Even though they look a bit fake, I like these photos. The atmosphere reminds me of Alan Weisman's book "the world without us". The cities appear as ghost cities, everything dark, allowing natural light to be visible again. It's like the early stages after humans deserted it, before the forces of nature (combined with lack of maintenance) break through and crumble the buildings.
What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
41–50 of 73 posts
Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
Whew. I was wondering if I was the only one who has been out in the mountains and other rural areas, but have never seen a night sky like these.
The stars look like this in the fall, in the western US, 60+ miles from the nearest city, and above 5000 ft. I've spent a lot more nights camping on the east coast and while you can see the milky way if you're remote enough, the altitude or the humidity or something makes the stars dimmer.
Yeah, my brother lives outside Flagstaff, which has strict light pollution laws and is at 7000 ft. On clear nights the view from his front yard is ridiculously gorgeous.
Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
#43While the US is relatively good at keeping the air and water clean (relative to some places I've been), both light and noise pollution are a big problem - almost unregulated.
Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
#44They would look nothing like those photos. The city would look much, much darker. You can really tell that those are day shots of the cities with the brightness and saturation reduced. The sky would look much, much less impressive. Photographers like to perpetuate a fantastic idea of the night sky by taking overexposed pictures, and this one is no exception. I have been in the middle of the savannah in Africa, with n…
> The city would look much, much darker.
Not unless it was a moonless night. Even a quarter moon can be surprisingly bright once your eyes have adjusted to the night.
Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
#45Is that what the sky literally looks like with no light pollution, or are they time lapsed at all?
Those must be long exposures with post processing. A clear sky without light pollution doesn't look anything like that, but it's beautiful. Go see one!
Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
#46I've always wondered what it would be like if there is a total black out in a big city. Now I can see it in these pictures. If the blackout isn't exactly simultaneous, would the stars slowly emerge one by one? How cool would that be!
Yes, they would. If you're in the middle of a remote desert during the day, you would be able to look up and see only blue sky. As the sun sets and the night becomes darker, you'll gradually see more and more stars until you see as many as you'll be able to when the sun is on the opposite side of the earth from you.
Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
#47These are beautiful. I would love to have one of these framed in my house.
If we didn't have light pollution, a window frame would be sufficient to have this kind of view on every clear night.
Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
#48This is how it would look through a special lense on a camera. Anyone who has been in true wilderness knows it looks nothing like this.
Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
#49They would look nothing like those photos. The city would look much, much darker. You can really tell that those are day shots of the cities with the brightness and saturation reduced. The sky would look much, much less impressive. Photographers like to perpetuate a fantastic idea of the night sky by taking overexposed pictures, and this one is no exception. I have been in the middle of the savannah in Africa, with n…
I agree that this takes it a bit too far, but it is possible to clearly see the milky way on a moonless light. You can't really see the details of the colours (you need a long exposure picture for that), but you can clearly make out light and dark patches and patterns (such as the milky way) in the sky.
My parents live in a small village on the south coast of England, the nearest town is 15 miles away, so I saw it regularly when I was younger.
Re: What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
#50After living in Alaska for several years, I don't really think that is how cities would look at all. With just stars and even the aurora borealis, it is incredible how pure darknesss looks. I really didn't know how much light pollution effected the sky until living there, but even in small towns and other less populated areas the light from various sources changes the skyline.
Whew. I was wondering if I was the only one who has been out in the mountains and other rural areas, but have never seen a night sky like these.
I grew up in rural New York and once, when camping, we stayed up very late with all the lights off. You would be amazed at how much your eyes eventually see after a couple hours in darkness. We could see Satellites, the Milky Way, and even the "Horse and Rider" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_and_Rider).
Nowadays, with phones and ipod, it's nearly impossible to let your eyes adjust that long without light. But it's worth it.