Window to worlds

Prashant Naik uses natural arches to frame the vast night sky and invite the viewer to contemplate their place within the universe

To capture the wonders of the night sky properly you have to travel far away from large settlements

MISSION: Capture the night sky through natural arches to form a window to the whole universe PHOTOGRAPHER: Prashant Naik LOCATION: Atlanta, Georgia, US KIT USED: Nikon D810, Nikon AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8g ED, Induro tripod, PHQ3 5-Way Panhead INSTAGRAM: @naikonpixels FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/naikonpixels WEBSITE: www.naikonpixels.com

I’m a dedicated landscape photographer and have spent many nights in the remote wilderness, photographing the wonders of the night sky. I was inspired to embark on this project, Window to the Universe, back in 2017, when I photographed the rising of the Milky Way through the pillars of Brasstown Bald Observatory in Georgia [1]. It was an entirely different perspective. I found that watching the night sky through a window in any form, natural or otherwise, was more captivating than simply through the camera’s viewfinder.

I have always looked for frames within frames, compositions that lead the viewer’s eye from the focal plane of the natural window to the universe and beyond. It conveys how we are all but a small speck in the vast infinite expanse of the universe.

To capture the wonders of the night sky properly you have to travel far away from large settlements that emit light pollution. You can find such locations using online light pollution maps from resources such as Darksitefinder (www.darksitefinder.com).

As an International Dark-sky Association (IDA) advocate, I keep myself up to date with the places that are being certified as Ida-designated International Dark Sky Places (IDSP). For instance, the Arches National Park, in Utah, became IDAdesignated in 2019 and I photographed some of the images in this series in that same year [2, 3, 4 & 5].

Searching the stars

I usually scout locations before the shoot by doing research online or out in the field. This gives me enough time to think about the composition and what elements to include in my images ahead of time. I needed to climb up and get behind

[1] Prashant captured his first frame-within-aframe astro image in Georgia’s Brasstown Bald.

[2] Above: Prashant had to climb up to the magnificent Double Arch to capture this beautiful shot of the Milky Way core.

[3] Left: A figure can be used not only to add a human element to astro images, but a sense of scale too.