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

- Prashant Naik

Camera: Nikon D810

Lens: 14-24mm f/2.8

Exposure: 15 secs, f/2.8, ISO6400

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.