Since sharing it yesterday Timothy Tay's (28) magical shot of Bear Rock on Aramoana beach illuminated by a woman holding up an iPhone has gone viral on social media.
Mr Tay, who moved to Dunedin from Christchurch at the start of this year to take up a job at PricewaterhouseCoopers, shared with the Otago Daily Times how he captured the shot and what makes his new home such a special place for photographers.
He had planned the photo since first visiting Aramoana three months ago, but since then flooding had closed roads to the beach, preventing him from capturing it until Saturday night.
"I saw Bear Rock and thought that would be a phenomenal spot to have a night sky photo with the milky way or even the moon fitting right in the key-hole."
But what really made the shot was having his friend, skilled climber Emily MeKinna, illuminating the rock with an iPhone after scaling her way up the cliff-face.
"It just shows how small we are compared to the entire universe."
He believed it was the best shot he had taken since moving to Dunedin, but said living in the city had been "awesome" so far.
The photographic possibilities the city offered was one of the reasons he shifted.
"It's actually one of the most phenomenal places any photographer can find themselves in because of the access to so many beaches and different landscapes within 20 minutes drive.
"And the night skies here are to die for."
Photography was his hobby and apart from his shot of Bear Rock he had also recently been sharing images of aurora on his Facebook page Timothy Tay Photography and Instagram.
To capture the shot of Bear Rock he set the exposure on his Canon DSLR to 15 seconds, aperture to F4 and ISO at 6400.
He got Ms MeKinna to put her thumb over the iPhone flashlight to give it an orange glow and used an LED lamp, planted 10m behind him, to illuminate the cliff-face.
