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 amid the natural beauty of the lake and mountains, 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, yet it 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 midpoint of the line extending from the long axis of the Cross to the bright star Achernar is 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 the upper right are the neighboring galaxies known as the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud and are visible only in the Southern Hemisphere.The Large Magellanic Cloud is about 160,000 light-years away, while the Small Magellanic Cloud is about 200,000 light-years away. 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 satellite galaxies gravitationally linked to the Milky Way.

Before we departed on our trip to Australia and New Zealand, I had done extensive planning for this photograph. Using PhotoPills, I determined that it should be possible to find a location near the church that would place the Southern Cross, in the southern Milky Way, directly above the church. Using my GigaPan to capture a wide view of the night sky, I also planned to include the Magellanic Clouds. The day we arrived, we went to the church around 5 PM. I opened PhotoPills on my phone and located the position from which I would need to set up the camera. At about 10 PM, we returned, and I carried my equipment to that location and set up to wait for the Moon to set at 11 PM.

The image was photographed with a Sony A7R II and Sigma 24–70mm lens at 35mm, f/2.8, 13-second exposure, and ISO 3200. The panorama consists of 30 images arranged in 3 rows × 10 columns, with approximately 33% overlap and the camera in portrait orientation.

The original image is:

• 247 Megapixels
• 13,283 × 18,596 pixels
• 44″ × 62″ 300 PPI cropped image size
• Image shown is cropped to approximately a 1:1.4 aspect ratio.
• 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).
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This photo was published in the “Assignment Long Exposure” section of the Nov.-Dec, 2023 issue of Landscape Magazine.