Aurora to Eclipse 2024

Planning for the 2024 Great American Solar Eclipse began more than a year before April 8. Although the path of totality would pass over my brother's house near Buffalo, NY, I opted to travel to Texas in hopes of clear skies. The importance of a clear sky cannot be overemphasized when discussing the observation of totality. Eclipse chasers try to get close to the center line of the path of totality to maximize the duration of totality. And Those Who Know ... know that the difference between 99.9% totality and actual totality (100%) cannot be expressed in words.

My friend and fellow retired physics teacher, Dan Burns, was looking at North Waco as an option. I refreshed hotel reservation sites regularly hoping for availability. I expanded the search area and found a Hyatt east of Dallas that had opened their availability for the April 6-9 window. It seems they didn't know what they had. While other lodging options in the path of totality were harvesting dollars as best they could, tripling their normal rates, Hyatt was asking $105/night. Dan and I jumped on the deal.

We both made road trips of the journey to Dallas. Mine started in Bozeman and stopped by the Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs) en route to Dallas. I made a slow journey back to Bozeman via red rock country. Arches, Canyonlands, Monument Valley, Vermilion Cliffs, Canyon de Chelly, Chaco Canyon, and Flaming Gorge were among the "detours."

A month later, the aurora filled the skies over North America. Montana was "in the zone." I found some dark skies near Bozeman, but the northern lights were blazing nicely over the city, too. From The Headwaters of the Missouri State Park, you felt like you were under an umbrella of aurora. We had additional decent shows in August and October.

Here's the HTML export from my Keynote slideshow of all this stuff. You show be able to advance it easily enough in your browser. It behaves nicely for me in Safari and Firefox. And decently on my iPad (once I updated to iPadOS 18.2.1). HTML exports from Keynote can sometimes be a little laggy on advancing. I use the forward arrow key to advance things on my computer and just tap the screen on my iPad.

Aurora to Eclipse 2024 [HTML export from Keynote]

If you cannot get the HTML version to play nicely, here's a movie export posted to YouTube. It plays on its own; you can pause and unpause as needed.

Aurora to Eclipse 2024 [Movie export from Keynote]

Ex-Genesis guitarist, Steve Hackett was playing a concert in Dallas two days before the eclipse, so I was able to see that.

In the video capture of our "Eclipse Party" in the Hyatt's back yard, Dan was just off the left side of the screen. The enthusiastic gentleman on the right of the screen turns out to be the brother of a teacher colleague I worked with at Rio. He texted his brother once we figured out our random connection, and his brother complimented me with a colorful characterization.

Our sense of euphoric relief cannot be overstated. We thought we might get completely blocked from totality. And we had planned long in advance and traveled great distances to be there. Dan had several family members with him. Whew!

The Shoebox for Norway 2018

So many photos. Processing has begun. The trip has a few major segments.

1. The Lofoten (a chain of islands that peels west from the mainland into the northern Atlantic ocean)
2. Oslo, the Fjords, and Bergen
3. Svalbard and the Sea Ice

As I cull the keepers from the riff raff and apply some post-processing and cropping, the results of that first-order filter get tossed into The Shoebox.

Norway 2018: The Shoebox

My Casio Exilim EX-F1 is available for purchase

The Casio EX-F1 remains a high-speed legend ten years after its debut. Here are some of the tech specs that keep it in a class of its own.

High-Speed Video
300 frames per second
600 frames per second
1200 frames per second

Photography
60 frames per second burst rate at full 6 megapixel resolution

The camera was released in 2008 for $999.95. If a sub-$1000 full camera is matching those capabilities in 2018, I'm unaware of it.

Upon its debut, Gizmodo had this to say: Casio Exilim EX-F1 Slow-Mo Super Cam Full Review (Verdict: Totally Unique, Shockingly Powerful)

Enthusiasts have been using this camera for a decade, but the demand was not enough for Casio to continue the line. They soldiered on with lesser bodies (EX-FH20 and FH100) with lesser specs.

Once it was discontinued, the EX-F1 became a highly prized and sought after, selling for up to $3499 on Amazon. Right now.

Used EX-F1s can be had for less (under $1000). But the sellers and descriptions of the state of the product do not inspire confidence. Some confess to be missing manuals and/or cables, but promise they include everything necessary for image capture. Many of the sellers are also at considerable remove (Asia). Purchases involve import/export hassles, fees, and delays.

Here's what I have. A like-new EX-F1 in its original box with all the cables and manuals, battery and charger, lens hood and cap, CD-ROM, and wired remote: it's a close to a new-in-box camera as can be had. Nothing is missing. It's nice to have the manual as there are things to learn so as to make the camera work as expected.

Dean's Casio EX-F1 Flickr: iPhone pics of the product.

My high-speed video web page with many examples of high-speed videos take with the EX-F1. Did you see the tuning fork? The water balloons? The air-rocket launch? The Mentos geysers? Spend some time poking around in those videos!

Here's where you come in!
I'm willing to sell my prized EX-F1 to a bona fide science teacher for $500 + shipping (or best offer once the $500 reserve is met). I want this camera to be put to good use by a classroom instructor. Contact me: dean@phyz.org to let me know you're interested and tell me about your teaching assignment. I'll be keen to see your online listing as a faculty member at your institution. Students may be able to get 120 fps or even 240 fps video on their phones these days, but 1200 fps? Not so much.

If I am unable to locate a science instructor purchaser in October, I'll list it online at a higher price. I would prefer to see it go to a "good home," but I'm also looking to "recycle" the money into other groovy projects.

Here's me on the news about a year after I got the camera. The reporter used a bunch of my clips.

[When purchasing camera gear, it is sometimes necessary to justify the expense to a spouse. The storyline here is that you are acquiring a $3500 camera for a fraction of the cost.]

Eclipse Photography Link Post

General Tips from Mr. Eclipse

Detailed Tips from John Shaw of Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris

Tony Northrup (Stunning Digital Photography)

Canon Tips

Nikon Tips

Science Tourism

Today's Science Friday featured 24 minutes on science tourism. Ella Morton and Dylan Thuras, authors of Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders joined host Ira Flatow to discuss a plethora of geeky destinations.

Hidden Wonders To Hit On Your Science Road Trip

Sunscreens failing?

From NPR's Science Friday.

The guest likes products with zinc oxide (which I believe is opaque) or avobenzone (3%). Avobenzone products should have an of SPF between 30 and 50.
 

Planning for 2018: Norway

I'm "laying low" in 2017 as far as international photo safaris are concerned. I wanted to have financial leeway to do things relative to The Great American Eclipse 2017, and I wasn't sure what shape that would take.

But as it is Presidents' Week 2017, it's time to assemble plans for summer, 2018. So far, I'm booked for

Wildphoto Travel's Svalbard Classic

and am eyeing

68 North's Lofoten Islands Midnight Mountains (this is the 2017 link).

Depending on schedules, I might be able to putter about on some version of

Norway in a Nutshell.

Wildphoto Travels' Svalbard Classic puts you on the ice-hardened but nimble M/S Origo out of Longyearbyen on a "hunt" for landscapes, walruses, and polar bears via a partial circumnavigation of the isolated archipelago located 10 degrees south of the north pole. Here's how that trip went for them in 2013.

Lofoten Midnight Mountains involves hiking in the picturesque Lofoten archipelago, just above the Arctic Circle on Norway's west coat.

Norway in a Nutshell is a popular tourist travel package that allows travelers to get out of Oslo and see the Norwegian countryside and coast via train, bus, and boat.

Obviously, I have time to work out logistics and details. And see if I can learn a bit of Norwegian (Bokmal) via Duolingo prior to departure.

Photo Tour of Oslo
TripAdvisor seems to like this one. I'll pin this here for future reference.

UPDATE 6/3/17: Trips to Africa and Brazil get you thinking about sunscreen and mosquitoes. You still need mosquito protection in Alaska in the summer, but no need for malaria prophylaxis.

Tromping on Norwegian terrain and on a boat, it seems it might be nice to have some grippy boots. Vibram now offers Arctic Grip for traction on wet ice. Traction on wet ice? I'll be keeping an eye on this stuff. Gear Junkie. Digital Trends.

The Art of Polar Bear Photography