When I’m looking for some Monday Motivation, I often go right to the best. Who and what are the “best” is often debated, but I think it’s going to be hard for anyone to argue that the winner in the Royal Greenwich Museum’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition isn’t the best. I was not too surprised to see the 2018 overall winner of this prestigious contest was Brad Goldpaint. He’s been one of my inspirations for several years.
2018 Astronomy Photographer of the Year – Brad Goldpaint
Brad Goldpaint’s photo, Transport the Soul was the overall contest winner. It’s such an excellent photo. When you first see it, you wonder if it is even on Earth. Brad’s picture looks like it’s a Martian vista, until you look closer. Then you see an Earthbound photographer, standing atop a mesa, taking a shot of the Milky Way.
If you’re not familiar with Brad, check out the following video. He discusses how he discovered Milky Way photography and how he came to shoot this award-winning winning photo in the following video:
People and Space Category Winner
You can hear some of the judges for the 2018 contest discuss their thoughts about Brad’s photo in this following clip. He won the People and Space
See The 2018 Contest Winning Photos in Person
If you’re lucky enough to live in England or can travel there, an exhibit with over 100 images from t
See The 2018 Contest Winning Photos Online
If you can’t make to Greenwich to see this exhibit, don’t worry, you can still see them online. You can see all the 2018 Category Winners here, and the 2018 winning photos here. The Categories in the competition Aurora, Galaxy, Moon, Sun, Overall, People and Space, Planets, Comets, and Asteroids, Robotic Scopes, Skyscapes, Nebula, and Young Entrants.
GoldPaintPhotography.com
Anyway, back to Brad’s amazing photography! Here’s a couple of links for some of my favorite shots of Brad’s. One thing he’s not afraid to do is shoot the Milky Way with the Moon up. The Moon is often avoided in Milky Way photography, but it does an amazing job of lighting the foreground. It’s like having a gigantic Low-Level Lighting setup.Check out this moonlight Milky Way shot:
https://store.goldpaintphotography.com/The-Night-Sky/i-8xvchqn/A
or this one:
https://store.goldpaintphotography.com/The-Night-Sky?mobile=true
Brad Goldpaint on YouTube
Brad has a YouTube channel with just a few videos at this point. But what he has three that are worth watching. The trailer for Illusion of Lights: A Journey into the Unseen demonstrates just how good his work is, and it is a showcase for his motion controlled time-lapses. Filmed in 4K and six years in the making, its explores the beauty of the night sky from the top of the Sierra Nevada to the Deserts of the Southwest.
Brad has a few clips from his Illusion of Lights film on YouTube. One of my favorite scenes in it shows climbers working their way to the top of Mount Rainier. I love seeing the paths that the climbers take, illuminated by their headlamps as they summit in the dark.
Brad Goldpaint’s Contact Info
Website: https://goldpaintphotography.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldpaintphotography
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldpaintphoto/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5CiXR7OM46La7WdQ_O3YQA
Illusion of Lights website: http://www.illusionoflights.com/
More Monday Motivation
If you have any suggestions for a Monday Motivation, someone that you think is so inspirational you want everyone else to know about them, drop us a line or leave us a comment below. We’ll check them, and maybe we’ll include them!
You can see my photos at www.keyesphoto.com
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