uncommonly feeble and random thoughts

The New Yorker.

The International Space Station as it transits the Sun at roughly five miles per second during partial solar eclipse, near Banner, Wyoming. Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images

The Actual Taking of Pictures This was a very, very demanding and difficult shoot. And a very rewarding four to six weeks. One needs to make myriad decisions about camera gear and settings, and then practice. Oh and research and read tips and tricks. Hence the time frame. I have a D80 Nikon, old DSLR. For lenses, I have two that could work, and I bought a 2X teleconverter, to double my focal length. And I made two filter gizmos, one for each of the lenses. The problem I have is, or was, vibration, and focus. My big lens is heavy, and it sat awkwardly on the tripod, and that introduced a lot of movement. So, I figured out to mount the lens on the tripod, not the camera, and that helped a ton. Second, I lowered the tripod to put the camera about a foot off the ground. Splayed the legs out wider (there's a setting for that on my tripod) and used grass instead of cement or deck boards for my base. I won't go into detail about third, fourth, fifth, and so on. Suffice it ...

Carbondale Details The event management was a bit off, what with our hour-long wait to park. Partly a result of only a few access roads, I'm guessing.  So that was a minus. Good thing we'd planned to arrive at 9 a.m. Then, the shuttle to the stadium area took more time. Decent management there, using perhaps a dozen school buses for transport. I think they could have used more, but the wait was under a half hour, so not terrible. We walked through their basketball venue on the mezzanine level, noting that the action on the court level was a number of vendor booths... nothing in which we had an interest. So, on to Saluki Stadium! In case you were wondering, here's a Saluki: Here's another interpretation: We did not see inside the stadium during the eclipse, but here's the crowd (both the mascot above and this picture by Dave Brown): Judging by the clouds and exposure in this frame, I'm pretty sure it was shot close to the start of total...

To be perfectly authentic, this recipe requires a shallow pit in the sand, local twigs and wood, an improvised grate, huge pans, and three-foot-long tongs: I had to improvise. For starters, I don't live on a beach. Yet. So, here's my recipe. You'll need oil, onions, potatoes, a mandoline, and a grill.  First, cut everybody up: Then, fire up the barbie. Put oil in the pot. Use the charcoal start process to pre-heat the oil (no wasted energy here!!): Then, cook. Potatoes take longer than onions, hence the second pan. If grill space is an issue, one can make room in the first pan after the spuds are pretty much done: How long do you cook? Island time, my friends. Island time. We added burgers (pics did not do them justice) and farm-fresh sweet corn which was microwaved due to time constraints. We don't live on an island. Yet. Yum!!

Lots to accomplish outside of photography adventuring...drive home and prep for Linda's book club meeting, and attend a potential work meeting myself (I got the gig! More money for camera stuff!!). So no time to chronicle the eclipse events. Until now, grabbing a moment. At the outset, none of this is complaining or whining. I said on Facebook, I'd do it all over again. But what a challenge. Travel Linda has developed a freeway phobia. I respect it as a condition. I'm afraid of heights, and while there's no rationality to it, it's real. And it's harrowing. So, not only did she agree to go with me (there's a lot behind that), but she agreed to endure X hours of back road travel. X = 24, in case you were wondering. I can report that there is a shitload of corn in Indiana and Illinois. I can also report, and will in greater detail when I start my Casual Ethnographer blog, that there is a universal social trend. It cuts across gender, ethnic, and s...

I have no idea what drove me to chase this. Why get up at 3 a.m. to shoot the moon? Why fry on the deck out back, practice-shooting the sun at high noon? Why drive eight hours via back roads the day before, and then four hours the day of, to sit in the broiling sun? Why contort myself trying to find the sun in my viewfinder, only to end up abandoning the big lens and switching to the smaller lens, after the hundreds of practice shots showing I could succeed with the big lens? Why sweat to the degree that my belt is still wet the day after, not to mention my unmentionables? I still don't know. But in the afterglow, with all the muscles starting to scream at me, it's clear (like the skies were after the big event, not during!) that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and worth every second of prep, travel, and second-rate brat in Illinois (it's not Wisconsin by a long shot). 2024, I'm coming to git you!!   Eclipse one   Eclipse two    Eclipse three  ...