Portrayal of air pollution

[Marty]

Hi,
Sadly, once again the north of Thailand has become a heavily air-polluted area, largely due to selfish farmers illegally burning vast areas of forested land, in a routine known as "slash & burn". The population here is suffering from coughing, respiratory issues, throat infections and streaming eyes. Although this burning activity was outlawed 4 years ago, when the city of Chiangmai was declared to have a "national emergency", virtually nothing is being done about it by the authorities each year. If you excuse the pun... they are turning a blind eye.

I was wondering how best to portray air pollution in a photograph. That challenge played on my mind for a few days and then I suddenly spotted the obvious. I could demonstrate the effects of foreign material in the air in just one photograph.

Here is a quick snap of the moon this evening, taken at 8.30. I am no astro-photographer so I make no apologies for the rather poor quality of this picture but I do hope that the message it conveys, outweighs its technical failings.

This was the true colour of the moon. White balance was correct. The end result looks (on the screen) exactly as it did to the naked eye. No manipulation was done on the photo (other than a crop and a tiny bit of sharpening).

This, I believe, gives a fair indication of the level of pollution that's floating about in our atmosphere above this city.

Just wanted to share with you.... I imagine most of the members around the CiC forum may never see a moon like this.



marty

[The Blue Boy]

Hi Marty,

That really does look erm, unreal. If you could get a similar shot with some cityscape underneath to add some reality it would be a stunner and really highlight the problem.

And yes I've never seen a moon like that!

[Donald]

That is indeed a rather frightening sight. I do wonder how many more generations are going to be able inhabit the planet before it finally becomes uninhabitable?

[Marty]

Hi Marty,

That really does look erm, unreal. If you could get a similar shot with some cityscape underneath to add some reality it would be a stunner and really highlight the problem.

And yes I've never seen a moon like that!

Hi Mark,
I will endeavour to do that over the next few days. The difficulty is that at present, the moon just lifts above the eastern horizon here at 8pm, well after it's dark, so any cityscape would be in total darkness. However, I will see if I can find a place where some illuminated city would provide a foreground.
marty

[Marty]

That is indeed a rather frightening sight. I do wonder how many more generations are going to be bale inhabit the planet before it finally becomes uninhabitable?

Donald... it's uncanny that you ask this. We have an 18 month-old daughter here and that's the very thought that was running around in my head this evening when I was trying to achieve that moon shot. Something has got to change.... really!!! The age of selfishness has got to end or we ain't got too much longer to tarry here!