Professional travel photographer Anton Jankovoy wants to take us on a special journey, to show us a sight most of us have never seen. It’s the gorgeous Milky Way high above Nepal, a small country that’s home to the highest mountains in the world.
“This shot was taken in the Langtang area,” Jankovoy tells us, when we ask what the story is behind that Milky Way shot, above. “That day we came down from the Laurebina La Pass (4630 m), and stayed overnight in this small mountain village Laurebina Yak. This house is actually the guesthouse we were staying at. We were there during the Ganga festival, so lots of pilgrims were staying there at the same time. Those Hindu pilgrims hadn’t gotten acclimated well enough, so were having a terrible bout of high altitude sickness, and couldn’t sleep all night. So what they did is just walk around the hallways of the guesthouse and talk….making lots of noise.
“We couldn’t sleep either. So I walked outside to take a break from all that that madness and saw the stunning picture of the Milky way just above the house. The rest of the night I took many shots, and this was the best out of them.”
He continues, “Star photography is among the most difficult genres of photography. It all depends on the weather conditions and landscape. Before shooting the stars, I need to know what time the moon rises, from what point on the sky it’s going to appear, where the Polar star is and lots of other things like that. Sometimes it can take a couple of weeks to figure everything out and to get the perfect weather conditions for shooting. Sometimes, though, I get lucky and, in just a of couple minutes, can take a great shot!”
