Thunderstorm Bearing Down, Sunday Evening
In the Wauseon, Ohio area this evening I sighted a large thunderstorm heading my way as I drove through farm countryside. The long stretches of road with no traffic and the openness of the fields gave me excellent opportunities to watch the storm as I tried to stay ahead of it! Alas, the storm was moving diagonally to my path and overtook me, pelting the car with wind and rain. It wasn’t me storm-chasing, the storm chased me!
Pre-eclipse Test Image – Note the Huge Sunspot Group – 1:02 PM
Due to the positions of Sun, Moon, and Earth, lunar and solar eclipses tend to be paired up. So it was that while we had a total lunar eclipse about two weeks ago, we enjoyed a partial solar eclipse this evening. As partial eclipses go, this one promised to be a good one. From our vantage point in Northeastern Ohio, we were to expect about 50 percent coverage of Sun’s bright face by Moon, a late-day event ending with sunset. After much deliberation, owing to the very low elevation of the eclipse over the western horizon, I decided upon a fishing pier on the south shore of Lake Erie. If we were lucky we would see a beautiful, crescent Sun sinking colorfully into the distance, reflecting off of the lake waters. That was the image in my mind, anyway.
Crowd Watching Partial Solar Eclipse from Fishing Pier. Nobody Swimming or Fishing.
The pier became packed with eclipse watchers and I was happy I’d arrived early and staked out a corner! Yesterday was cloudy and I could not shoot a test image of Sun without Moon but did get the opportunity today. The image was very good and one of the best I’ve managed of the Sun. The solar disk was particularly striking because a massive sunspot cluster was visible … really massive, spanning nearly the distance from Earth to Moon (~ 250,000 miles) across the Sun! Very photogenic.
As I mentioned, the eclipse was taking place late in the day, beginning at 5:42 PM EDT local time and in progress at sunset, about 6:35 PM — low to the horizon and in the messiest part of Earth’s atmosphere. The evening’s photos showed the lunar limb nipping off bit after bit of the Sun until the bright disk looked like a cookie with a large bite missing; a raisin cookie, I think, due to the sunspots!
Streaks of Lake Clouds Stream Across Sun’s Face – 6:04 PM
It wasn’t long, however, before we began to see streaks of cloud crossing that bright, chipped disk and before we knew it, the eclipse sank into distant clouds. There was no colorful sinking, no beautiful reflections, only a dark lake and fading cloud-obscured sunset.
Eclipse Eclipsed by Lake Clouds – 6:16 PM
Even with the sad ending, the crowd was excited and pleased to see what had transpired. Someone asked if they could review my images using the tiny LCD panel in the back of my camera. I was happy to oblige and soon drew a small crowd of departing spectators who thought the pictures looked great! (Some folks had arrived too late to see any of the eclipse.)
Later, processing the pictures on my computer, I could see that the eclipse images were nowhere near as good as I had hoped and didn’t compare well with the earlier tests. Why? Remember how I mentioned the low-t0-horizon position of the eclipse? The murk? The thick, wind-churned atmosphere robbed my images of their expected clarity. Am I disappointed? Yes, a little. Still, it was a fine little eclipse and I was delighted to have seen it!
Gathering Storm 7244
Stormy weather drew me to dash to the lakefront late this afternoon. I’d missed some amazing cloud formations earlier in the day and when a second opportunity presented itself, off I went. Flying down I-71 toward Lake Erie, I could see the weather front was making faster progress than I’d have wanted; I was missing another chance at some interesting cloud structure. Still, I pressed on… Lake Erie vistas rarely disappoint. Arriving at the shore I began shooting images.
Stormy Skyline 7341
There were sights to be seen but looking toward the west, I could see rain coming in. After only a few minutes I dashed up the cliffside stairs and to my car, just in time to avoid being drenched. It appeared to me the western sky was brightening and my iPad weather radar app was showing the main part of the storm receding. I drove to another favorite location: Huntington Beach. No sunbathers there! I was free to stroll around watching dark clouds roll overhead and towards downtown Cleveland. Yes, plenty of drama! A couple of the shots are displayed here, along with another sight I saw.
Cloud Train
As I was beginning my trip inland, I glanced across the lake: there, in a clearing sky, was a train of pretty cumulus clouds. Often, for picture taking, I like stormy weather.
Beach Morning 5535
It may be some time before I get back to the shores of Lake Erie. Over the past many months, my travels have allowed me to regularly visit the lakefront. The view was different every time I visited. Colors in the waters change. Wave patterns constantly shift. And the sky… oh, the sky! I’ve stood on the sands to shoot photos while being pelted by freezing rain and snow driven by gale winds. I’ve walked the breakwalls when the lake appeared as a sheet of glass. Not once have I regretted visiting the shore. So it was this morning as clouds of various shapes moved across the big sky, waves criss-crossed on a quiet lake surface, and sands lay freshly groomed awaiting the day’s visitors. I’ll miss the visits but at least I have some pictures.
Morning, June 20
Flowing Clouds Move over Shadowed Cleveland Skyline
It was such a spectacular morning at the lake shore that it was difficult to tear myself away and go where I was supposed to be! The sky and the sun were changing minute-by-minute offering dramatic views of the sky, lake, and shore. I’d have loved to spend an hour watching and photographing the changing scene but I had only a few minutes. It was hard to choose from among the many shots I got but I think these are good representatives.
Sunburst
A lightning-filled thunderstorm arrives overhead.
In the waning minutes of sunset, a thunderstorm was moving into the area. As the leading edge of the cloud shield floated overhead, rumbles of thunder could be heard. Looking up, I saw the sky was alive with cloud-to-cloud lightning, much of it crawling across the cloud surfaces and readily visible, illuminating the coves and knolls of the storm. Fortunately I had my camera and tripod at hand and quickly set up in the parking lot behind my car. Quickly making rough camera settings I shot frame after frame, composing as best I could from a less-than-ideal vantage point. I would have shot a lot more images — there was lightning all over the sky — but my session was cut short by rain, threatening sky-facing lenses, forcing me into the car. It was quite the show, that spring lightning!
Sunset and lightning usher in the night.
Looking North from Marblehead
We took a little trip to the Marblehead Peninsula to see the Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton and revisit a favorite place: the Marblehead Lighthouse, at the eastern tip of the peninsula. The aviation museum is very interesting, especially to those interested in World War 2 aircraft, and keeps alive the heritage of the Ford Tri-Motor aircraft. They’re even rebuilding a Tri-Motor at the museum. Astonishingly you can also see, close-up, a flightworthy B-25J Mitchell Bomber in the cluttered but clean hangar facility. Still, my favorite part of the trip was clambering around on the rocks at water’s edge by the lighthouse. It was a lovely spring day, though a shelf of clouds was moving in from the south. My photography for the day included trying out a brand-new circular polarizer (Cost $$$) and I like the results.
Watching the Sky and Water
Friday Afternoon
Friday Afternoon. Gloomy skies continue to dominate, stretching out as far as the eye can see. The lakefront is now quite different from a few weeks ago and, while the waters are brown with silt, the sands are being washed. It’s a time of transition.
Strange Sky of Morning
Coming down the stairs this morning I gazed outward and upward through a window off our landing. Such an interesting, beautiful, and strange sky! At first I was going to grab my trusty iPod Touch and shoot only a Twitter-quality image. My good old Canon 50D, however, was close at hand. The rest of the day the sky was pretty uninteresting. I was glad I had not missed the strange sky of morning.
PhotonStopper 