god I love space.
thinkdeep on December 2nd, 2021 at 05:43 UTC »
It is weird seeing Orion in this configuration.