• fragglesrock said on Jul 21, 2009....

  oooh, i can't wait :) are you looking at it through a homemade eclipse viewing thingie made out of an empty tp roll?

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  LOL, no! 
  it's a little bit more sophisticated haha.
  

  three layers of 35-mm film negatives (the end-tab that doesnt get developed), fitting snugly onto my digicam front-end lens.

  the clouds got in the way just now, grrr.

  but i got two initial shots... uploading now to flickr.

  you'll have to wait a couple minutes more... :-)

  
  

• gingersoul said on Jul 21, 2009....

  Oh, there you are.....looking at your twin....lol....
  
  Hurry up with those pics, man....waiting here....
  

• gingersoul said on Jul 21, 2009....

  You made me go read this LINK again while waiting....

• CreativeWoman said on Jul 21, 2009....

  That sounds pretty cool, moon.  I'll look forward to seeing the pictures.
  
  CW
  

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  taken at 8:31 am
  
  
  
  
  
  
  taken at 8:31 am
  
  
  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  taken at 8:36 am
  
  
  
  
  
  
  taken at 8:36 am
  
  
  
  

• gingersoul said on Jul 21, 2009....

  Hey.....we can even sing a la Prince ...."Purple moon, purple moon"....LOL.....
  
  Amazing....
  

• fragglesrock said on Jul 21, 2009....

  those pictures are awesome!!!! now tell me...why do they look purple???

  "three layers of 35-mm film negatives" is that so it's safe to look through the camera??????

  so many questions i have! i also have a super detective observations...

  the xy coordinates on your picture tell me that you are not in the united states.
  

  hope you and ginger get that joke!!! hi up there ginger!!!

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  taken at 9:06
  
  
  
  
  taken at 9:06
  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  frags, ginger -- will reply to your comments a bit later.
  i'm in rush-out-to-take-shots, rush-in-to-upload mode right now... :-)
  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  arrrrgggh! the clouds have started to cover the sun!
  but being the perennial optimist that i am, i shoot the silver lining among the dark clouds haha.
  i'm sure the sun will come out later for maybe a couple more eclipse shots... :-)
  
  
  taken at 9:17am
  
  
  
  
  arrrrgggh! the clouds have started to cover the sun!
  but being the perennial optimist that i am, i shoot the silver lining among the dark clouds haha.
  i'm sure the sun will come out later for maybe a couple more eclipse shots... :-)
  
  
  taken at 9:17am
  
  

• gingersoul said on Jul 21, 2009....

  Oh, i like these clouds......

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  ginger, more clouds for you then...
  sun in hide-and-seek mode here.
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  .
  
  

  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  taken at 9:50 am, through thinning cloud cover...
  
  
  
  
  taken at 9:50 am, through thinning cloud cover...
  
  

• CreativeWoman said on Jul 21, 2009....

  Wonderful photos!  Thanks for sharing them.  :-)
  
  CW
  

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  
  
  
  
  
  
  the clouds drift to the southwest for a while, providing a quick chance for me to take a couple of clean shots at around 9:51 am.
  i figure this is the maximum penumbra at my location.
  from here on, father sun will quickly grow back the portion that its runaway monsoon werewolf moon son chomped off.
  by around 11 am, the greatest moon-sun event of this decade will have ended in this part of asia.
  
  

• wishyouwerehere said on Jul 21, 2009....

  So cool Moonie!  Thanks for sharing these

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  hi frags.
  you know those color negatives before the era of digitals?
  they are supposed to be pure opaque black when unexposed.
  but chemically-based films being not perfect as they are, they allow the lower-level light spectra to pass thru.
  thus the magenta or light purple tints from my improvised solar filter.
  although the ISO settings in my digicam might also have had something to do with the color.
  
  
  i know, i know, detective fraggles.
  the xy coordinates do not compute to a US-based location.
  but, like i said, there's an easier way for you to know where i am, exactly... ;-p
  
  
  hi ginger.
  i peeked at the link.
  and it triggered a slight sinking feeling in my stomach.
  because if i had not changed my mind about my plans...
  i shouldve been in SHANGHAI around this time!
  and i shouldve been taking perfect shots of a total solar eclipse from there, grrrr. lol
  i wonder if hotaka is taking pics too... japan is better located, and he has better gear.
  
  
  psst. did you notice the partially-eclipsed sun still visible in the 1st clouds shot?
  i noticed it only now.
  
  
  hi cw.
  i'm glad you liked my instant, on-the-spot, photo session:
  featuring a stern father sun and his naughty runaway moon child... :-)
  jiggy is at school right now, and maybe their entire science class went out of their rooms for a brief cosmic reality show.
  he asked me to take these photos for him to enjoy later this evening.
  
  

• fragglesrock said on Jul 21, 2009....

  thanks for answering my question about the negative. i remember what you are speaking of! i bet my 9 year old has no idea though :)  well, intentional or not i think the purple color is glorious! i haven't picked a favorite shot yet. i keep looking at them :) 

  once again though, i do appreciate you explaining about the opaqueness of the negatives. it's now CRYSTAL CLEAR to me.

  did you roll your eyes and hack up a hairball at my joke?

  i seem to be on a roll...lol

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  hi wishy!
  the sun did its vanishing act, and now it's back again, brilliant in its full grandeur.
  i know you've been trying to do a vanishing act this past couple weeks, my friend.
  please come back in your full grandeur too... ;-p
  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  frags, i actually broke into a huge smile when i read your comment about xy coords.
  you know why? 

  because in my rush to post the pics, i didn't have the time to purge the metas, as msstar suggested.

  so there. now you can practice your detective skills on me, whatever you may glean from the metas.

  no eye-rolling and hairball-hacking from my end, so long as it's you... ;-p

  
  

• superbozo said on Jul 21, 2009....

  Cool shots moon....I really am gonna have to travel somewhere to see an eclipse. Not sure when one is supposed to happen here. I've tried to look it up I know they can predict these things but can't find any info. Hopefully it's in my lifetime :) Something else I'd like to see is the northern lights. One day. Thanks.

• the_infernal_optimist said on Jul 21, 2009....

  Great shots, moon! :) Thank you for sharing this!
  
  ~Infernal
  

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  thanks, bozo.
  hey man, if you can plan something 2-3 years from now, there will be a partial solar eclipse over south africa, tasmania and NZ on nov. 25, 2011.
  then, a year later, on nov. 13, 2012, a total solar eclipse over northern australia and south pacific.
  and this would be a great experience for your princess too!
  sure you'll see a lot yet in your lifetime, dude.
  here's an informative link...
  the northern lights... ahh, that's one awesome sight i'd like to camp and sleep under... :-)
  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 21, 2009....

  hi infernal. (sorry i missed your comment earlier)
  it was a chance that rarely comes in one's lifetime, yes. 
  

  to improvise a solar filter, i had to rummage through my archive of old photo files to get three serviceable pieces of near-opaque 35-mm.

  
  

  now i have a choice of several new screensavers.

  my choice: a high-res photo of white clouds in a blue field, with a partially-eclipsed sun peeking like a tiny bright quarter-moon behind the clouds.

  wanna copy?... ;-p

  
  

• Lucytorial said on Jul 22, 2009....

  I'm tagging this moon, purely because I am so very distracted by other things I didn't even realise a partial exlipse was happening.  DAMN!
   
  Then again thank you for being so "eager" I do enjoy that.

• moonriver said on Jul 22, 2009....

  oh-ho! hi lucy.
  i know that state of mind, my friend.
  i was deep in work shit myself all through last weekend and until early this morning, when my son reminded me of the sun-moon tryst.
  sometimes it's exactly at these moments when my built-in zanity kicks in to preserve my sanity.
  i hope you enjoy my little escapist trick ... ;-p
  
  

• beyondtheveil said on Jul 22, 2009....

  Hey moon, thanks for these. I have this visual of you running in and out of the house with a camera dangling around your neck, answering on the computer, then then back outside swearing in the jungle at clouds.
  
  Hahahahahahahaha......
  
  this is the closest I'll ever get to Asia, you know.
  

• skald said on Jul 22, 2009....

  Gett Moon thanks for sharing. 

• wombat said on Jul 22, 2009....

  Had time to look at your photos this morning, but no time to comment.  I did smile on the way to work because I got to see them, so thank you!  It must have been something to see!  I was disappointed that it wouldn't be here, but this was the next best thing. 

• pit said on Jul 22, 2009....

  hello all,
  to bad for me here in Malaysia i could`nt see the eclipse.. it was cloudy....arghhh!!!

• destinydiva said on Jul 22, 2009....

  wow!! fascinating pics mr river :-) xx

• sadhappy said on Jul 22, 2009....

  These pics are beautiful, lucky you to witness something like this.

• JusticeForAll said on Jul 22, 2009....

  I wish I was able to witness such a spectacular event. It was the longest solar eclipse reported, no?

• gingersoul said on Jul 22, 2009....

  Moon......thank you for the cloud picture... beautiful.....:-)
  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 22, 2009....

  hi beyond, my good friend.
  you have a good imagination, and in this case, it is right on target, hahaha.
  the only (minor) inaccuracy is that my mini-jungle clearing is surrounded by conifers, bamboo groves, and fruit trees (citrus, guava, banana, coffee).
  not exactly a jungle, more like a mountainous rural village in south china... :-)
  
  
  hi skald.
  i'm glad you enjoyed the pics.
  thanks for peeking in.
  
  
  hi wombat.
  i'm glad the photos made you smile on your way to work.
  the photo session was a nice break for me too, smiling all throughout the morning, before all of us returned to work by lunchtime.
  thanks for peeking in.
  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 22, 2009....

  hi pit.
  it was sunny here when the eclipse began, but later turned cloudy too. 
  

  you're from malaysia?

  wow, i've got a number of friends from there. 

  peninsular or insular?

  i peeked at your blog. hope you blog some more at sc...

  
  

  hehe-heyy, looka who's here.

  hi destiny my friend.

  thanks for peeking in.

  i'm glad you liked the pics. 

  want some more? ;-p

  
  

  hi sadhappy.

  the event itself was beautiful in a bizarre way, especially along the swath of asia where the eclipse was total.

  in areas were the eclipse was just partial, especially in cloud-covered monsoon areas, many people didn't even look up and notice (unless they were inveterate sky watchers like me... :-) 

  thanks for peeking in.

  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 22, 2009....

  hi justice.
  yes, they say it is the longest, for the entire 21st century.
  (astronomers have computed all the expected solar eclipses for this century, and even beyond, i think...)
  if you want to check the skeds for the next cosmic show at your local theaters, you might want to check this site .
  thanks for peeking in.
   
  hi ginger.
  hope you liked the high-res versions.
  one of them shows the eclipsed sun peering behind the silver-lined clouds, like a naughty boy winking at the world below.
  it's now my desktop wallpaper... :-)
  oh, and you might be interested in interesting photos of eclipse scenes all over asia, done by professional AP photojournalists, here.
  i particularly liked photos #6, 10 and 14.
  
  

• superbozo said on Jul 22, 2009....

  moon thanks for the link. It seems I might not have to travel to far to see one. I just hope those pesky clouds stay outta the way. After that it's the northern lights :)

• moonriver said on Jul 22, 2009....

  always a pleasure, my friend.
  november 2011 in northern australia, hhmm.
  late spring, if i'm not mistaken?
  well, you'll have time enough to research local weather patterns, and choose the best and cloudless sky-watching location for you and your princess... :-)
   

• Lucytorial said on Jul 23, 2009....

  Of course, being in the tropics means no outside lighting, I will mark that one my calendar.
   
  How long did it last moon?

• auroralost said on Jul 23, 2009....

  Absolutely beautiful.  Thank you for sharing the moment.

• queenparanoia said on Jul 24, 2009....

  i missed it... :-(

  bwisit... :-(

  but thanks for sharing the pics moon!!!

• Me-Myself&I said on Jul 24, 2009....

  well heck! i am a day or two late. *smile* the pictures are wonderful. 

   i do hope all is well with you my friend!

  hey, theres that symbol.... ) .... i have been seeing all around. *smile*

  well i just wanted to come by to say HI! take care Moonriver! xo ~see ya

• moonriver said on Jul 28, 2009....

  lucy, you mean the next total solar eclipse to pass by oz?
  like i told bozo, november 2011.
  mark that on your calendar, and who knows?
  maybe it could be a soulcast eyeball gathering too... ;-)
  this one lasted 6 min 39 sec (maximum totality). 
  
  
  hi auroralost.
  the moment was indeed priceless, and i was doubly thrilled to share the photos here in near-real time.
  thanks for dropping by.
  
  
  hi queenie.
  hee-e-ey... easy does it, my friend.
  hope you and your special one are together for the next eclipse.
  whoever that special one is... ;-)
  
  
  hi memy.
  you're a few days late, and...
  i'm a few days late myself in replying. heh.
  what symbol? you mean the quarter moon?
  i happen to like the moon in all its phases, my friend.
  they say each phase has its associated personality.
  i say brother moon has a split personality, and it is at its naughtiest during new moon, when it's invisible.
  does that remind you of someone here? ((wink))
  
  

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