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Off Topic Area => Random Musings => Topic started by: ToTheSummit on August 25, 2017, 09:37:31 AM
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So my buddy in Boise really came through for me. We found a spot with a small meadow at the end of a dead end forest service road less than a mile from the center of totality. The last people we saw were about a half mile down the road from us so we had the spot all to ourselves. We had 2 minutes and 11 seconds of totality at our location. It was one of, if not THE, most amazing things I have ever witnessed!
A few of my observations from the event. First, the one I expected, was the sounds of the forest changing. There were lots of flies, cricket/grasshoppers, and other bugs buzzing around the woods but in the minutes approaching totality I noticed that the forest went completely silent. Every bug had gone quiet and the forest was quieter then I have ever heard it. Next, one thing that I didn't expect but would have if I'd thought about it was the temperature change. Over the course of the eclipse the temperature probably dropped 20 degrees. And the thing that surprised me most was how fast the darkness fell at the moment of totality. It got progressively dimmer (and cooler) as the eclipse progressed, but in those final moments as the "diamond ring" effect appeared and the sun went out it was as if someone had a dimmer switch on the world and turned out the lights. And then the view of the blacked out sun and the amazing corona were absolutely stunning! Could see the stars and planets in the sky, and it felt like about a half-moon-lit night.
Here was our viewing spot.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4422/36797736265_4ede035382_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Y4G1YH)ViewingSpot (https://flic.kr/p/Y4G1YH) by Karl Camp (https://www.flickr.com/photos/154136303@N04/), on Flickr
Before totality...crescent-shaped sunbeams coming through a bush.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4382/36627311812_126a48f2dd_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XNCxJ5)SunbeamsBefore (https://flic.kr/p/XNCxJ5) by Karl Camp (https://www.flickr.com/photos/154136303@N04/), on Flickr
Last of the sun before totality.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4374/36797735585_0715e2e343_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Y4G1LZ)LastSun (https://flic.kr/p/Y4G1LZ) by Karl Camp (https://www.flickr.com/photos/154136303@N04/), on Flickr
Three views of totality. First shows little of the corona, but you can see the filaments streaking out from the edge of the sun. Second shows more of the corona, and third shows the full corona.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4391/36658489871_876484ef9d_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XRokSP)Total1 (https://flic.kr/p/XRokSP) by Karl Camp (https://www.flickr.com/photos/154136303@N04/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4379/36797735985_6f7b90222b_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Y4G1TT)Total2 (https://flic.kr/p/Y4G1TT) by Karl Camp (https://www.flickr.com/photos/154136303@N04/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4414/36658489891_c23c1d5241_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XRokTa)Total3 (https://flic.kr/p/XRokTa) by Karl Camp (https://www.flickr.com/photos/154136303@N04/), on Flickr
The sun reappearing. Caused some lens flares when it did (no filter on the camera while I was shooting totality) but it created a neat effect.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4429/36658489851_f05d8df599_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XRokSt)Reappear (https://flic.kr/p/XRokSt) by Karl Camp (https://www.flickr.com/photos/154136303@N04/), on Flickr
After totality the crescent sunbeams flipped over.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4410/36797735775_bab525279f.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Y4G1Qg)SunbeamsAfter (https://flic.kr/p/Y4G1Qg) by Karl Camp (https://www.flickr.com/photos/154136303@N04/), on Flickr
Also set up my GoPro and took a timelapse. I cropped it down to few minutes before and after the totality so it only runs 26 seconds.
https://youtu.be/x0TTZd-Bfao
It was an amazing experience. And I also had a great week camping and collecting rocks as I made my way home. I got agate from Graveyard Point, jaspers from the Owyhees, took a bunch of wonderstone off Wonderstone Mountain near Fallon, and all kinds of other things (opalite, nodules, botryoidal formations) as I wandered back down through Nevada. Also found my great uncles property in Council Idaho while I was up there. He was a rockhound but he died about 20 years ago. The house and his shop are gone, but I found a pile of rock remnants from his days as a rockhound and I was able to collect some things that were lying around, most notably a nice piece of limb-cast. I will share more pictures of my rocks as I sort and cut it.
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Also, this is the first time I've used Flicker for my pictures and I haven't figured it out yet (the whole photobucket fiasco killed years worth of my photos) If I figure out how to properly post the pictures I will fix them here.
EDIT- OK, I think that fixed the pictures. Let me know if they posted properly.
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Your great pics are showing fine. Sounds like a very worthwhile trip!
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Wow, wonderful experience. Thanks for taking us along.
Pictures are superb.......
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It looks like you had an awesome time! Your pictures turned out fabulous. Thanks so much for sharing them!
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Awesome shots! I went to Pavillion Wyoming which was close to the longest of the totality periods. I got similar shots and I agree it was one of the most amazing experiences. I just got home tonight after rockhounding before and after the eclipse. Grats on some great photos. I still have to download from my 2 cameras and gopro.
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Nice pics. On a side note. I have been able to retrieve all of my photos from the 'bucket'. I had 'a lot' of photos out there.
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Well, in reality I can still access all my photos at photobucket, I just can't share from there anymore. And I have backups of everything here at home so no real worry about actually "losing" them permanently. I just had years worth uploaded there for sharing purposes and knew the site well so it was easy for me.
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Thanks for sharing.Life doesn't get much better than an eclipse.
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Well, in reality I can still access all my photos at photobucket, I just can't share from there anymore. And I have backups of everything here at home so no real worry about actually "losing" them permanently. I just had years worth uploaded there for sharing purposes and knew the site well so it was easy for me.
Yes, same for me. When it turned to $#!T I was disappointed. Most of my stuff is Ebay and it is really really easy to grab what I need off of the pc.
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beautiful pictures