Summary
- Don Pettit documented the transition of major cities from sodium-vapor lamps to LEDs over a 23-year period
- Older orange tones are being replaced by whiter and often cooler urban lighting
- The change affects white balance and color rendition in nighttime photography
- Some LED lights can produce flicker or bright bands when recording video
- The transition is also connected to light pollution and the loss of the natural night sky
Don Pettit’s photographs from the International Space Station document a remarkable change over 23 years: cities have shifted from the distinctive orange glow of sodium-vapor lamps to the whiter light of LEDs.
The NASA astronaut and photographer compared images captured during his four missions to the ISS, including Chicago, Mexico City, São Paulo, Seoul, Las Vegas, Monterrey, and Miami. Earlier photographs are dominated by warm yellow-orange light, while newer ones appear whiter and more varied as LEDs have spread.
The change is particularly significant for photographers and filmmakers because it affects more than the appearance of a city. Different light sources have different spectral characteristics, require different approaches to white balance, and introduce new challenges for both still photography and video.
A 23-year photographic record
Pettit says he has been documenting the transition of city lighting to LEDs for 23 years. His comparisons include Chicago in 2003 and 2024, Mexico City and São Paulo in 2003 and 2025, Seoul in 2011 and 2025, and Miami in 2012 and 2025.
Pettit’s nighttime photography of cities has a much longer history. During Expedition 6 in 2002-2003, he built a homemade tracking mechanism that allowed his camera to follow the ground during longer exposures, compensating for the movement of the ISS. NASA says the technique made it possible to capture hundreds of detailed nighttime photographs of cities.
Why cities used to look so orange
For decades, a large proportion of public lighting relied on sodium-vapor lamps. Their distinctive yellow-orange light became an integral part of the nighttime appearance of many major cities.
NASA had already noted in the early 2000s that cities viewed from space often had a characteristic yellowish tone because of the widespread use of sodium-vapor streetlights.
Photographically, the issue is not simply that the light is “warm.” Sodium-vapor lamps have a particular spectral distribution. Adjusting white balance can reduce the orange cast, but it cannot recreate color information that was never present in the light illuminating the subject.
How LEDs changed nighttime photography
Replacing older lighting with LEDs directly changed the color of cities at night. In Pettit’s comparisons, relatively uniform orange areas become whiter and often more colorful urban landscapes.
This does not mean that all LEDs produce the same color. Different installations can use warmer or cooler light, while several generations of streetlights, signs, displays, architectural lighting, and vehicle lights can coexist within a single frame.
For photographers, one white-balance setting may therefore be unable to neutralize an entire scene. RAW files provide considerably more flexibility in processing, but they cannot change the spectral characteristics of the light that was originally recorded.
What changes for video
LEDs introduce another practical challenge for moving images. Depending on their electronic drivers and dimming methods, some fixtures vary their brightness extremely rapidly.
The human eye may not notice this variation, but a camera can record it as flicker or bright bands. The result depends on exposure time, frame rate, and the characteristics of the individual light fixture.
For film productions, existing location lighting therefore needs to be checked not only for color but also for the way it behaves on camera.
LEDs and light pollution
Greater LED efficiency does not automatically mean less light pollution. Intensity, direction, color, and operating hours remain critical factors.
The subject becomes even more interesting when examined on a global scale. PTTL previously covered NASA maps showing changes in Earth’s nighttime lighting between 2014 and 2022, documenting regions that became brighter as well as others that became darker.
Light pollution is also a central subject of ECLIPSED, the documentary by Christoforos Anagnostopoulos being created in collaboration with Vaios Vitos and the rest of the production team, with PTTL participating as a media partner. The project examines the loss of the natural night sky caused by artificial light.
The photographs are becoming a historical archive
What makes Pettit’s work especially interesting is that the photographs gain value with time. Images originally created as nighttime photographs from orbit now function as a visual record of a worldwide change in lighting infrastructure.
PTTL recently also covered Pettit’s Milky Way photograph captured from the ISS Cupola with a Nikon Z9 and a custom tracking mechanism, another example of his highly technical approach to photography from space.
In the case of cities, however, the important element is not a single spectacular image. It is the ability to look at the same urban landscape two decades apart and see a technological transition literally recorded in the color of the night.
What we think
Don Pettit’s photographs demonstrate something that is difficult to perceive from street level: lighting technology can change the visual identity of an entire city.
For photographers and filmmakers, the transition from sodium-vapor lamps to LEDs brings different possibilities as well as different problems. At the same time, the images are a reminder that every change in the way cities are illuminated also affects the night sky above them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are older nighttime photographs of cities so orange?
Because for decades a large proportion of public lighting used sodium-vapor lamps, which produce a distinctive yellow-orange light.
Why do modern cities look whiter?
The gradual replacement of older fixtures with LEDs changed both the color temperature and spectral composition of urban lighting.
Can white balance completely correct sodium-vapor lighting?
No. It can reduce the color cast, but it cannot recreate color information that was absent from the original spectrum of the light.
Why can some LEDs cause problems in video?
Because their brightness can vary extremely rapidly. If that variation interacts with a camera’s exposure time or frame rate, flicker or bright bands can appear.
Do LEDs reduce light pollution?
Not necessarily. They can be used more efficiently and controlled more precisely, but the final result depends on their intensity, direction, color, and operating hours.
