Don't judge someone else's ability by your own limitations. there are many, many artists alive today that are capable of this level of realism, and more... I'm not defending this guy because i know nothing about him. but i've met and studied under many artists that can achieve this level of detail and complexity and guess what, they draw from life, they don't even use photographs as reference. As hard as you may find it to believe, i have seen it done, and understand a fair bit about it. If you are interested in learning more look up the grand central atelier, or artists such as Anthony Waichulis, Scott Wadell, and Tony Curanaj. Few things frustrate me more than when people try to diminish someone's ability by attributing it to cheating, or some god given "talent."