Take a Picture

Last year’s total eclipse of the sun for those of us in the United States produced some great photography. When one of those is visible in parts of the world with widespread regular airline service and modern roads, the number of folks who get their shot at taking a shot of it is much much larger.

And the creativity involved seems to increase as well. Photographer Jon Carmichael had the idea of trying to snap the event at an altitude high enough to see not only the moon eclipsing the sun but also it’s shadow on the surface of the earth.

Carmichael had the good luck to find a flight that would travel the path of the eclipse at the time and angle that he wanted. Since it was a Southwest Airlines flight, he couldn’t be sure he would get a window seat and was prepared to bribe someone if necessary. But Southwest, a company with a particular genius for quirky marketing behavior, guaranteed him a window seat. The flight captain also made a special outside inspection to clean the window where Carmichael would sit (said quirky marketing genius not being confined to the office) and the pilots circled the plane a few times during the eclipse itself to make certain he and all of the other passengers got a good view.

The results of Carmichael’s work are visible at the link. Because of the wonders of digital media, he shot more than 1,200 photos, but 108 is the one he chose as his official print.

You can also, of course, see a fine promotional video about Carmichael’s project, produced by and courtesy of Southwest Airlines.