Secret Santa Contest ? The official CaravelNet Forum community activity of December 2007!
In summery: You make a wish, someone else picks it to fulfill and then everyone votes on how well you did fulfilling it. The best part is everyone gets a wish fulfilled! To see a learn more about this contest see the detailed summary at the bottom of this page or go to caravelgames.com and view the whole contest.
"I wish for a picture of a beautiful night sky."
My dear Wisher, you only
asked for 'a picture of a beautiful night sky', just one, such a sweet
simple wish, but hunting
for that perfect pictures took me to so many good photos that I just
couldn't stop myself once I got started. I wanted the very best photo
not just a drawing or a piece of art, but the real
deal, the brilliant night sky.
Searching
my own collection
and the collections of others took me back to some of
my most
favorite memories, memories of special nights spent
outside under our grand night sky. A sky we share with each person on
the earth, what a wonder this sky is, it is always
changing, and
yet somehow it is always the same no matter where on earth you
view it from. It has comforted many separated friends and families
members to
know that as they look up into the same night sky as love one far
across the globe. That they see the same moon the same stars and
planets.
Think of me when next
you peer in
to the night sky, I may be thinking of you as well.
Here
is a photo of the Moon and Mars that I took myself, out on my
back porch, just a few weeks ago. I wish I could have captured the
details of the moons face, it was so clear even to the naked eye. But
it was too bright for my digital camera.
If you look closely you will see a bright blur
next to the moon on the right. That is Mars. It was Mars that had my
attention, so close to the
almost full moon. I took this shot with my digital camera through the
leafless branches of a tree in my yard. can you feel the cold winter
chill of the night air?
This one reminded me of the night I was at sea on a cruise ship. The night was pitch black because there was no moon, but a single star shone like it was the moon itself. This picture of the moon reminded me of that star.
Here
is a photo I took of the Moon rising over the desert mountains, in near
Mojave. While it is not quite night, it was the wonderful time of
twilight, and the moon was huge.
If you look
closely you can see the details of the Moon. Its the best shot of the
Moon I have been able to get to date.
This one reminded me of the night Jesus was born. The star, which is probably a planet, is bright up in the sky. Maybe to the Magi the star they followed looked as bright.
Have you ever walked at night when it was so bright it was almost like daytime, with a peacefulness that makes you want to forget all danger and just walk forever with the creator of the stars in heaven, just enjoying His creation. This photo takes me back to those special nights.
This year my husband and I spent a wonderful summer night this last August watching and timing the lunar eclipse. I took my own photos that night here is one...
...but
my photos lacked the clarity of one I found so I included it
too because it
took me back.
...Picking a 'beautiful night sky picture' was like picking an ice cream flavor for someone you have never met. Do you stick with the traditional favorite vanilla or do you take a risk and pick strawberry chocolate nut cream? Maybe something in the middle is best or a Neapolitan. I think of stars when you say night sky but others may think of the city lights, so the header above is of the city lights of Los Angeles my home community. By the way, the streaks in the sky are airplanes.
While the tree reminded my of an African savanna the stars reminded me of home when I was a teen. 30 years ago you could look up in our night sky above our family home and even though it was just outside of Los Angeles, the sky was just that full of stars. You could easily see the Milky Way, these days I am lucky to see just the very brightest of them but Orion is always my friend.
Credit: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
...This one gives you just that glimmer of stars through the clouds. That feeling you get when the storm is over and all is calm again.
You really have to see the full view to see the
stars through the break in the clouds. Just click on the image for the
full view.
Image to left: The wonder of the Northern Light. I have only seen it once, on a night it the Dakota's when I was a teenager. It was wonderful. (credit: NASA)
Image to right : A snow covered woods aflame with the lights. (credit: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Image to left:
Not to leave out our southern and space fairing friends. This view of
the Aurora Australis, or Southern
Lights, was photographed by an astronaut aboard Space Shuttle
Discovery (STS-39) in 1991. (credit: NASA)
Still there was one night sky view that I knew was just out of my reach. One that I have wanted to see all my life with my own eyes but would have to rely on pictures instead. A view that could not be seen from earth or even the space station. Because it was from the Moon and it was of the Earth Rise over the Moon. (credit: NASA)
I wish for a picture of a beautiful night sky. !
In the end I did pick ONE,
the VERY best
of the
best. But I
also decided to share a few of the other 'best of the best'
night sky photos that I found along the way. Photos that took
me back to great
memories of great night skys of the past. Photos of places I
have seen, places I hope to see and of skys I wished I had
seen.
Finally I found it. the winner the picture
that I had been looking for. My thanks to Guillaume
Dargaud, of
http://www.gdargaud.net/Photo/Astrophoto.html. In addition to his
wonderful collection of free wallpaper images he offers for
your personal use for free, he has an enthralling
blogs of his adventures in Antarctica and shooting photos there, well
worth the read. This one shot captured what I was looking for: Plenty
of stars above the (Spanish) countryside. Just like home in the days
gone by. Don't you feel like you are standing right there....
image credit : © 1993-2007 Guillaume Dargaud used with permission www.gdargaud.net
Guillaume Dargaud had these two other photos that almost got my first place position. But not quite, while they are awesome and wonderful, they included non-natural items in them.
...but
my
jaw just drops looking at them, so I had to include them for you. Thanks Guillaume for letting me share.
image credit : © 1993-2008 Guillaume Dargaud used with permission www.gdargaud.net
Each photo has the source of the photo in the name and the discription that should show up when you pass the cursor over it.
The three photos by Guillaume Dargaud are copyright protected. To see if you have permissions of use them go to his copyright page at: http://www.gdargaud.net/Photo/Copyright.html#ContactHere
The photos credited to NASA:
"NASA still images, audio files and video generally are not copyrighted. You may use NASA imagery, video and audio material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits and Internet Web pages. This general permission extends to personal Web pages." http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html
The photos credited to US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
"NOAA/NESDIS websites are provided as a public service by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service. Information presented on these webpages is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested. This policy covers privacy, disclaimers, security, and information collection practices."
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ngdcinfo/privacy.html
The photos credited to gailswebplace.com are my photos and are under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License
