Pictures in Space, featuring NASA Astronaut Donald Pettit

Pictures in Space, featuring NASA Astronaut Donald Pettit

From B&H Photography Podcast by B&H Photo & Video

March 25, 2026 · 1h 2m

About this episode

The episode features a conversation with NASA Astronaut Donald Pettit about photography in space and the unique challenges and perspectives it offers.

Above Photograph © Donald Pettit, NASA At its best, photography draws from both science and art, to give resulting images a dual purpose—aesthetic innovation and scientific merit. And when that photography happens from the windows of the International Space Station, capturing star trails, city lights, and our blue planet against the void of space, it becomes something truly transcendent. In today's show, we're privileged to chat with NASA Astronaut Donald Pettit, a scientist, inventor, and photographer who has spent nearly two years living, working, and making pictures in orbit. Some fun take aways from our chat include: How photographing in a microgravity environment can turn a traditional group portrait into bodies scattering like bowling pins when the photographer tries to join the shot. The vast perspective when viewing out a window of the ISS—on the order of half a continent—rather than a 50-to-100-kilometer horizon on earth. The stratospheric volume of imagery captured during a mission, and the discerning Lightroom workflow Don uses to retrieve individual photos from his archive at home. The importance of a humble synch cord to connect two cameras and render the "many…

People in this episode

Guest: Donald Pettit

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Organizations: NASA

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