The BEST Astrophotos from New Zealand! (INSANE)

They really asked ME to judge the Royal Astronomical Society & Aukland Astronomical Society Astrophotography competition! Sweet as bro.
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[@AmritP]

OMG, thank you Sir Dylan! absolute honour

[@DylanODonnell]

Banger !

[@gabewrsewell]

amazing photo amrit!

[@jshmcguigan]

JAFA taking the world stage , good stuff mate

[@jasonpatterson8091]

The primary subject of the image is fantastic, but I'm also amazed and impressed at the level of clear background detail you managed to capture. The sheer number of tiny, but distinct and detailed background galaxies - it's stunning. Congratulations!

[@damienk2372]

120 hours? Super effort Amrit 👍

[@PaulWilsonImages]

Congrats to all the winners! Awesome presentation Dylan, thanks for putting in the time and effort mate!

[@jasonpatterson8091]

That must have been a difficult job. Congratulations on being selected to judge, and the video you produced to showcase the winners was excellent.

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks! Yep.. there were way more I’d have loved to share tbh.

[@LogansAstro]

Cheers Dylan. Excellent commentary on the images.

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

Hey Logan congrats on your cosmic bat image well deserved mate

[@SimonsAstro]

What Tich said Logan😀 awesome Bat image mate 👍 Congrats!

[@AstroSoundscape]

Awesome Bat Logan epic image.

[@maxmayer6009]

Hey Dylan, excellent work on judging! I am so glad they appointed you. Cheers from a member across the ditch, and clear skies! Max

[@Wheeljack678]

You disclosed fairly often that this would be very subjective, and in that sense; none of the ones you picked are "wrong" - even if some people will unquestionably disagree with you. I really liked the ones you picked out. I think you emphasized creativity as well as the aesthetics and technical. Good job with this Dylan. Well done.

[@DylanODonnell]

thanks man!

[@amitashokkamble]

Congratulations everyone.

[@BrandonJEvansPhotography]

I love that moon shot. Makes me feel like I could jump from the top of the mountain right onto the moon.

[@ChristianPsencik]

Congratulations to all who entered and to you Dylan for the honor of judging

[@vinceveltri7732]

All of these images were truly inspirational. What a treat. Thank you for sharing Dylan.

[@ryanmichaelhaley]

These were all excellent to see, thank you so much for sharing, Dylan!

[@deep_space_dave]

Excellent Job Dylan! Obvious why you were chosen to judge this images. Sometimes people forget about the emotional aspect of photography and focus on the technical. I am glad you have an artistic eye and judged these candidates in a more heartfelt way. Congrats to all the photographers not just the winners as this takes skill and passion to truly produce a work of art!

[@DylanODonnell]

Thx Dave !

[@klaussfreire]

Dang... Barnard's loop blew me away. Speechless. They're all magnificent but I don't think I've seen a barnard's loop image that so armoniously combines all the subjects in that image, including all the IFN.

[@DylanODonnell]

That one’s amazing isn’t it? Very hard not to award it winning status.

[@klaussfreire]

@@DylanODonnell Truly. Makes me wonder what other work he has... googling right now.

[@HighBoss]

Amazing images and you've done them justice Dylan, both with your commentary and this video. Thanks.

[@davidschaeffer5322]

Those are awesome!! I love the time lapse from the water.

[@bryanquick2709]

Congratulations to all the winners. Thank you for sharing this Dylan. Hope you can mend things with the kids and wife :P

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe

[@edwallace523]

That was fabulous. Thanks, Dylan.

[@gghana]

Great video Dylan. Stunning images too

[@benjaminolry5849]

1:00 Your insight into life is just unmatched (my last holiday was 10 years and 3 sons ago :O ).

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe right?

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

Great job Dylan all outstanding images far better than anything I can do, I did like the Lunar Halo time-lapse thought that was a great choice to

[@tommccrorie8022]

Another cracking vid, but enough about you. These images are stunning! Jealous AF!

[@econgreg]

Well done mate. They picked the right man for the job.

[@ziggyfrnds]

Oh dear God that winning photo was brilliant! Amazing work! Do we have a competition like this here in Aus?

[@Max6785]

Some really cool stuff in here that those of us in the NH never get to see. Thanks for sharing the pics and judging process! What do you think about having subscribers send you their pics and doing critique/commentary vids on a handful of those now and then? Might be a cool way to see what others are doing and give some ideas about how to improve.

[@DylanODonnell]

I’m open to it !

[@fidelpacheco6666]

Looks like you've had a great time. Great job and thank you for sharing it with us..

[@AstroSoundscape]

I thought this was really well explained and enjoyed how it wasn't just about the technical side. I loved that Sunflower image with the out of focus Milky Way.

[@aw7425]

Thank you Dr. Dylan. Super as usual

[@briantheprimateastro]

Great photos. I wish I had as much skill as the astrophotographers in your video. Good job on be selected as a judge!

[@philleng480]

Samy 135mm, such a good lens featured again and again. Defo given me some ideas for shots with mine - especially next time I am in the southern hemisphere (now that I have 'done' the LMC). Thanks Dylan p.s the comet shot was a doozy.

[@blobrana8515]

Super images. I can see these becoming screen savers and iconic calendar photos for 2024.

[@humbugnh]

Personally, I use a 3d6 when judging astrophotos, to generate a nice bell curve ratio of average to outstanding entrants. Joking aside, lovely to see the winners and what goes into composing a good image.

[@davidletz9123]

I really enjoyed this video. All great stills and time lapses.

[@mgmcd1]

You know, I make fun and stick to my visual astronomy, and a big part of the reason is all the amazing and dedicated astrophotographers out there, like yourself and everyone in this group. I seriously doubt my ability to create this level of work, so leave it to the truly creative scientists, and am happy to just enjoy the show. Well done all.

[@mikehardy8247]

Well, so much for my images. Un-friken' believable! 120 hours on the winner. Just thst is worth it. Love my Rokinon 135!

[@DylanODonnell]

Haha it’s quite demoralising isn’t it 😆

[@johngiromini5745]

Absolutely amazing set of images! Well done, Dylan!

[@roderickwho1983]

Thanks Dylan. Your commentary opened my eyes the aesthetics of astrophotography. Much appreciated.

[@BadYossa]

Dylan, I absolutely love your videos and your style of commentary, the humour and the high quality of your production. You're a seriously funny dude and your passion for Astrophotography has led me and thousands of others to learn, engage or simply appreciate your crazy tomfoolery! This was a beautiful wee journey and the images and the timelapses where absolutely stunning. Thanks for sharing this with us all. Clear skies Edit: I've just subbed to KaizanBlu - that tune at the end of the video, Deep, is truly beautiful. Thanks for introducing me that amazing musician.

[@DylanODonnell]

KaizanBlu is so good huh! Thanks for the kind words too!

[@craiglowery4427]

Congratulations Dylan. Well deserved recognition

[@DNNZJoe]

Nice work everyone. Thanks Dylan! - Joe N

[@flanerpete2040]

Awesome stuff, m8! Oh, to have that sky in Colorado...

[@drunk_astronomy]

I have only seen Aurora similar to the ones shown in these pictures once in my life, it really does look like that. Great video very much enjoyed.

[@PetraKann]

Highly commended Mr O'Donnell.

[@DylanODonnell]

Thanks Petra!

[@keithhanssen7413]

Well done, Dylan. Judging is difficult but you pulled it off nicely. I can tell by your vocabulary you’re a qualified judge.

[@AndyofAstro]

".... they didn't call you, they called me to be a judge." Ouch! - ends up sleeping in the observatory for a week, with the power and WiFi turned off!

[@DylanODonnell]

Heheh

[@doubleehokie]

Very good explanations for why you chose each photo.

[@DylanODonnell]

thanks !

[@PaulStewartNZ]

Congrats to all the winners and thanks Dylan for all your hard work. If I knew you could be bribed I would have sent over a few sheep 😉

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe thanks Paul 🐑

[@PompeyObservatory]

Nice review.

[@CGastro]

awesome

[@MikeTaylor-tw5wb]

..he's right about the shipping rates

[@Microtonal_Cats]

Accidentally realized the intro music sounds really epic at 0.5x speed.

[@jedidiahwest4619]

Not sure why I’m awake. Cloudy night so I watching the tube

[@cemoguz2786]

goddamn people are good at this.

[@astroamateur5394]

Wow

[@nikaxstrophotography]

Agree with all the winners except the star trails one. It must be so hard to pick they were all amazing images.

[@DylanODonnell]

I knew it would be controversial but you really have to see it at original resolution compared to the others to understand.

[@jasonpatterson8091]

@@DylanODonnell I liked it for the sheep. Easy choice. :-)

[@DylanODonnell]

⁠I WAS GOING TO MENTION THE SHEEP! glad someone noticed haha perfect.

[@nikaxstrophotography]

@@DylanODonnell Fair enough I bet it was a difficult decision

[@roderickwho1983]

Hang on a sec ! Are you saying that there's a NEW Zealand ??!!

[@DylanODonnell]

so much better than the old one!

[@shubhamcweb]

Great work!! Btw, always wanted to ask you but never really did, are you a cricket fan?? If I ever visit the kangaroo land I’d love to play during the day and image during the night with you lol.

[@DylanODonnell]

Just chess :)

[@akspeedmic]

How can i order a copy of these images? 😊

[@amitashokkamble]

You can reach out to the winners. The winning images will soon be on the website with their social media handles. Will post a link here when they are available.

[@christophvonknobelsdorff1936]

i'm looking for contacts to astrophotografers in new zealand . who can help ?

[@DylanODonnell]

insta or google?

[@youtubehandol]

I liked the sunflower, but I'm not your wife- like that matters haahaha

[@bronco_fv]

I'll add to the party. Third!

[@plofstof]

42nd

[@Astroduck44]

Smash

[@captainfruitbatify]

second (story of my life....)

[@brodymk45]

first

[@CodeLeeCarter]

Looks like a wanna be fucking criminal with the new hair do, great vid lad, thanks again.

[@BrandonJEvansPhotography]

And may your kids never understand the underhanded jab lol

[@Dark.monster_1]

16:17 we all gonna die, but the thing that we have to do isn't all we want to do, the thing we need to do is being a muslim to go to paradise forever after death and if weren't a muslim you will go to hell forever after death, and there is to much things that prove that the islam is right like the things that happen before the end of the world and most of them happend, and that there are a things that was more than 1400 years ago telled in quran and the scientists had descovered now like the Splitting of the moon, and life after death is true too. I don't want to see you in hell

[@DylanODonnell]

I don’t believe in your God either.

[@BakedandCooked]

Is it too late to leave your children at a hospital or fire house? Children ruin everything. Dogs are so much better. Someday you might be able to enjoy a vacation again.