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Smoke from a fire makes a red sun on Monday evening in Madras. As we packed up most of the campsite Monday evening, an incredible red sun hung low in the west, smoke from a nearby fire creating a filter for the light. Quite…

The ‘diamond ring’ effect, just before totality. I found a nicer ‘diamond ring’ effect photo I’ll post here. It’s when the moon is just about to cover the face of the sun and the bright light shines on one spot of the disk. This…

Totality, 10:21 a.m. We’re a day late, but here’s the eclipse. I was working for Agence France-Presse and sending to Space.com and  a couple of other astronomy websites that I didn’t have time to post to the blog. It was quite a sight, incredibly…

Our campsite on the baseball field. (Click on photos to enlarge.) The students cooking their dinner. Here’s our campsite at the Madras high school. We are here with the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy (FALA), a great group of high…

UFO cloud on western horizon in Madras. We’re at two days and counting to totality. We’ve moved from our comfortable hotel to camping on a baseball field at Madras High School. It’s not too bad. We’re on grass fields, away from the throngs of…

Great design on the Madras town sign. (Click on photos to enlarge.) For those wondering where Ann and I are viewing the eclipse, we have arrived in Madras, Oregon, apparently the center of the total eclipse universe for Central Oregon. We’ll be helping out…

Photography tips and links for the upcoming total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017. Follow the blog as Ann and I travel to Madras, Oregon to view the eclipse. Totality in the Arctic: March 20, 2015, Svalbard. Vernal equinox total solar eclipse. NationalGeographic.com interviews…

Burned Juniper trunk. (click on photos to enlarge) While the subtle colors are nice at Mesa Verde, the impact of natural forces are sometimes best seen in black and white. We walked the Long House Loop trail on a hot day which took us…

Desert varnish and limy cement (Click on photos to enlarge) Aug 24 We set out on a big drive south from Rocky through central Colorado and spectacular mountains. Making our way down Rt. 24 we stop in Silverthorne at La Perla Carneteria, a restaurant/store/butcher…

Staying at the William Allen White cabin at Rocky Mountain you could almost think you were living in the early 20th century. Built in 1887, it was the summer home for the famous Kansas newspaper editor and writer. In present day form it had a few modern conveniences—running…