Solar Eclipse

A moon transit, solar flares, sunspots, cars decorated for the voyage, gorgeous scenery — there was so much to see this eclipse weekend, at the National Elk Refuge, Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

“Magical” is a word that gets overused by marketers peddling the man-made. What are the odds the moon is exactly the right size, and exactly the right distance from the earth to perfectly cover the sun to our view? Not only do the sun, moon and earth come together for this event — the fourth part that aligns is you. Witnessing a total solar eclipse is to see something divine unfold, as if God is winking at you.


Let there be night. Ducks swim under an amazing 360° sunset during eclipse totality at 11:35 a.m. For a moment the sun goes completely dark, and then like flipping a switch, the gorgeous glowing ring of fire appears, to the sound of shouts and cheers across the valley. It’s like nothing I've ever seen.


A composite of 11 eclipse phase photos (I took a whole lot more). The moon crosses the sun from right to left, so the first photo in the series is at top left.


Shorter exposures (1/125 second) make it possible to see solar flares before they get overwhelmed by the bright corona.


Sunspots. Way cool, considering my solar filter is one half of a pair of cardboard solar glasses, masking taped into a circle of cardboard cut out of a Triscuit box.



National Elk Refuge was a gorgeous setting for shooting the eclipse. There was a lot of sitting around and waiting, so there was plenty to see with the ducks and swans feeding and the morning mist rolling off the lake. I was initially worried about all these clouds getting in the way, but they blew past a half hour beforehand, leaving 100% clear skies.


Waiting for the show to start at National Elk Refuge, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I set up here with three other photographers and their big cameras from California, Washington state, and Alberta. What's beautiful about an event like this is that it brings people together. Each of us ended up saying to the others — perfect strangers — "Hey, I'm going to head to the restroom/get a drink, will you watch my $5,000 camera rig?" and know all would be fine.


Traffic was jammed as expected: it took 5.5 hours for the trip from SLC to Jackson Hole, but 10.5 hours to get back. It didn’t matter, I was marveling the whole way home from what I had been part of.


"We're going to see the sun get mooned!" BYU Idaho campus, Rexburg.


"Totality or bust," northbound I-15, Utah.

Thoughtful Design

I was asked to give a TED Talk-style presentation for a group of 50-60 singles at church. It was an honor to be asked, there were only a few presenters, and we have a pretty sharp audience.

My instructions were simply: share something interesting, about whatever I wanted.

"Thoughtful design" is a topic I have been thinking about lately, especially in context of my work. My job involves creating government policy. If I do it well, citizens benefit; if I am careless, we waste taxpayer dollars and progress stalls. So thoughtful design is something I try to apply to everything I do, especially where it involves costing others effort. I never want to waste anybody's time. (I believe in that for making presentations, too.)

Topics covered here, to pique your interest: fish coloration, automobile interfaces, how to properly serve milk, the squirrel population around the White House, and why you shouldn't pull your pants up too high.

The evening turned out great! This was one of my favorite presentations so far, and I've given quite a few.

Thoughtful Design (PDF on Google Drive)

"What Could Be Over the Fence?"

Here's me at age 19, as a missionary on the steps of my basement apartment in Highland, Utah.

Behind me, 20 feet on the other side of that fence is Alpine Highway, which happened to be the exact route of my first 5K race yesterday. I had no idea I’d run past this very spot decades later. Or that it would stir up so much inside.

In 6th grade I wrote a poem called “What Could Be Over the Fence?” It was about monsters and the unknown, lurking beyond where we can’t see. It’s a little poignant to look back at this snapshot of this young man, hardly aware of what was coming in his life, and consider all the difficult times, tests and trials that were waiting for him on the other side of that fence.

The good news about the guy in the picture:

1. He has made it through pretty successfully so far;
2. He no longer has baby-bird hair.

5K

I ran my first real 5K race today at the American Fork Canyon 5K — and loved it!

My time was 30:17, which bested the training runs I did over the past few months by over a minute. I finished in spot 164, out of 1,000+ runners.

Something fun: the 5K course took me right past the front door of my first missionary apartment in American Fork when I was 19.

I’m ready to go again right now!

White-lined Sphinx

Tonight I was taking out the trash at dusk around 9:15 p.m., and I noticed what I thought were small hummingbirds hovering, feeding on the nectar of the lilacs springing up outside. I set my camera to a high shutter speed with flash to see if I could freeze their wings in action.

Once I started looking at the photos, it turned out my hummingbirds had antennae and thoraxes — they were 3-4 inch long giant moths!

These are called white-lined sphinxes, they are a type of moth that hovers to feed on nectar, and they come out at dusk. Because they come out in the dark and they dart around a lot, they are darn hard to photograph.

4:12 Playlist

Music is defining. You can tell a lot about somebody by their record collection. So here’s a look inside my brain, via iTunes. My birthday playlist for 4/12 is every song 4:12 in length.

My favorite right now from this random list is track 2, “U Get Me High.” I just finished Tom Petty’s biography, and this is my favorite song on his last album. The liner notes credit Heartbreaker Mike Campbell with lead guitar in the left stereo channel, Tom Petty with lead guitar on the right. I love that attention to production detail; as you listen it helps you appreciate the interplay of two guys who’ve been jamming together 40 years. This one’s on my iPod for running, it’s a laid-back song that lets everyone know you’re cool.

Tears For Fears — Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers — U Get Me High
The Killers — A Matter Of Time
David Bowie — Seven
Adele — Sweetest Devotion
Fleetwood Mac — Rhiannon
Brandon Flowers — Untangled Love
Sia — One Million Bullets
Scritti Politti — Sugar And Spice
Yello — Fat Cry
Pet Shop Boys — If Looks Could Kill
Xymox — Phoenix Of My Heart
Delerium — Run for It
Pet Shop Boys — I Get Along
Enya — Drifting
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark — History Of Modern (Part II)
Moby — I'm Not Worried At All
Owl City — Silhouette
Duran Duran — Virus
Delerium — Stopwatch Hearts
Death Cab For Cutie — Prove My Hypothesis
Delerium — Stargazing
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark — The Avenue
Eurogliders — Can't Wait To See You
Hot Chip — (Just Like We) Breakdown
Natalie Merchant — Golden Boy
U2 — Every Breaking Wave
Dave Matthews Band — Rooftop
Bad Lieutenant — Sink Or Swim
New Order — Rock The Shack
The Eagles — Already Gone
The Fixx — Can't Finish
Yello — Houdini
U2 — Gloria
Keane — The Starting Line
U2 — No Line On The Horizon
Dave Matthews Band — Sweet