On June 19, a one-day silent meditation retreat honors the solstice on June 21. This is the farthest north the sun appears during the year. This is the longest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere of earth and is the first day of summer. I have learned it is more globally correct to call it the northern solstice. One reason is because the calendars of some cultures are not based on months and June has no reference. The solstice that occurs for me in December is best called the southern solstice.
I photographed sunset the night before the solstice, June 20, and sunrise the first morning of visible sunrise, June 23. Since this is a solstice, meaning sun standing still, sunrise and sunset times vary little in the days before and after the solstice. Since I wanted to know where the sun was, it was not as important to have the exact date. See a panoramic view of both. The sunset in two pictures: 7:37 p.m. and 7:46 p.m. and the sunrise photo at 5:51 a.m. show the farthest north points of the sun's path on the horizon during the year.
I stood in the sun on my balcony at the exact time of the solstice (6:28 a.m. CDT, June 21) realizing implications of the fact that we are between the sun and the center of the galaxy. If so, then the sun's rays creating my shadow must be shining that way. My shadow is looking at the galactic core, black hole. If I open the door, what will I find?
That reminds me that this week oil arrived on the beaches of South Walton, our home. On June 20, I saw and filmed a bit of it. Worse, the Father's Day barbeque smell was still here. I'm afraid I'm breathing burnt oil. Gasp. But on June 23 waves washed the beach clean. Not a trace of oil in the fresh morning air or waters of the Gulf.
{Back to top of page}Finally look at this little guy, lifted from the video. To me, he seemed to be practicing surfing, doing a dry run. Could be a practical way to enjoy the waves but not suffer the possible oil contamination in it? More fancifully, he seems to be performing Hands Across the Sand, reaching out to the sea and back to the rest of us, joining us in hopes for health.
The Panorama
Equipment
Canon 300D (Digital Rebel) digital SLR camera, EF-S 10-22mm lens, ISO 100. Nodal Ninja pano head. Stitched two separate panos as 28 mm lens in QuicktTime Virtual Reality Authoring Studio. Composited two panoramas in Adobe Photoshop CS4. Sunrise: 19 mm focal length, 1/60 s, f/10. Sunset, 21 mm focal length, 1/80 s, f/9.
This is my entry in the World Wide Panorama event of June solstice, 2010. Here's the story.
Compare with March equinox 2010 sun, September equinox 2010 sun, and December solstice 2010 sun. See Solstice June, 2010.
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