Rutjuga
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This was my first post here at PDF - posted even before I registered! Thanks to friends who copied it from another forum I frequent.
Allah Pak has blessed Pakistan with some of the most scenic places on the planet. All of us know this well enough because most of us have seen the splendor of nature first hand - or have browsed through the sticky thread "Beautiful Pakistan" above. Moreover, we often read or hear accounts of the trips people make to these places. Talk about the beauty of the country and pictures of the Sun shining through an unpolluted, blue sky over ice-capped peaks and glaciers, lush green valleys, waterfalls and refreshingly cool lakes, the majestic sand dunes of the unspoiled deserts, the blue sea and colorful fauna and flora of Astola Island or rock formations in Balochistan which rival the Grand Canyon, come to mind and declare the Glory of the Almighty in unison. What is often not realized is that this is just one face of our country. The other face, the silent night, remains mostly hidden and unexplored - and truly unspoiled.
Before I proceed, let me share some of the very few photos of this hidden gem:
There is nothing fake in these shots (taken by a friend Hanif Bhatti at the Hingol National Park in May 2010). All are single exposures. Post-processing to enhance faint detail and remove unwanted effects of light-pollution is standard procedure for night sky photography, but these shots are unprocessed.
Just like the deaf really know the price of the gift of hearing and the blind the value of the ability to see, residents of places where unspoiled skies are scarce and highly endangered realize what the curtain of wasted outdoor lighting has taken away from them. Ronald S. Whitehead of Dayton, Ohio who is a retired USAF personnel and has been to Pakistan a couple of times, once wrote to me:
"Seeing the full glory of The Milky Way in a real dark sky is spiritual! You'll know what I mean when you see it. Sad, so few have."
When I shared the first shot above, here's what some other folks in the US remarked:
"YUP! That's what I miss."
(Resident of Oklahoma)
"YUP,
RUB IT IN !!!!!
Thanks a Bunch.
Jim"
(Resident of Virginia)
"You and your astronomer friends are indeed lucky to have such skies. Must be a great place, Hingol. I tried to get there 35 years ago--crocodiles, leopards, and desert--the Makran Range, from Bela. No luck. Tough land, tough people. Incredible birds! . . . Enjoy every minute of it."
(Resident of Grand Teton National Park).
Pakistan's (and that of some other countries at the same latitude) night sky is special in another way, but I'll leave that for later.
I went through the "Beautiful Pakistan" PDF thread, but as expected, there are no shots that highlight our homeland's nighttime beauty. So lets bring this hidden treasure under the spotlight in this thread. Ready?
(Star)Lights, camera . . . action!
Posting Rules:
- All photos should be single exposures. No manipulated shots please.
- All photos should be nightscapes. That is, they should show the dawn/dusk/night sky and foreground features in the same frame.
- Please take some moments to provide a short description about the location.
- What sort of night shots NOT to post: composite photo 1, composite photo 2. Reason: Both shots are manipulated and the Moons image has been added separately using PS etc.
- You may post pictures of Pakistani cities, towns and landmarks at night, but only those which emphasize the sky just as much as the earth. Examples: photo 1 (Greece), photo 2 (Australia), photo 3 (Egypt).
Allah Pak has blessed Pakistan with some of the most scenic places on the planet. All of us know this well enough because most of us have seen the splendor of nature first hand - or have browsed through the sticky thread "Beautiful Pakistan" above. Moreover, we often read or hear accounts of the trips people make to these places. Talk about the beauty of the country and pictures of the Sun shining through an unpolluted, blue sky over ice-capped peaks and glaciers, lush green valleys, waterfalls and refreshingly cool lakes, the majestic sand dunes of the unspoiled deserts, the blue sea and colorful fauna and flora of Astola Island or rock formations in Balochistan which rival the Grand Canyon, come to mind and declare the Glory of the Almighty in unison. What is often not realized is that this is just one face of our country. The other face, the silent night, remains mostly hidden and unexplored - and truly unspoiled.
Before I proceed, let me share some of the very few photos of this hidden gem:
There is nothing fake in these shots (taken by a friend Hanif Bhatti at the Hingol National Park in May 2010). All are single exposures. Post-processing to enhance faint detail and remove unwanted effects of light-pollution is standard procedure for night sky photography, but these shots are unprocessed.
Just like the deaf really know the price of the gift of hearing and the blind the value of the ability to see, residents of places where unspoiled skies are scarce and highly endangered realize what the curtain of wasted outdoor lighting has taken away from them. Ronald S. Whitehead of Dayton, Ohio who is a retired USAF personnel and has been to Pakistan a couple of times, once wrote to me:
"Seeing the full glory of The Milky Way in a real dark sky is spiritual! You'll know what I mean when you see it. Sad, so few have."
When I shared the first shot above, here's what some other folks in the US remarked:
"YUP! That's what I miss."
(Resident of Oklahoma)
"YUP,
RUB IT IN !!!!!
Thanks a Bunch.
Jim"
(Resident of Virginia)
"You and your astronomer friends are indeed lucky to have such skies. Must be a great place, Hingol. I tried to get there 35 years ago--crocodiles, leopards, and desert--the Makran Range, from Bela. No luck. Tough land, tough people. Incredible birds! . . . Enjoy every minute of it."
(Resident of Grand Teton National Park).
Pakistan's (and that of some other countries at the same latitude) night sky is special in another way, but I'll leave that for later.
I went through the "Beautiful Pakistan" PDF thread, but as expected, there are no shots that highlight our homeland's nighttime beauty. So lets bring this hidden treasure under the spotlight in this thread. Ready?
(Star)Lights, camera . . . action!
Posting Rules:
- All photos should be single exposures. No manipulated shots please.
- All photos should be nightscapes. That is, they should show the dawn/dusk/night sky and foreground features in the same frame.
- Please take some moments to provide a short description about the location.
- What sort of night shots NOT to post: composite photo 1, composite photo 2. Reason: Both shots are manipulated and the Moons image has been added separately using PS etc.
- You may post pictures of Pakistani cities, towns and landmarks at night, but only those which emphasize the sky just as much as the earth. Examples: photo 1 (Greece), photo 2 (Australia), photo 3 (Egypt).
