The darkness of the night can alternatively be murky and mysterious, beautiful, rainy, moonlit, even white. Each and every night has its own shade, it’s own light.
We at Bright Side believe that nighttime is not at all as gray and impenetrable as people tend to think. To prove this to you, here are 20 of the most stunning photos of this most intriguing period of the 24-hour cycle that were entered as part of the contest “Night Life”, organised by National Geographic Russia magazine. Some of these are truly spectacular!
1st place: Painted night
© Mikhail Ustyuzhanin
Belaya Kholunitsa, Kirov region, Russia.
Stellar carousel
© Alexey Yakovlev
Bolshoi Utrish village, Krasnodar region, Russia.
The white nights of Karelia
© Andrey Grachev
Autumn rain
© Eduard Gordeev
Saint Petersburg, Russia.
In milky-white mist
© Sukhorukova Svetlana
Tver region, Russia.
The Milky Way above Koba-Kaya mountain
© Eugene SnoOff
The Republic of Crimea.
Dreams of Kamchatka
© Vladimir Voichuk
Klyuchevskiy volcano belt, Kamchatka region, Russia.
The exquisite colours of Aurora Polaris
© Mila Birko
Lofoten, Norway.
Tigirek at night
© Pavel Silinenko
Altai region, Russia.
The Aurora Polaris
© Sergey Poproshaev
Volgograd region, Russia.
Nocturnal maelstrom
© Max Pankov
Krasnaya Polyana, Krasnodar region.
Paradise in a tent
© Andrey Sheremetiev
Eternal wanderers
© Sergey Makurin
North Ural, Manpupuner ridge, Russia.
Moonrise with a halo
© Sergey Sutkovoy
Katunskiy reservation, Altai region, Russia.
The city of ghosts
© Anna Anikina
Kiin-Kerish valley, Kazakstan.
A summer night in the mountains
© Svetlana Kazina
The Milky Way above Lake Kucheria, Altai region, Russia.
An autumn evening
© Alexey Tsvetkov
The Volga river, Russia.
The ridge before dawn
© Alexander Trashin
In the North Caucasus, Russia.
Winter tale
© Andrey Snegirev
Yamalo-Nents, Russia.
Night’s watch
© Nikolay Gernet
Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk region, Russia.