Extraordinary photograph of the Cliffs of Moher

the culture of deference

Photograher Damien Stenson went down to the Cliffs of Moher on September 21st to capture the milky way setting over the cliffs.

http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/news/recommended/extraordinary-photograph-of-the-cliffs-of-moher/





I have been looking for a supersize copy of that picture, and found 2 more by the same guy.



METEORS

Simply stunning.

Kersh

Absolutely fantastic pic.

ScrubsfanChris

Pictures like that remind me just how bad the skies are near the city (Cork)

Will have to travel up the county some clear night

I keep coming back to look at it. Breathtaking. Ive saved it for screensaver now

the culture of deference

Jake1 wrote: »

I keep coming back to look at it. Breathtaking. Ive saved it for screensaver now

Has anyone found a high res version yet?

MagicMarker

ScrubsfanChris wrote: »

Pictures like that remind me just how bad the skies are near the city (Cork)

Will have to travel up the county some clear night

You're not going to see those skies with the naked eye, that's for sure.

backboiler

How does that 3rd pic work? I mean, the building's not moving so if he uses tracking motors, it'll leave a trail; if he doesn't, he'll get star trails. Must be some very high sensitivity set-up.
I am suitably impressed.

kensutz

the culture of deference wrote: »

Has anyone found a high res version yet?

There's a reason why there isn't a high res available. It's to stop people lifting it.

Zzippy

the culture of deference wrote: »

Photograher Damien Stenson went down to the Cliffs of Moher on September 21st to capture the milky way setting over the cliffs.





I have been looking for a supersize copy of that picture, and found 2 more by the same guy.



METEORS

Damien's a super photog, doing a lot of amazing night time stuff, check him out on facebook for a lot more of his work. Also check out Conor Ledwith Photography on facebook, another super night time tog. These guys must be vampires, they never seem to sleep!

the culture of deference wrote: »

Has anyone found a high res version yet?

I think Damien is a pro photographer, as such he gets paid by selling his work. He's hardly likely to give it away for free by uploading hi-res shots online.

backboiler wrote: »

How does that 3rd pic work? I mean, the building's not moving so if he uses tracking motors, it'll leave a trail; if he doesn't, he'll get star trails. Must be some very high sensitivity set-up.
I am suitably impressed.

I'm no expert but sometimes these guys post their settings when they upload a photo to facebook - long exposure times where the shutter is open for 30 seconds or more - short enough to avoid star trails but long enough to capture as much ambient light as possible. High ISO too, and light painting of objects in the foreground (such as the abbey) with LED torches.

the culture of deference

Zzippy wrote: »

I think Damien is a pro photographer, as such he gets paid by selling his work. He's hardly likely to give it away for free by uploading hi-res shots online.

I will defo get in touch with him, and buy a nice copy.

ZeRoY

backboiler wrote: »

How does that 3rd pic work? I mean, the building's not moving so if he uses tracking motors, it'll leave a trail; if he doesn't, he'll get star trails. Must be some very high sensitivity set-up.
I am suitably impressed.

A composite perhaps? With the Infinity focus for Stars anything in the foreground would be out of focus so usually those pics are a composite from multiple images.

mickmackey1

Although these pics are undeniably impressive, I can't help feeling they're just not real - products of imagination and technology but not a truthful reflection of the actual physical world...

ZeRoY

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Although these pics are undeniably impressive, I can't help feeling they're just not real - products of imagination and technology but not a truthful reflection of the actual physical world...

Well to an extend the pictures let us see what we cannot see with our own eyes, a bit surreal yes... :eek:

2 stroke

ZeRoY wrote: »

A composite perhaps? With the Infinity focus for Stars anything in the foreground would be out of focus so usually those pics are a composite from multiple images.

I don't agree, I tried some photos at the Rock of Cashel last year. They didn't turn out as planned, and some idiot had placed a huge amount of ugly scaffolding in the way. But it is quite easy to take similar photos. Iirc I was using 12 second exposure.

Tonight is completely overcast, I can't see one star, yet I can photograph stars using a long exposure. I can't focus pointing skywards, but if I set my focus on my shed wall at about 25 yards, then aim upwards, I can photograph points of light in the sky.

tuxy

2 stroke wrote: »

I don't agree, I tried some photos at the Rock of Cashel last year. They didn't turn out as planned, and some idiot had placed a huge amount of ugly scaffolding in the way.

The scaffolding is part of an on going effort to restore 850 year old frescos in Cormac’s Chapel. The whole area must be kept rain proof for the entire restoration. It takes years as it is slow painstaking work.
Why would they do such an idiotic thing.......

2 stroke

tuxy wrote: »

The scaffolding is part of an on going effort to restore 850 year old frescos in Cormac’s Chapel. The whole area must be kept rain proof for the entire restoration. It takes years as it is slow painstaking work.
Why would they do such an idiotic thing.......

It's an argument for a different forum but they could make some effort to camouflage the scaffolding seeing as its a semi-permanent structure.

the culture of deference

ZeRoY wrote: »

A composite perhaps? With the Infinity focus for Stars anything in the foreground would be out of focus so usually those pics are a composite from multiple images.

what do you mean?

toothfairy123

I follow these two guys on FB, their stuff is amazing! sleep all day - up all night!!

MeteoritesEire

they're not composites--just long exposures with light painting on foreground objects.Not that difficult to get these effects although to nail them spot on like these fellas do takes lots of skill and knowledge.Damian definitely sells his work, not sure about Conor but that third image has his signature.

On a sidenote, the meteors that Damian captured over the cliffs of Moher in that second pic helped astronomers to determine that the object travelled completely around the earth and went back out to space.Similar to the Grand Teton fireball of 1972

--LOS--

backboiler wrote: »

How does that 3rd pic work? I mean, the building's not moving so if he uses tracking motors, it'll leave a trail; if he doesn't, he'll get star trails. Must be some very high sensitivity set-up.
I am suitably impressed.

It can either be a compromise of star detail and building blurriness if you use a long exposure and a tracking mount so that the stars remain fixed and the building is only negligibly blurred, or it can simply be combining two different results in photoshop.

Stella Virgo

the culture of deference wrote: »

Photograher Damien Stenson went down to the Cliffs of Moher on September 21st to capture the milky way setting over the cliffs.

http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/news/recommended/extraordinary-photograph-of-the-cliffs-of-moher/





I have been looking for a supersize copy of that picture, and found 2 more by the same guy.



METEORS

Totally Fake....god bless image merging, photoshop,and HDR.;) but still very good "pictures"

Plug

Stella Virgo wrote: »

Totally Fake....god bless image merging, photoshop,and HDR.;) but still very good "pictures"

Whats fake about it?

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Incredible.

ZeRoY

Stella Virgo wrote: »

Totally Fake....god bless image merging, photoshop,and HDR.;) but still very good "pictures"

Certainly some color and lighting tweaking but having taken similar shots (not of that quality!) its totally do-able on one single frame. I had mistakenly thought this was composite also but knowing more on this type of shots I now know better

Popoutman

Very doable in a single frame. Decent fast wide lens, can take 30 sec exposure without star trailing. Depending on the camera used this may be enough to capture the information needed - no need for compositing or HDR.

It would be easier to get pretty pictures from careful stacking - True HDR is very rarely used in astrophotography as there aren't many objects that are bright enough to saturate before the detail comes through in the dim areas. Stacking and stretching are pseudo-HDR though.

Nice pics. I must try a few of these..

Thanks............. stunning even if composite.