Deus Ex: Human Revolution intensifies
Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
71–80 of 98 posts
Re: Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is not just a ... Dead giveaway
Kagi just launched an AI flagging feature. This is something HN needs. I don’t mind AI content. But I’m not going to read it carefully before commenting, and will double check it with real sources before changing my mind about anything.
Speaking of real sources, the photographer discusses how it was taken and and answers questions on Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/spaceporn/comments/1ow9mys/the_most...
Re: Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
#73This is a classic example of a simple idea that no one had ever done before. The execution was complex, of course, and Andrew McCarthy is one of the most skilled astrophotographers. But once you get the idea, a number of people could have done it--but no one ever did. Makes you wonder what other similar ideas are out there! You can bet McCarthy is already thinking some. p.s.: My brush with celebrity is that I saw an…
I had an idea for survey planes once. During calibration, they fly grid patterns, basically like a hashmark (#), to get overlapping data for comparison. Doing that kind of flight at night (makes sense for lidar! not so much for photo..), against a clear sky with at least some stars, and stacking the resulting photos, would give you a grid pattern of green/red/white aircraft running lights in front of the heavens.
The overlapping pattern is! the flight pattern.
The overlap is not some calibration artifact, it is the product for any sort of stereo evaluation.
Re: Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
#74Tbh, do not quite get the excitement around this picture. It was staged, and the stunt doesn’t appear to be particularly complex. A lot of logistics, sure. But seems like all there is to it is that someone just bothered to do it. So not clear what’s the additional value over photoshop.
Try to reproduce it yourself, bro.
Re: Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
#75This is a classic example of a simple idea that no one had ever done before. The execution was complex, of course, and Andrew McCarthy is one of the most skilled astrophotographers. But once you get the idea, a number of people could have done it--but no one ever did. Makes you wonder what other similar ideas are out there! You can bet McCarthy is already thinking some. p.s.: My brush with celebrity is that I saw an…
> a number of people could have done it--but no one ever did My personal definition of "genius," is someone who sees things from a different angle, and can express it in terms we can implement. It's not doing well on IQ tests; It's that ability to think "outside the box," and, crucially, to express that vision in terms that us normies can use.
I remember Damien Hirst's response to people saying that anyone could have created his "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living"[1].
He'd simply respond with "But you didn't, did you?".
I think that Hirst had a point.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Physical_Impossibility_of_...
Re: Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
#76Tbh, do not quite get the excitement around this picture. It was staged, and the stunt doesn’t appear to be particularly complex. A lot of logistics, sure. But seems like all there is to it is that someone just bothered to do it. So not clear what’s the additional value over photoshop.
> So not clear what’s the additional value over photoshop.
I think photography might just not be for you (nothing wrong with that)
Re: Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
#77Very unique and cool image.
I was curious at first if this was planned, or if it was a bizzare coincidence… I’m not sure whether to be enthralled or disappointed. On one side is the wonderful creation of chaos, on the other is a marvel of photographic engineering.
Re: Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
#78It’s a very cool picture. Andrew McCarthy sells prints of these and other astrophotography on his website[0] although they’re always limited run prints. I bought the one of the sun with a SpaceX rocket for a friend who is into astronomy. As a sales strategy, making his photos limited edition is a fantastic way to put the pressure on to actually buy instead of thinking about making a purchase indefinitely, even if fro…
I get the whole scarcity thing -- and I've even asked Andrew about this -- because if I'm willing to give him my money after saving up for it, but it sells out first, wouldn't he make more money if he took mine then? But, I guess we just have to have an art budget with some money already set aside if we want to jump on opportunities when artists do this. I respect it, but yes it's a bit inconvenient. PS. The full, un…
You can't directly compare the two scenarios. Without the incentive to buy due to limited availability, he might have never sold as many copies, or at least it might have taken much longer.
Re: Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
#79I’m get a box right away asking me to turn off my ad blocker. I’m not running an ad blocker…
Re: Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun
#80Tbh, do not quite get the excitement around this picture. It was staged, and the stunt doesn’t appear to be particularly complex. A lot of logistics, sure. But seems like all there is to it is that someone just bothered to do it. So not clear what’s the additional value over photoshop.
> So not clear what’s the additional value over photoshop. I think photography might just not be for you (nothing wrong with that)
Care to explain? I actually do take pictures with a camera from time to time.
Again, this was staged. Also, when Tom Cruise performed his own stunts in Mission Impossible, that value I can understand. That is better than photoshop. Because they were hard stunts. This on the other hand seems to be standard.