by tte-77
Milky Way over the Balanced Rock in Arches National Park, Utah. Image Credit: Bret Webster, Barcroft USA
I was doing my regular catch-up on astronomy related photography today and cannot believe I missed this National Geographic Photo of the Day from 19 April this year. I showed the amazing photograph (above) to my partner who it turns out had already seen it (!?). Sitting down at my desk wondering if she should be posting to this blog instead an instant message popped up on my computer screen. The message pointed me here - to a collection of simply breathtaking photographs taken by the same amateur photographer, Bret Webster from Utah, USA.
The photographs show the Milky Way in all its awe-inspiring glory.
Created by this up-and-coming photographer, they are all the more remarkable because he has been taking photographs for only three years!
Using the night skies of the national parks in his home state of Utah as the canvas, Bret Webster has created stunning photographs that really highlight the insignificance of Earth in the cosmos.
The photograph (above) – called Balanced – appeared in National Geographic magazine of April this year and though his shots of our galaxy look more like something captured by sophisticated equipment they were taken using a simple digital camera and a tripod!
Working with a Canon 5D MK2 on a tripod pointed at the sky and using a 30-60 second exposure, the photographs rely heavily on the quality of the camera equipment.
As equipment has become so advanced it is clearly possible to take such shots from the surface of the planet and use the camera sensors to capture thousands of stars at a time!
Heres a couple more to share for good measure.
The Milky Way over a collection of hoodoos in Goblin Valley National Park in Green River, Utah. Image Credit: Bret Webster, Barcroft USA
Ancient barrier canyon style pictographs with the Milky Way to the right. Image Credit: Bret Webster, Barcroft USA
… calling all amateur astronomers and photographers!
See the Milky Way series at Bret Webster Images here, he also has a Facebook page here.
Follow us on Twitter: @sky_watching
Filed under: Galaxy, Image gallery, Night sky, tte-77 Tagged: 2011, amateur, April, astronomical, Astronomy, astrophotographers, astrophotography, best, bret webster, Canon, clouds, competition, cosmological, EOS, events, galaxy, images, inspirational, landscape, milky way, NASA, National Geographic, Night sky, photography, Picture of the Day, postaweek2011, prize, skywatching, space, star, telescope, the, tripod
