Total Solar Eclipses
One of my passions is chasing total solar eclipses to exotic locations,
including the Baja peninsula of Mexico in 1991, the Atacama desert
of Chile and Peru in 1994, the cold steppes of Siberia and Mongolia
in 1997, a (somewhat warmer) Caribbean cruise in Feb 1998, the ancient
wonders of Turkey in August 1999, and most recently, the barren deserts
of South Australia in December 2002.
There's just something incredibly special about standing under the
Moon's shadow, that no photo can do justice to. Partly, it's the
irony of the fact that the Sun and the Moon appear virtually the
same size in the sky (as the Moon slowly recedes from the Earth,
there will eventually be one last total solar eclipse, but not
in my lifetime!) making this whole spectacle possible; in part it
is the adrenaline rush of having the shadow rushing toward you at
over 1000 km/hr, and knowing there's not a damn thing you can do about
it. Most of all, they take me to places I wouldn't normally dream of
going, but which I never regret seeing. As long as you go for the
journey, and consider the eclipse to be a bonus, you'll never be
disappointed.
I have assembled images and stories from the following eclipse expeditions: