Rare Solar Eclipse

My quote for the day is on preparation.

I'm going to go with the Boy Scout Motto here,

"Always Be Prepared!"

I was not! 

Weeping and gnashing of teeth and of course, utter sadness.

I grabbed my camera,

I grabbed the wrong lens for such an event.

This is always how it goes with me. 

I learn after the fact.

And as for viewing the eclipse,

I took what I had, cheap sunglasses. Des and I jumped in the jeep.

If I was going to see a Solar Eclipse there was only one place to go.

We drove to Antelope Island.

Across the causeway, the earth was majestically preparing herself.

There were clouds in the sky and everything started to go dark.

I drove faster.

The colors were amazing. Everything had a soft sense about it.

Almost like all of nature had been hushed.
The sky was so beautiful, mirrored in the water.

We hiked to a lone peak.

Mice hid in their holes as we climbed. 

Des kept glancing with her nifty polarized sun shades.

"I'm going to go blind she screamed."
I was laughing at her. 

"I can't stop looking at it. It's beautiful," she clammered 

She and I took turns taking quick glances with her cheap glasses.
She was not happy I referred to them as cheap!

After that, a couple spotted us and loaned us their real live solar glasses.

They had gotten them at the Hansen Planetarium.

Why didn't I think of that? 

Viewing the eclipse through them was nothing short of spectacular!

I couldn't point my camera right at it.

I didn't want to blow out my sensor and of course I was not equipped with a filter. Urrrgh

So I captured the earth, the best I could, in all it's splendor as it happened.

It didn't take long

and suddenly the light started to come back to everything.

I told Des I was going to wait for the sun to set.

She perched herself on the top of a rock with her book.
She's that dot at the top. "You're boring Deserey!"
I yelled to her as I hiked down through the cobwebby rocks. Eeew

No adventure for her.

The water along the beach lay perfectly still.

I sat my rear end down on a rock and commenced to soak in all the beauty!

The seagulls put on quite a show in the light!

   

It was breath taking to say the least.

This was the last shot of the night. 

Henry David Thoreau said,

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,

To front only the essential facts of life,

And see if I could not learn what it had to teach,

And not,

When I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Today..... was a camera journal entry day!
Today..... I truly enjoyed taking part in what Thoreau called living !

"I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; 

and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually."

—I Kings 9:3

Antelope Island

 

"You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, 

here and now - and nothing can stand in your way!" 

"Perfect speed isn't moving fast at all; perfect speed is being there." 

"How much more there is now to living! Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!"

~Jonathan Livingston Seagull

by Richard Bach

What's not to love? Happy Birthday Cute Adorable Girl!

Nana loves you!

On the 7th day God rested. His grandchildren must have been out of town!

Super Moon

Today was an interesting day. I got up this morning and raced to the river. Kate came with me. I grabbed my camera as I walked out the door. Today was the day they were suppose to find little Corbin Anderson. He drown, after accidently falling into the Weber River. Melanie, his mom had asked me to take pictures of the massive recovery efforts. She and I have something in common. That something drew us together in an unusual way. Today we talked a long time about both our Corbins. If they can ever find this sweet boy I will do his hands for her. How this came about is a story for another day.

After spending half the day at the river, leaving dissapointed, I traveled down to Salt Lake for another photo shoot. Today my camera was in my hand from dawn until dark. I nearly wore it out. I loved every minute of it. After arriving home late, I kicked off my shoes and was enjoying my grandkids. Then I remembered.......SUPER MOON NIGHT!

I have never shot my digital camera with the shutter wide open. I got it situated on the tripod and began my attempts to capture its beautiful illumination.

Here's the first shot. OH DEAR!

I yanked of my lens and ran for a consultation with my daughter Kaedell and then I slapped on the big guns, my Nikkor 80-400

Ok, hummmm my HEART MOON, now lets get things set right. 

I'm not going to post the 30 pictures I took until I captured this one. It's called trial and error. But finally.....WaLah! Oh be still my heart!

There he is, the man in the moorn!

Oh, I love life and all it's beauty!

Dream as if you'll live forever! Live as if you'll die today!

I love taking pictures. I've been so busy with my camera I haven't had time to keep up here with my picture blog. I have so many pictures I want to post. Someday. Tonight though I got to have my first photo shoot with Trudie and her cute owner Whit. Looking through the lens of my camera at this black beauty took me back to my childhood and growing up on a horse. I miss it . . .riding. I miss my saddle, I miss my boots, I miss sitting ontop of a horse and feeling that familiar gate under me. Ronald Regan said, "The best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse." I couldn't agree more!