File:Ben Floyd and the Core - 2019.jpg

The Royal Observatory Greenwich / Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2019 competition

Ben, Floyd & the Core © Ben Bush

People and Space Winner

The image depicts the photographer and his dog, Floyd, surrounded by Mars, Saturn and the galactic core of the Milky Way galaxy. This photo encapsulates the photographer’s love for the cosmos. As his constant companions, the photographer often tries (and fails) to capture his dogs at night. With this shot the shutter speed was reduced to 10 seconds to allow to keep Floyd still. To counter this, the ISO was increased and the photographer whispered ‘don’t move, don’t move, don’t move’ to Floyd for the whole 10 seconds. The shot was repeated a number of times in order to capture a clear silhouette in a single exposure shot. The image contains everything the photographer loves about photography; the relationship with the landscape, family, dogs and friends.

Taken at Hadrian’s Wall, Hexham, UK, 9 August 2018

~