First Place: Wildlife & Nature PHOTO BY: ANDY O’MEARA
A photographer’s eye finds celestial beauty on a summer night.
Each month, we feature one of the photos from our 2019 Focus on Woodbury photo contest. This month, we asked photographer Andy O’Meara to tell us about “Edge of Woodbury,” which took first place in our Wildlife & Nature category.
When and where did you take the photo?
I took the photo in early July 2019 near Dale and Manning, in the far southeastern corner of Woodbury.
What kind of camera did you use?
I used a Nikon D5100 DSLR on a tripod with a remote trigger to hold the shutter open for the long exposure. This was my first attempt at capturing part of the Milky Way so there was a lot of experimenting with the settings on my camera.
What’s your favorite thing about the image, or what struck you about the scene and inspired you to take it?
I decided to try and take the shot about 30 minutes beforehand as I had stepped outside to see if I could spot Saturn (the largest “star” in the photograph). I jumped in my car and headed out until I found a spot on the side of the road where it was dark, and I figured I’d try some pictures to see what came out. While I was trying various settings, I noticed the fireflies in the field which was great because it reminded me of my childhood trying to catch them in my neighborhood. I didn’t notice until later that the fireflies were being captured along with the stars in the photographs. In a couple of pictures, they all blend together connecting the field to the sky.
