Solar eclipse idea...

Xios

This is a daring idea, but who would be interested in forming an expedition to photograph the Solar Eclipse on Devon Island in Canada's northern territories on Friday 1st august 2008, was just watching that show on Adventure 1, this guy from wicklow has taken pictures of 3 solar eclipses, maybe 4 now, not sure, but still, it won't be a grueling trek deep into the icy thundra's of the worlds northern extremeties. There's a town just 50 or so miles due west of devon island with an airport and all. http://www.resolutebay.com/
Info on the eclipse http://www.clocktower.demon.co.uk/eclipse2008t/index.htm

Excuse my ****ty mousemanship

Now, i know it's a year and a half away, but that gives plenty of time to organise and attain the funds need for flights, boats and all the gear need for such a trip. The reason i ask is, i have no idea what i'm doing, and going that far away alone is a bit daunting. Anyone interested?

Well, either canada or china? From a diplomatic standpoint, i think the canadian trip would be much simpler, and travel kinda seems easy with the airport being only a short bit away from the island and all. But other than the eclipse, we can really only take piccies of snow and hills, and the town and townies, but in china, there's so many faces to portray in portraits.

Fajitas!

I have family in the Rockies... Trust me, there's plenty to play with!

Takeshi_Kovacs

Tis a good idea, you'd want to start saving now though, could get expensive. i had a quick look at that site and mentions Mongolia/China as most likely place to see eclipse unobscured by cloud.

Saruman

Yes it sucks travelling to see an eclipse only to be cloudy!
Back in 99 I got the ferry to Hollyhead and drove down to Portsmouth to see it. Was completely overcast! Had a good time though and it was still spooky as it got cold, dark and the birds stopped singing.

Turns out back in Dublin it was clear blue skies with a perfect view... though was not a total eclipse so none of the effect other than the shadow over the suns disk.

Roen

Like the look of this place
Lowest chance of cloud, plus it's mountainous. Would make for spectacular snaps. The only thing about this whole project is that you'd pretty much want to be going with the expectation of seeing no eclipse at all. Even at best there's a 30-40% chance of cloud.
So you'd want to do your homework and have a fall back plan, a bit like wedding snappers do when the weather turns foul.

Xios

Yeah, i was thinking of russia or mongolia, but for simplicity canada seems best, we just fly new york or what ever, then get a transfer and fly to resolute, stay the night in a comfy hotel, then take the boat out to devon island, set up camp, sing some songs about bad omens and enjoy the spectacle. I'm thinking the gobi desert will be a bit harsh during summer though.
But i haven't looked into it at all.

Calina

Xios,

might be worth having a chat with Astronomy Ireland as they did a charter for the last one in Turkey.

also worth noting that photographing the sun is challenging and dangerous - maybe worth looking for some "hows" of solar eclipse photography.

Xios

Thanks for the advice calina, forgot about the astronomy people, and I think we could try get an experienced person in this area to fill us in on the gaps, or just look online for guides and advice. Maybe i could track down that wicklow guy and ask him how he went about it.

Takeshi_Kovacs

Yeah definitely head over to the astronomy crowd.. they may even have something planned already. But be prepared, you may develop a gra for astronomy photography, and then have to fork out for telescopes, binoculars e.t.c. (more expensive glass)

Roen

Woooo China it is
Lovely hurling
Plus a mental series on Lenticular clouds

Xios

Roen wrote:

Woooo China it is
Lovely hurling
Plus a mental series on Lenticular clouds

Em, holy crap.

Morlar

Roen wrote:

Woooo China it is
Lovely hurling
Plus a mental series on Lenticular clouds

Bloody hell !