24 hours of day and night

This stunning image captures a staggering 24 hours of day and night in just one photograph.

Stretching from the sunrise to sunset - the spectacular 360 degree image was captured by Greek photographer Chris Kotsiopoloulos in Sounio, Greece.

He spent a painstaking 30 hours overlooking a beautiful rural vista to prepare and capture the amazing panoramic, time-spanning shot.

Beginning in the east, Chris captures the early morning rays hitting the clouds before clocking the suns path across the sky.

The crystal blue sky then give way to more ominous cloud covering and finally into darkness.

There Chris added a long exposure to capture stunning star trails spiralling across the sky above a rural church.

The dedicated snapper was forced to sit up all night in a bid to prevent moisture affecting the quality of the images.

Chris said: "I had always wondered if it is possible to visualize a full day in a single photo - so one day with a bit of time on my hands I decided to give it a try.

"The shooting began really early in the morning during December.

"I started taking photos with the camera on a tripod facing east. The day part is composed of dozens of shots covering the landscape from east to west and the Sun's course from sunrise to sunset."

But the landscape photographer revealed he encountered some problems while shooting.

He added: "It took a lot of patience. I had to stay in the same place alone for 30 hours in total to get everything right, prepare and take the pictures.

"At night it became even more difficult because I had to keep my eyes open and inspect the camera lens for moisture.

"The temperature dropped to about three degrees Celsius, so this wasn't very easy.

"I was equipped with a hairdryer in order to use it on the lens in case of moisture."

And once his mammoth shoot was over, the photographer then had to seamless piece together hundreds of images into one frame using photo editing software.

He said: "All my photos have a long story to tell - a story that goes back to the creation of our solar system, the formation of the sun, the planets, the earth and the moon.

"The story continues with the brilliant ancient Greek architectural wonders combined with our country's beautiful scenery.

"Fortunately, I have a very understanding wife who almost never complains.

"I recall that she has only moaned at me once over my love of photography and that was because I left in the middle of the night to shoot a severe thunderstorm.

"But this is a normal reaction, I suppose."

Chris, who has been photographing the sky above Greece for four years, used a Canon 550D DSLR camera.

Source: James Tegerdine, Caters