People gather on the Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington New Zealand to take in the view of the surrounding city below. But on this particular day, the moon rose right behind the lookout revealing the silhouettes of the onlookers.

Using a 800mm super telephoto lens and a 1.4x extender, this photo was planned and shot from over 2km away on the other side of Wellington city the day after the full moon.

The image went on to win the prestigious Astronomy Photographer of the Year people and space category, and was one of the first ‘planned’ people silhouetted by a big moon photograph of its kind.

Planning for this shot began in early 2012, but it was a year of frustrating trial and error until I managed to first shoot the viral video Full Moon Silhouettes in January 2013, and then this single image, Moon Silhouettes in March of that same year.