Comments | byslantedlight: Virtually Office Friday

byslantedlight

Virtually Office Friday - happy eclipse!

Mar 20, 2015 10:39

Morning - happy eclipse, everyone who was under it! This was going to be an entirely different post, about how it was cloudy, and my camera was broken, and I'd not sorted out glasses or even an old Pringles container... and then just as I was about to put out my porridge, there was a shout from the yard "Come and see this!" and I thought oooh - ( Read more... )

sky, space and time, photos, archery, myvirtualoffice, wonderful things

Comments 24

gilda_elise March 20 2015, 10:44:32 UTC

Great pics of the eclipse. I saw one somewhat similar years ago in Phoenix (except it wasn't cloudy.) It was so eerie, everything getting darker, but in a different and strange way to the sun going down.

And how odd that you do better with no sights in archery! They were a great help for me. I didn't know they gave you the option, to be truthful.

byslantedlight March 20 2015, 10:58:25 UTC

I'm just really chuffed that I got to see the eclipse with the peeps in the yard after all - and to take photos on my camera phone, which I just didn't think would work at all! It was also cool because something similar happened in the 1999 eclipse when I was in the Isle of Man. We went all around trying to find somewhere that wasn't cloudy, and in the end too the tram up Barrule (tallest hill/nearly mountain-but-not-really), just for the strange light and was looking up cursing the cloud when it cleared and I accidentally caught a glimpse of the sun with a bite out of it! No camera that time, but I saw it when I wasn't expecting to ( ... )

gilda_elise March 20 2015, 14:27:59 UTC

Lol, yes, I remember when I took archery in college. Nearby to our field were the guys who shot for the archery team. Their bows looked like some sort of futuristic weapons, with all sorts of what thought of as "cheats" attached.

byslantedlight March 20 2015, 18:15:24 UTC

Their bows looked like some sort of futuristic weapons
Yes! And they had special stands for them that took up all the (very small) space behind the non-shooting line and that I was sure I'd trip over at some point... I expect I yet will! I was also rather bemused to be told that since I was shooting bare back, they'd give me an allowance as far as the points etc. that you needed to progress through the badges,cos it was harder... they should have been giving the people with kit handicaps I reckon, not making out that they were doing me a favour because I'd be less good at it! They're the ones cheating!

heliophile_oxon March 20 2015, 10:50:11 UTC

Wow, your photos are wonderful - the cloud and the eeriness - lovely! Thank you so much for those!

And conga-rats for the archery, that must be such a satisfying feeling! *vbg* Good shooting there!

byslantedlight March 20 2015, 11:00:15 UTC

Thank you! I'm reasonably chuffed with the pics, considering it was my camera phone with the zoom pulled in. The cloud definitely makes the pics, though!

And yeay archery - thank you! It's quite nice to think that after... well, many many years on this planet, maybe I finally have a sport that I do...! *g*

owned_by_a_cat March 20 2015, 10:55:35 UTC

Love your eclipse pics! I got better ones with my non-digital camera in 1999.. with a backdrop of Alnwick Castle! But today was nice, too. I could watch from my bedroom window and now the cloud is gone and the weather is nice. I should really make time for a short walk... working from home makes me faaaar too lazy.
Congrats on becoming an archer! I hope you keep having fun.

byslantedlight March 20 2015, 11:03:49 UTC

I still think wistfully back on my non-digital camera - I miss it... Although right now I'm missing my SLR digital camera too, so I should get that fixed... How fab to have eclipse pics with a castle, I bet they're great! I rather wish I'd thought this morning out better, but I just didn't at all... Still, it turned out way better than I expected, so bonus!

Oh, and ha - I know what you mean about working from home making you lazy too. It's so easy to go out for just a mile around the hack track here, without even leaving the property, and yet I do not do it every day! I swear I'll get better... Glad to hear your cloud's gone too - I reckon it was waiting across the UK until the eclipse was done, and then it just whooooshed! off... *vbg*

moonlightmead March 20 2015, 11:05:50 UTC

Oh, lovely - I think the clouds make it more atmospheric, actually.

I didn't think to take photos upwards. There would have been all these leaves in the way anyway, mind you. But I saw it upside down on the ground!

byslantedlight March 20 2015, 11:29:58 UTC

I really appreciated the cloud in the end - just enough for a bit of drama, and so that you could take photos (in fact when they cleared further you couldn't get a picture of the sun at all, it was too bright. Of course looking at it upside down on a pavement was the sensible way to look at it - next time I shall be far more organised!

milomaus March 20 2015, 11:22:40 UTC

Oh my goodness, such GORGOUS eclipse pics!!!
Thank you so much for sharing, they're soooo great!!!

We had sunshine, no clouds at all this time, and I was so excited, and somehow I thought I missed it, because somebody said it would be around 9:30 am, and only for a few minutes, but at 10:30 am the light became somehow muted, there was still sunshine, shadows everything, but darker than before....so I went outside, and took pics with Mr. Maus' tablet, because mine says there's not enough storage, and now I can't post them and and and....I had a fabulous time all on my own, I do hope Maus saw it at school, they prepared the kids to watch it...
And I haven't worked a bit today, I talked with the tablet support for almost an hour, and I still can't figure it out, I might have to call them again....
And my cold got a good hold on me today, it's really starting to annoy me....

But, BEAUTIFUL pics from you and archery and bare bow and GREAT shot!!!!!
I hope your headache will get good NOW!

byslantedlight March 20 2015, 11:35:22 UTC

Hee - I'm quite chuffed with them. Next time I shall make sure I have a proper working "good" camera, and see if I can do even better! How fab that you didn't have any clouds and got to see it and take some pics that way! I didn't think to take pics on my tablet too - I should have tried that as well, cos of course it has a camera too... I hope you can download yours though, and that you'll post a couple for us... *g* (I tend to use Dropbox with my phone now, which will automatically download photos I take on my phone or tablet to my laptop when I have a wireless signal - it might be worth giving that a try if all else fails?)

And yeay - I actually got two golds in one round of arrows, but didn't take my camera down to the targets that time... but even when I stopped getting golds (cos I was trying to hold the bow "properly" which I hadn't been before) it was all good fun... *g ( ... )