The brilliance of India’s night skies is absolutely awe-inspiring and reverential. Not many of us would train our cameras skywards but those who do have come back mesmerised because the night skies take on a whole new life under the blanket of darkness. Navaneeth Unnikrishnan from Kozhikode has trekked to some remote locations in India, braved the cold, sat up through the night and captured some beautiful sights of celestial objects. He belongs to the rare breed of astrophotographers who specialise in deep space photography — shooting astronomical objects and events like galaxies, meteor showers, nebulas, planets, eclipses etc. What started as a hobby using a basic Canon DSLR later turned into an all-encompassing passion and expertise in imaging Deep Sky Objects.
Indian Astronomical Observatory
Many trials and errors later, this youngster has carved a niche in Astrophotography and mind you, it has all been self taught by watching YouTube videos and reading books on the topic. The appreciation has also been swift— his images have been published in the National Geographic and BBC Earth not to mention the various awards they have brought. Always entranced with space, Navaneeth’s fascination took a serious turn in the August of 2013. He says, “The genre Astrophotography began after I witnessed and captured the Milky Way from my terrace in Kerala.” For all those who think the celestial skies can be seen only through telescopes or high end expensive cameras, Navaneeth overturns that belief. He says, “At present, I use Canon 6D and Sony A7s for Milky Way Imaging. Earlier, it was a Canon 1100D. One of the biggest myth gear wise is that you need a specialised camera or an expensive equipment to capture the Milky Way which is not true! I’ve even managed to capture it on a smart phone— the One plus 3 using its manual camera mode settings- the only thing you compromise is the quality.”
The Milky Way at Spiti Valley
Navaneeth explains the process of capturing deep space photographs, “Capturing the Milkyway is basically a long exposure technique, where the shutter speed differs from 8 seconds to 30 seconds or even 5 minutes depending on the focal length and the image data required. If high detailed image is to be shot it's usually done with tracking equipment which helps the camera to track the sky and shoot individual exposures of 5-10 minutes. But at places like the Himalayas, we stick with 30 seconds shutter speed. Capturing deep space objects require hours and hours of data — it involves shooting multiple images with exposure ranging from 2 minutes to 10 minutes. A minimum of ten such images are then combined using a process called stack to form the final image. A look at his images and one cannot help marvel at the surreal photos that are sometimes set against panoramic views of the night sky. Travelling is a requisite for the job as Navaneeth tries to select remote locations away from the city as artificial city lights obscure the beauty and view of the night skies. The weather is also a huge factor since clear skies offer a majestic view of the Milky Way. He adds, “One of the main challenges in this field is light, pollution and clouds, which is plenty in the southern part of the country.”
Andromeda
Most of Navaneeth’s widely appreciated images have been shot in the Himalayan regions where pollution levels are almost zero. He wistfully says, “Lying under a star-lit sky in the peaceful Himalayan region is a feeling that cannot be replaced by anything else. Meteor showers, Comet Lovejoy Q2 and Venus Transit are some of the spectacular views I am fortunate to have witnessed.” Family support has been very forthcoming as Navaneeth says, “My family is cool with it as long as I am happy with what I do, so I have never faced any issues on that front.” Before winding up, Navaneeth lets on about his future plans, “As of now, to capture the Australian landscapes under the brilliant Southern sky next month— may be some Aurora Australis if I am lucky. There is also a photography workshop on Astro-Landscape photography which is to be held in June and August.” For Navaneeth, the sky has never been the limit.
