BREATHTAKING STAR PATTERNS: DANIEL KORDAN
Daniel Kordan, who is both a physicist and an award-winning photographer, gets a special kind joy from patterns formed by stars, solar particles, waves, and other natura. And we can feel it coming through his photographs. He is a master both at quantum physics and at astrophotography.
We’ve seen many photos of the the Milky Way, as it splays across the night sky. And while it’s always an awesome sight, the galaxy looks especially magical in Kordan’s photos.
Kordan seeks out the most remote absolute dark skies, away from all light pollution, so the star pattern contrasts more sharply.
Born and raised in Russia, Kordan has been interested in photography since early childhood. He grew up at the beautiful lake region just south of Moscow, spending most of his free time in the nature. He went to art school to study painting. Then, he pursued his interest in physics, studying at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
In his photo series featuring Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world, the pattern reflects off the mirror-smooth salt surface, doubling the dots of starlight.
The photos are crystal clear, as is the atmosphere surrounding the flat. The air is thin, as the flat sits almost 5,000 meters above sea level. The mirrored images look like space on Earth.
Kordan joined the Institute’s mountain climbing club and started to photograph their expeditions. His love for photography and travel grew. Now, Kordan devotes most of his life to travel photography, photographing landscapes, skyscapes and nature’s most beautiful patterns.
The universe is full of patterns, in everything from subatomic to astronomic scale. As science and technology advances, we can see patterns we couldn’t see before. And we can see patterns in new ways. Photographers can capture patterns more beautifully.
Stars in the skies above Namibia swirl in circular patterns in Kordan’s time lapse photos taken in the Namib Desert. The action displayed by the starlight trails as the earth spins contrasts with the ominous landscape the Deadvlei, a lifeless white clay pan. Remnants of ancient trees poke through the flat to form their own eerie pattern.
Kordan shoots his time lapse shots with a wide angle lens. He works with the PhotoPills app, which helps to predict the position of the stars at any given time.
Check out Kordan’s Instagram to see why he has over 900,000 followers!
Kordan’s photos have been published in Digital SLR Magazine, National Geographic, and Discovery. He is an official Nikon ambassador. And he’s done commercial work for clients like Apple and RedBull.
If you are inspired to take photos like these, check out Kordan’s workshops, tours, and expeditions, held at the most beautiful places around the world.
Read more about Beautiful Patterns all this week on BeautifulNow. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.
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