Announcement WINNERS of Starryscape Dream 2020
Announcement WINNERS of Starryscape Dream 2020
Dear valued astrophotographers, amateurs, and judges,
Optolong - 2020 Wide Field Astrophotography Competition has already concluded the work for the present stage. The competition has received 447 entries from 36 different countries. After three rounds of judging, the final winners are announced with pride.
Winners are chosen by the judges’ strict selection: Yuri Beletsky, Vincent cheng, Mehmet Ergün, Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn, and Steed Yu.
The First Prize X1:
Sigma 40mm f1.4 plus Optolong L-Pro clip filter;
The Second Prize X2:
Sky Watcher mount plus Optolong L-Pro clip filter;
The Third Prize X3:
Panoramic head plus Optolong L-Pro clip filter;
The Popularity Award X5:
Optolong Clear Sky filter;
NOTE for the competition's note:
"The first, the second and the third prizes shall not be repeated by default. If the different works from a photographer win any of the first, second and third prizes, the higher prize shall be deemed as a valid prize;
The Top 5 popularity award and the first, the second and the third prizes are allowed to be shared;"
Then, let‘s enjoy these great works.
The 1st Prize-One winner
Number：315
Photographer: Štěpán Skalka
Country: Czech republic
Title: Lighthouse beneath a faraway lagoon
Equipment: Nikon d610 and Tokina 100mm 2.8 mk.1 T&T: Lagoon nebula with milkyway center, 29.7.2020 around 1 AM. Location and description: Photo was taken at Croatia, in Rt Kamenjak near Pula. I wanted to capture lighthouse Porer with lagoon nebula, so I waited there since sunset, got almost bitten to death by mosquitoes, but in the end moon had finally set and I everything came just as planned. EXIF and post-process: Sky consists of 100 frames @2s f2.8 iso800 stacked in SiriL Foreground is one 4minute exposure @f4 iso400 Photos first color balanced in Lr and exported for stacking. Then blended with foreground in Photoshop. Next steps were contrast adjustments, streching, color adjustments, star reduction and orton glow.
The 2nd Prize-Two winners
Number：380
Photographer: Sammax Chong
Country: Malaysia
Tittle: Vanishing starry night sky
Despite Bortle 2 skies, the bright streetlights blazed towards the sky obscuring our views of the heavens. Beautiful star light nights are becoming ever more distant as humans continue to rampantly illuminate every corner of the earth. If we continue to ignore the problems of light pollution, we will never get to stare in awe at the vastness and beauty of the universe and ponder its mysteries ever again. Light Pollution Levels - 2 Date - 2020-2-24 Time - 4.40 - 5.20 am Location - I-Yerweng , Betong Camera - Nikon D7200（mod）for Sky, Nikon 750 for Foreground Lens - Sigma Art 18-35 mm,Tamron 15-30mm Optolong Clear Sky Filter & Lee soft filter Tracking Mount - iOptron SkyGuider Pro Exposure Time - Sky 8 X 60s Panorama stitching + Stacking Foreground Tracker off 2 x 45s Panorama stitching + Stacking ISO - Sky 800 ,Foreground 200 Aperture - Sky f2.2, Foreground f3.5 Process - Sequator , Autopano Giga , Pixinsight ,PsLR, PsCC
Number：123
Photographer: 于海童
Country: China
Tittle:点亮彗星
器材：索尼A7R3, 85/1.4GM镜头 拍摄参数：ISO640, 5s, F1.4，多张拍摄和曝光合成 地点：甘肃酒泉 作品简述：少女在新智彗星下点亮微光，似乎照亮了这颗每隔六千年才会略过地球夜空的彗星。 后期：前景两张曝光合成，背景多张照片堆栈提高信噪比，两组景深合成。
The 3rd Prize-Three winners
Number：141
Photographer: Majo Chudý
Country: Slovakia
Tittle: Lavender
- Sony A7III + Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 - Slovakia 28.6.2020 - The photo is a panorama of 56 photos. Without mosquito attacks, it would be a very peaceful and romantic photo shoot. The photo was taken in Slovakia on June 28, 2020 - Pano of 56 photo 24mm Sky: 13s iso-6400 f/2.8 Landscape: 30s iso-8000 f/3.5
Number：416
Photographer: Lukáš Veselý
Country: Czech Republic
Tittle:Comet Neowise
Equipment used: Canon EOS R, Sigma 100-400 on 150 mm on equatorial mount Sky watcher Staradventurer Sky: f5,6, ISO 1600, 25 sec 21x Foreground: f5,6, ISO 1600, 50 sec The picture shows comet C3 / 2020 Neowise together with a lone tree on top of a hill in a field in the Křivoklátsko Protected Landscape Area in Czech Republic. Photographed during the light of the receding Moon at a focus of 150 mm. The sky was taken on an equatorial mount and immediately afterwards the foreground was taken. The position of the objects relative to each other as well as the focal length were exact as it was in real. I was surprised by the amount of detail despite the moonlight. The clean air after the crossing of the atmospheric front and the location, which is excellent for star observation, played a big role here. Images were combined together with a median filter for noise reduction. Then merged together
Number：117
Photographer: Lorenzo Ranieri Tenti
Country: ITALY
Tittle: ANCIENT LIGHT
Equipment used: Camera: astromodified Sony a7S and Sony a7II(foreground); lens: Sony-Zeiss 16-35mm f4, astro-tracker MiniTrack Lx2 & tripod. EXIF: The MW is a panoramic mosaic taken at 35mm tracked, 121 sec; f4.5; iso 2500; foreground taken at 16mm, 30 secs, f5, iso2000 (during the astronomical dusk). Target of the image: This image was taken during July 2019 in La Palma, Canary Islands. The purpose of the image is to represent in fine details the Milky Way core rising from such a vast sea of clouds in a characteristic volcanic environment. The purpose of such a photograph is also to make people reflect about the night sky, to make people understand how far in time the light of our home galaxy comes from and finally to make them realize how this beautiful thing can be fragile, it would like to stand as a warning to preserve the night sky. Description: In the image we can see the Milky way rising above the horizon in all its glory and the bushes and the sharp rocks all around act as a perfect frame for this volcanic nightscape. In La Palma Island the sky is so clean and free from light pollution that it is easy to see the natural faint glow of the atmosphere, known as airglow. In this image is both green and orange airglow. To accomplish the purpose of representing the MW core in fine details I decided to create a big mosaic with a longer focal length, here of 6 photographs, in order to get as much information as I could.
Special thanks to our Dear valued judges!!! Great job.
The popularity prizes were voted online, began from 21st. September 2020, ended on 28th. September 2020. Now let's enjoy.
The Top 5 Popularity Award- Five winners
Number：032
Photographer: Maverick Rainier N. Cuello
Country: Philippines
Tittle: Tree of Life
Equipment: Nikon D750 w/ 14-24mm 2.8; Sky adventurer tracker; Benro tripod, Shutter Release cable; Underwater Flashlight. Target & Time: 7/16/20 @ 9:54pm - 10:58pm Description: This is the Tree of Life as the title says. I called this the Tree of life not only because it seems something that came from the bible but because if you look closer at the photo, you can actually see strings tied to this tree. This is where the local fishermen hang there catch to process them and turn them into dried goods. This tree helped them in their day to day lives. Processing Methods: Sky is composed of 10 images Tracked at 99 secs each. Foreground is a 214 seconds exposure. Edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.
LIKES: 171
Number：021
Photographer: Athish Sanjay Itagi
Country: India Tittle: Dancing under stars
Equipment used : Canon Eos 80D , Tokina 11-16 Imaging Target and time : Big dipper, 12.15Am IST Description/Place. Shettihalli Church Built in the 1860s by the French missionaries in Karnataka , India single exposure with 400 lumen , aligned along with big dipper in the night sky. Digital processing. Photoshop and Star spike by pro digital
LIKES: 90
Number：380
Photographer: Sammax Chong
Country: Malaysia
Tittle: Vanishing starry night sky
Despite Bortle 2 skies, the bright streetlights blazed towards the sky obscuring our views of the heavens. Beautiful star light nights are becoming ever more distant as humans continue to rampantly illuminate every corner of the earth. If we continue to ignore the problems of light pollution, we will never get to stare in awe at the vastness and beauty of the universe and ponder its mysteries ever again. Light Pollution Levels - 2 Date - 2020-2-24 Time - 4.40 - 5.20 am Location - I-Yerweng , Betong Camera - Nikon D7200（mod）for Sky, Nikon 750 for Foreground Lens - Sigma Art 18-35 mm,Tamron 15-30mm Optolong Clear Sky Filter & Lee soft filter Tracking Mount - iOptron SkyGuider Pro Exposure Time - Sky 8 X 60s Panorama stitching + Stacking Foreground Tracker off 2 x 45s Panorama stitching + Stacking ISO - Sky 800 ,Foreground 200 Aperture - Sky f2.2, Foreground f3.5 Process - Sequator , Autopano Giga , Pixinsight ,PsLR, PsCC
LIKES: 79
Number：154
Photographer: Mr. Vachira Thomas
Country: Thailand
Tittle: On the Edge
- Nikon D750 mod / Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art / Vixen Polarie tracker - Milkyway - 1 March 2020 at 03.52 - This picture was taken from Doi Pui Co Mountain - Mae Hongson Province Thailand. The area is at approx. bortle 2-3, an ideal place for taking an astrophotography. This picture was tracked & stacked - taken at ƒ/1.8 / 60s / ISO 1600 - stacked the milky way images (10 images) & blend with the foreground which also taken at the same setting (but tracker off). All process done in Adobe Photoshop
LIKES: 78
Number：098
Photographer: Abdullah Al Abdulghani
Country: United States
Tittle: You, I, and a million stars
Equipment used: Canon 6D with Canon 16-35mm f/4 L Imaging time: 243 frames each at 30s, 16mm, ISO 800, and f/4 Location and description: This beach is located on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. The area was light-polluted, which made me use a light pollution filter that intensified red colors. The chairs were not this red in reality. Processing methods: Frames stacked using Achim Schaller's Startrails software, and final image edited with GIMP and CameraBag Photo
LIKES: 43
The end, thanks again for all participants!!! See you next Starryscape Dream, LOL...^^
KINDLY NOTE:
The copyright of the above works belongs to the author, and no one can use it without permission.
