(Sorry it took me so long to respond).
Thank you all for your support. I am flattered. Congratulations to Mz Pip for their second and third place wins. It's clear to see that a good deal of effort went into creating both of these images. Thanks also to Betty (mnhtnbb) for running another superb contest. I know how much work goes into it. CurtEastPoint's photo of the chateau and the donkey was great. Sinkingfeeling's Gentoos in Antarctica got my vote in the finals. Finally, congrats to all the finalists and all who entered.
For those who are interested, I shot this in February 2024 during a month long road trip through New Zealand. This is one of those photos that photographers from all over the world come to capture. I was surrounded by at least one hundred others, most of whom were trying to get the shot with their phones. I was happy to give advice on technique while taking my exposures. As best I remember the exposure was twenty five seconds at F/4 with a 16mm lens, Iso 3200, with a Canon R5. I brought up the exposure on the church and foreground a little since they were completely dark in the original exposure and did my best to highlight the Milky Way against the rest of the sky. You may notice a nebulae in the upper right corner as well, but don't ask me which one it is. New Zealand was amazing in that the skies were this clear throughout the entire country.
Thanks again. I'm open to suggestions for the theme of the next contest.
Ross
aka Grumpy Old Guy
= new reply since forum marked as read