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Where The Moon Meets The Stacks by Aoife Hester
ven though she’s from Bray, we’ve long been fans of Ms Aoife Hester’s 
fine photography.
ven though she’s from Bray, we’ve long been fans of Ms Aoife Hester’s 
fine photography.So much so that we got her to pull together some of her personal favourites – along with some of her inspirations – way back in the year 2015.
When we were both around 16 or 17.
When we were both around 16 or 17.Over the ensuing years, Hester has been working steadily in the shadows and light, capturing not only her hometown but the wider world of Wicklow, Dublin, Lego, photo wizardry, the beckoning skies and whatever-you’re-having-yourself.
It was back in January of this year that Aoife was passing along Sandymount Strand and spotted the moon sitting pretty between those iconic chimney stacks.
Annoyingly, she didn’t have her trusty camera by her side. But she did have her trusty-verging-on-rusty old phone.
“It was totally unplanned,” says Aoife, “one of those magic moments in nature that you happen upon. And I just had to make the most of this moment with what I had with me.
“Not too bad for a 5-year old Huawei!”
Not too bad indeed, Where The Moon Meets The Stacks now being shortlisted for the 2026 Reach For The Stars astrophotography competition.
Also shortlisted this year is Liam Redall for his photo of the stars above Rathdrum Viaduct.
Rathdrum Viaduct by Liam Redall
Organised by the School of Cosmic Physics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, the competition is now in its 6th year, the goal being to find the best astrophotographs taken in spaced-out Ireland between June 3rd 2025 and May 10th 2026.
Snowdonia from Wicklow Town 14DEC22 Enda J Kelly
