 |
| The sky is the limit |
Last month’s blog post about the calendar was loooooong because we had so, so, so many photos of castles to consider.This month will be much, much shorter.
March's theme is one that we frequently use – the sky. Although we didn’t really have much variety to choose from, there were two spectacular celestial events in 2024. And, they truly deserved attention.
Main Page
The first event dominates the main page.
During 2024, the sun experienced a number of major storms that created coronal mass ejections that, in turn, resulted in aurora borealis (AKA northern lights, which I explained here) of both great strength and great reach.
I missed the show in Colorado, but when Scott and I heard that there was another potentially low-dipping display, we took an impromptu trip north. We decided that Yellowstone National Park would be a good option. Later, we saw that there had been more dramatic displays in other places (some even farther south).
But, how many times can you observe the aurora with an erupting geyser in the foreground? Well, maybe you can in Iceland, but let me rephrase: how many times can you observe the aurora with an erupting Old faithful in the foreground?
 |
| Old Faithful and aurora borealis; Photo: Scott Stevens |
The answer is almost never. But we got it!
So, this spectacular event dominates the main page with one almost full-page shot and one smaller photo.
 |
| Multiple colors |
Did we have other shots to choose from?
Duh, yeah!!! What do you think?
Scott had a lot (this is, after, all, his specialty) …
 |
| Just a faint background glow; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| Color and spikes; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| Eruption; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| Lots of options (and a shooting star); Photos: Scott Stevens |
 |
| Amazing! Photo: Scott Stevens |
But, I got some nice ones, too …
 |
| The peak |
 |
| Another shooting star |
Since aurora ebbs and flows …
 |
| Without and with |
… we also captured some great Old Faithful eruption shots against a clear night sky …
 |
| Well, there is a tiny hint of aurora here; Photo: Scott Stevens |
This was a highlight of my life. It might never occur again in my lifetime.
The other major celestial event, which I will get to in a minute, was a total solar eclipse, which Scott, Caty and I traveled to Ennis, Texas, to view.
 |
| Diamond ring and corona; Photo: Caty Stevens |
Caty and I had been planning this trip since we saw our first solar eclipse in 2017. But, let me finish with the main page, first.
As we travel, we collect lots of pretty sky shots, usually sunrise and sunset. The bottom of the main page features both.
 |
| Sunset at our hotel in The Camargue, France |
 |
| Sunset at Devil’s Tower, Wyoming; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| Sunrise in The Camargue |
 |
| Sunset on the Riviera in Saint-Raphaël, France |
As you can imagine, we had a few options for all of these …
 |
| Twilight in The Camargue |
 |
| Devil’s Tower dominating the shot; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| And farther back; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| A less wide-angle view of The Camargue in the morning; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| Another shot of Saint-Raphaël appears on the calendar page; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| And even more options of that glorious evening in Saint-Raphaël; Left: Scott Stevens |
Calendar Page
The eclipse, the last one in the contiguous United States until Aug. 23, 2044, was fantastic, despite some early clouds. Caty, Scott and I all successfully photographed it.
The calendar page features the progression in a composite I put together of Scott’s shots. Actually, I did two composites, the calendar design dictated that I use the one with fewer shots.
 |
| We used the top, but the bottom is more fun; Photos: Scott Stevens |
We also featured several shots showing the variety that occurs with totality.
 |
The diamond ring that appears right before and after totality plus some solar flares
that were actually visible to the naked eye |
 |
| The full corona |
And, yes, we had a few more options that didn’t make it …
 |
| The diamond ring going in; Photos: Scott Stevens |
 |
| The diamond ring coming out; Left: Scott Stevens |
 |
| Truly dramatic diamond ring shots; Photos: Scott Stevens |
 |
| The diamond ring with the solar flares; Photo: Caty Stevens |
 |
| Corona; Photo: Caty Stevens |
 |
| A look at those flares; Left: Scott Stevens |
 |
| The tiny sliver as the shadow begins to move away; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| One more look at those flares; Left: Caty Stevens |
For some color on the calendar page, we had two other shots. One was that Saint-Raphaël sunset I already showed you.
 |
| The other is the sun breaking through morning fog in Matigny, Switzerland; Photo: Scott Stevens |
More Photos We Didn't UseThere were a few other dramatic cloud shots that didn’t make it …
 |
| Clouds over the French Alps; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| Sunset in Lourdes, France; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| A spectacular sky in Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina; Photo: Scott Stevens |
 |
| Sunset in Chamonix, France (you’ll see more shots like this in November) |
 |
| Sunset in New Mexico |
And, that’s it for the sky. Well, there was also a comet in 2024, but that was featured in the opening of the calendar, so I already mentioned it.
 |
| I took this from Raton, New Mexico |
Next month, we’ll go to the countryside.
 |
| Carmes Château Haut-Brion, France; Photo: Scott Stevens |
No comments:
Post a Comment