Moon shot wins prize

Dong Shuchang from Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region captured the solar eclipse on June 21, 2020, in his photography work The Golden Ring, becoming the winner of the 2021 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition in mid-September.

Hosted by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the competition received 4,500 entries from 75 countries and regions.

Dong's image also won in the competition's "our sun" category.

The Golden Ring shows the moon blocking out most of the solar disc and leaving only a thin ring of sunlight shining through.

Dong started to prepare for the trip to take the shots toward the end of 2019.

He got the necessary gear in place, planned the location for the photographs, route and transportation, and thought ahead of how he'd like to present the theme, composition, expression and colors in the photos.

"In fact, I had everything covered in my head," says the 23-year-old, adding that he figured all he had to do was open the camera and press the shutter.

However, that didn't go as he expected. The COVID-19 pandemic put a brake on his plans in early 2020. "All of a sudden, everything became uncertain."

Thanks to the effective pandemic control in China, Dong moved with his plan in the middle of last year. As he finally hit the road, it was still a rough ride. He and his friends encountered some problems on their way to Ngari prefecture in the Tibet autonomous region to take photos of the solar eclipse.

"We were inches away from driving into a lake, and met a wild animal," he recalls.

He had to juggle between finishing education assignments online－as a fourth-year student majoring in logistics management at Tianhua College of Shanghai Normal University－and getting ready for the shoot. When Dong and his friends finally reached their destination, the sky was blocked by thick clouds.

"You had to be there to feel the frustration of about 100 photographers who were ready and waiting for the solar eclipse," he says.

But magic seemed to happen. The clouds moved away and the sun came out. Dong clicked.