DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

The story behind how this amazing photograph of the “Fairy Tree” Milky Way was created

Jun 22, 2022 by John Aldred Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Sometimes, you’re sitting on social media, scrolling away and something stops you in your tracks and you just can’t help but sit and stare. That was the case for me with this Milky Way photograph from landscape and commercial photographer Mark Duffy. DIYP reached out to Mark to find out more about it and how it was created.

Mark says that the tree at the centre of this image is known as a Fairy Tree in Ireland. That’s what they call a tree that stands alone in the middle of a field. It’s believed that they bring luck and possess mystical powers. This one though, Mark tells DIYP, is particularly special. He says it’s over 200 years old and perched on top of a 3,000-year-old cairn (an Irish burial tomb) overlooking his hometown of Dundalk and the Cooley Mountains.

Mark headed out to shoot very early one April morning. The Milky Way in that part of the world at that time of the year rises at around 4am and a panorama can result in an arc across the sky. To create the image, Mark used a Sony A7 III along with a Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 lens. The final result is composed of twelve shots. He shot six across in two rows at a 17mm focal length in order to expand the field of view and allow as much of the Milky Way to be seen in the shot as possible.

He used a Sunwayfoto CR-30 Panoramic head in order to be able to easily shoot those rows of images perfectly horizontally and evenly spaced. And in order to capture as much detail as possible in the night sky, Mark used the H&Y K-Series Starkeeper filter to block out the light pollution. The images were each shot as 20-second exposures, with the lens wide open at f/2.8 and an ISO of 1600 in order to capture as much light as possible.

To stitch the images, Mark tells DIYP that he tried stitching in PTGui but that got the pretty much the exact same result when stitching within Lightroom. So, he ended up just using Lightroom for the entire stitching and processing process.

It’s certainly one of the most intriguing Milky Way photos I’ve seen, with some great context both in the image itself and in the story about the part of Ireland from which Mark originates where it was shot. It certainly helps that it just looks fantastic, too!

You can find out more about Mark on his website and follow his work on Facebook.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

New Zealand’s Wanaka Tree, the most Instagrammed tree in the world, vandalized with a saw Photographer captures amazing photos of the Milky Way over the mirrored salt flats of Bolivia These amazing Milky Way photos will make you feel like you’ve been transported to another planet ‘Portraits of Shame’ – Ivaylo Petrov shares the story and passion behind his emotive portrait series

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Astrophotography, Fairy Tree, inspiration, landscape photography, Mark Duffy, Milky Way

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Profoto has announced the Connect Pro, their “most advanced triggering system yet”
Spice up your bathroom with this 3D printed Polaroid toilet roll holder »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Aputure’s F14 Fresnel Lens is motorised for remote focus control
  • The Aputure Electro Storm XT26 is a 2600 watts bi color beast LED light
  • Aputure Electro Storm CS15 is an IP65 rated 1500 Watt RGBWW LED light
  • Samsung acknowledges blurry Galaxy S23/S23+ photos – Fix on the way
  • Sony unveils two huge new 960GB and 1920GB Tough CFexpress cards

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy