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How to Photograph the Total Solar Eclipse April 8, 2024

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How to Photograph the Total Solar Eclipse If capturing stunning images of the April 8, 2024 eclipse is on your bucket list, then it's time to start preparing now. WEATHER UPDATE: As you probably know weather will be a particular challenge for most of the US in the path of totality according to the latest forecasts.  My favorite sites to go to for best predictions are Weather Underground. Choose their 10 day forecast for your location.  Then click on the day to get hour by hour cloud coverage and more for you chosen location). Here is Ingram, TX for example. High thin overcast is better than low thick clouds or thunderstorms. So a 90% cloud cover prediction with high thin clouds you can see through may be better than risking 60% coverage but with storms nearby.  In the first case, you will still be able to see the sun and even the totality fairly well through a high thin layer of clouds. Yes, photos might be a challenge. And you might not see stars or planets. But you'll sti
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When Taking Photos in Bright Sun Avoid the Sun's "Aura"

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What's the sun's glory or aura and why avoid shooting into it when taking photos of people on a sunny day? If you've ever flown in an airplane and looked down at the plane's shadow on a layer of clouds you've probably seen the bright circular halo reflection the sun makes when it's high overhead. It is sometimes called a "glory" because it looks like a halo.  The Hot Zone.  That "glory" or rainbow like aura is always present even on the ground when you are taking photos on a sunny day and it can ruin your shots.  Let's call it the Hot Zone. When your subject is in the Hot Zone it can make your subject look as if you used an onboard flash, or washing out the contrast and the colors.  Here's an example. The runner looks as if I used a flash. But this is the untouched RAW file shot with the early morning sun around 8:30am directly behind me. It was shot on a Nikon D850 with natural light. Notice how dark the background is because the s
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Why Are Christmas Songs So Repetitive?

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Aaargh!  Why does it seem that Christmas music is so repetitive? (Updated 2023!) Because it is!  A few Christmas vacations ago this same question hit me. It was probably after hearing the 10th rendition of White Christmas off of Spotify!  Different artists but the same songs.  Why so repetitive? It turns out that there are only about 90 Christmas songs that get any regular air play. And about 30 of those get probably half the air time. I went through the iTunes/Apple Music store and compiled a list of what, by any stretch, were common or highly popular Christmas songs and carols. Nothing that hadn't proven itself for at least two decades was included. Songs had to be widely sung and recorded by a variety of artists and show continuing popularity. So while there are scores of obscure Christmas hymns, carols and songs that are rarely sung or scarcely recorded, they are not included here because odds are you'll go through the entire holiday season and never hear them e
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Coronado Paint (Benjamin Moore acquierd brand) Peeling on Exterior Doors

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Stay away from Coronado paint being sold by Benjamin Moore! Here's a cautionary tale that might just make you double-check your next paint purchase at Benjamin Moore. Today, we're diving into the world of the acquired Coronado brand paint and how a seemingly innocent paint choice turned into a DIY disaster. The Quest for Perfect Paint Picture this: you're an experienced painter, having covered everything from walls to banisters with precision. You've relied on trusted brands like Benjamin Moore, known for their top-grade interior paints. So when it came time to tackle your double front doors, Benjamin Moore seemed like the natural choice for a smooth, high-quality exterior semi-gloss finish. With high hopes, you sent someone to fetch "Benjamin Moore's top-grade exterior semi-gloss paint" for your primed metal front doors. But what arrived was not what you expected. Instead of the familiar Benjamin Moore label, you found yourself staring at a quart of Coro
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"The Rapture is not in the Bible" objection

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You hear this phrase repeated often by those who have been taught that there is no rapture of believers or the church in Scripture. However this is a position incorrect in several clear ways: First , nearly all Bible believing, orthodox scholars believe there is a “catching up” or in Latin, rapture , of believers because it is plainly stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 by Paul.   " Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." The Greek word harpadzo is translated "caught up." It is simply a matter of when this catching up of believers happens, or in some cases whether it is the same event as described in Matthew 25:31 (the gathering of the sheep and goats) or not. 
As to when, many believe the 1 Thess. 4:17 “catching up” happens prior to the event of what Jesus calls the Tribulation (Matthew 24:21, 29).   
Others believe this happens at the mid-point of the T
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Leadership Lessons from War and Peace

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In leadership or management, why is it that some people just seem to get it and are able to make it happen smoothly while others can't?  In War and Peace, I've often been impressed by Tolstoy's contrast between the well-meaning but bumbling protagonist Pierre and his pragmatic friend Prince Andrei. There is a business leadership lesson there! Pierre, the illegitimate son of a nobleman, is an idealist who inherited a vast estate, but was appalled by the serf system of Russia that had existed for centuries. So in his indecisive and idealistic way, after agonizing forever on it, he tries to free his serfs all at once. But it leads to misunderstanding, his own stewards taking advantage of his serfs, and riots. It's a dismal failure! By contrast Andrei, in a casual conversation, had been impressed by Pierre's idea and on his own when he gets back to his estate devises a brilliant incremental plan of reform and easily executes it with no drama at all, long before Pierre
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Who Has Disrupted Your Life More: Jobs or Bezos? A Round-by-Round Bout

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When it comes to technological disruptors of our time, and your life, two names come out swinging: Steve Jobs of Apple and Jeff Bezos of Amazon. Both have left imprints on the canvas of various industries, transforming the world of technology and commerce. In a round-by-round face-off, who emerges as the reigning champion of disruption? Round 1: Market Share Shift Jobs, with Apple, challenged giants like IBM and Microsoft, and with the advent of the iPhone, created a seismic shift in the phone industry. However, Bezos, in his corner, monopolized online retail with Amazon, establishing an e-commerce empire. Bezos lands a more significant punch in this round. Round 2: Change in Consumer Behavior Jobs reinvented our relationship with technology, making it more personal, intuitive, and appealing, while Bezos reshaped the way we shop, setting new customer service benchmarks. In this round, it's a draw. Round 3: Revenue Impact While Apple has been phenomenally profitable, Amazon's di
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