See the Milky Way across America

See the Milky Way across America

Join photographer Morteza Safataj to major national parks in the US to admire the fascinating and enchanting beauty of the night sky.

Morteza Safataj (34 years old) is an Iranian-American photographer, passionate about travel and night photography. He often posts photos on his personal Instagram, which has nearly 37,000 followers.

The photo above is a sparkling galaxy in a field of wildflowers in Pederales Valley, Texas.

The moment reflects the sky, the landscape and the people (the photographer himself) in the photo taken in Arizona.

The pictures of the beautiful, shimmering night sky are the result of Safataj's careful planning, sometimes up to a year.

Safataj shared: "A perfect photo needs to be taken in 30 minutes, but the preparation work before taking it can take weeks. For example, finding the location, finding the time, the direction of the Milky Way combined with money. It can take a few days to a few weeks."

He initially searched the internet for unique natural sites and calculated when he could observe the Milky Way at that point a whole year in advance. Then he planned to move on that opportunity to take pictures, arrive during the day, survey the location to have the most suitable place.

On the picture is a moment of yoga poses on a unique rock in Bisti Badlands - a geological wonder in the state of New Mexico, USA.

An exposure photograph combining the Milky Way and the highway in the valley heading to Dalles, Oregon, USA. To capture the moment when the road was bright, Safataj asked his friend to drive the car 4 times to get the perfect photo.

"Valley of the Gods" is the name of the photo Safataj took at the location of the same name (Valley of the Gods) in Wyoming, USA. The photographer shared, he spent many hours surveying the location with friends to find the best place to capture both the natural scenery and the galaxy in the same frame.

Coming to Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, USA, Safataj camped for 4 nights and walked for hours in the wind and cold around Crater Lake to capture a satisfactory picture. Both the Milky Way and the Northern Lights show up on a very clear night.

"There are very few words to describe the beauty of this natural wonder. The beautiful alabaster sands make you think you are surrounded by white snow. The scenery is more impressive when you zoom your eyes out towards the dunes. sand where the moon is rising", Safataj told about a time he went to take pictures in White Sands National Park in the state of New Mexico, USA.

In addition to the large national parks in Texas, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, California in the US, Safataj also spends a lot of time taking pictures in all parts of his homeland Iran. The image shows the Milky Way reflected in Lake Jeyran, Meshgin Shahr Province, Iran.

The photographer said that Badab-e surt in Mazzandaran province, northern Iran is one of the most beautiful places to see the Milky Way in the world.

Badab-e Surt has springs containing mineral water flowing on unique natural terrain like terraced fields that were formed thousands of years ago. It has the second largest mineral and salt spring in the world after Pamukkale, Turkey.

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