On a remote island hours away from Key West lies the largest masonry structure in the Americas: Fort Jefferson. Built with 16 million bricks, but never finished, the fort served as a prison during Civil War. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, upon visiting the island, named it a National Monument, and in 1992 it became part of Dry Tortugas National Park.

Besides serving as a safe haven for the most preserved coral reef in the United States, the set of islands that comprise the national park also protect countless marine animals and bird species. However, the true treasure of this amazing place was noted by one of its most famous prisoners, Dr. Samuel Mudd, who once said that the the only escape from the hell of this prison was gazing at the night skies. Today, Dry Tortugas National Park is the darkest spot on USA's East Coast.

This video was filmed as part of SKYGLOW, an ongoing crowdfunded quest to explore the effects and dangers of urban light pollution in contrast with some of the most incredible dark sky areas in North America. This project is being produced in collaboration with International Dark-Sky Association. You can support SKYGLOW by visiting WWW.SKYGLOWPROJECT.COM

The film was shot on Canon 5DSR & 5DIII cameras & lenses sponsored by Canon USA, aided by Alpine Labs' Michron, powered by Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini. LRTimelapse was used to process some of the shots.

High resolution stills can be found here: dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24210546/JPEG/SKYGLOW-TORTUGAS%20ROCK-STILLS.zip

Credits:
Producer/Editor/Shooter: Harun Mehmedinovic
Music: Terry Devine-King

Special Thanks:
Kelly Clark & Nick Fuechsel
National Park Service
Semezdin & Sanja Mehmedinovic
Matt Walker & Pierangelo Pirak
Aaron McNally & Canon USA
Kevin Noble & Paul C. Buff Inc.
Greg Horvath & Alpine Labs
International Dark-Sky Association
Northern Arizona University
State Of Florida

Locations:
Dry Tortugas National Park, FL