Church of the Good Shepherd
Lake Tekapo, South Island, New Zealand
( Click on image to access high resolution virtual tour. Not for mobile devices.)
Jan.. 11, 2019. 11:30 PM. — The Church of the Good Shepherd, situated on the shores of Lake Tekapo amongst the natural beauty of the lake and the mountains, the Church of the Good Shepherd was built to the glory of God and as a memorial to the pioneers of the Mackenzie Country. “Somehow the setting and the church combine to speak of God to those who enter and pause in the midst of their busy lives.” – Peter Hurricks.
“God hung the stars in the sky – the Dipper, Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars of the south. We cannot understand the great things he does, and to his miracles there is no end.” Job 9:9-10 (GNT)
Through Christ the Stars Came To Be.
John 1:1 tells us that Jesus (the Word), was the means by which the Universe was created. He’s not only our Savior and Deliverer and future King, but He also put the whole thing together in the first place. It is impossible for me to stand under a scene like this and not know that “He is the Great I Am!” — John Freeman
The Southern Cross — The five main stars of the Southern Cross belong to a larger group officially known as the constellation Crux. Crux is the smallest constellation in the sky and yet is the most famous group of southern stars. It is a kite-shaped cluster of four bright stars (and one not so bright) all within 16 degrees of each other in the sky. In the course of 24 hours the Cross appears to make a complete circuit in the heavens around a point known as the South Celestial Pole. The mid-point of the line extending from the long axis of the Cross to the bright star Achernar is the directly south. The Southern Cross appears in various forms on the national flags of four countries: New Zealand, Western Samoa, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Confirmation that the Cross has been found is the presence of two bright stars called the Pointers: Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri.
Magellanic Clouds — The two cloud-like patches of light in upper right are the neighboring galaxies known as the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud and are only visible in the Southern Hemisphere skies. They are about 170,000 light years away and the Large Magellanic Cloud contains about 10,000 million stars. These are the closest galaxies to our own and are a stunning sight whether viewed with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. They are considered to be satellite galaxies linked by gravity to the Milky Way.
Before we departed on our trip to Australia and New Zealand I had done extensive planning for this photo. Using Photo Pills I determined that it should be possible to find a location near the church that would allow me to have the Southern Cross, which is part of the southern Milky Way, directly above the church. Using my Gigapan to capture a wide sky view I had also planned to include the Magellanic Clouds. The day we arrived we went out to the church’s location around 5pm and I fired up the Photo Pills app on my phone and found the location which would give the correct location to set up my camera. Then about 10pm we went back and I carried my equipment to that location and set it waiting for Moon to set at 11pm.
Image was shot with Sony A7Rii, Sigma 24-70mm lens @ 35mm, f/2.8, 13 sec. exposure, ISO 3200. It is made up of 30 images, 3 rows x 10 columns approximately 33% overlap in portrait orientation.
The original image is:
- 247 Mega-pixels
- 13283 x 18596 pixels
- 44″ x 62″ 300 PPI cropped image size
- Image shown is 1:1.4 ratio cropped.
- Available in 1:1.4 ratio from 10″ x 14″ to 44″ x 62″ as Print, Standard Plaque, AlumiPress or PlexiPlaq.
- Wall Murals as large as 7-1/3 ft. x 10-1/3 ft’ (150ppi).
- Call for price quote.
Consult Price List for 1:1.4 ratio size options and cost details from our Duraplaq product line.
This photo was published in the “Assignment Long Exposure” section of the Nov.-Dec, 2023 issue of Landscape Magazine.
Duraplaq Mounting Options
Our DuraPlaq mounting options offer a higher quality, wider range of sizes and materials. Especially for the HD Metal AlumiPress products. Consult Price List for 3:4 ratio size options and cost details. Contact us for a quote on your specific size and mounting options needs.
- Standard Plaque prints are available in four Finish Choices. Finishes are acid-free and ultra violet (UV) light protected, shielding it against fading and deterioration and can be wiped down with water or any ammonia-free cleaners.
- We highly recommend the Metalized Paper for prints, plaques and PlexiPlaq products. This special paper does an excellent job of bringing out the detail of the photos.
- All of our plaques are produced by Duraplaq on photo quality High Density boards. Numerous Mounting Styles are available along with many Edge Treatments.
- Approximate lead time for shipping of Prints is 1 week. Plaque mounts and other options 2 weeks.
The above sizes and mounting options are a small subset of the overall mounting options we have. We offer all of our photos on a variety of mounting options from just prints, framed, plaque mounting, Aluminum Prints, or Plexiplaq. We also offer Tri-Panel, Quad-Panel or Wall Clusters & Splits. Most of our Gigaramas are available as wall murals. We also license our photos for various commercial applications.
Contact us for a quote on any of these options.