Tag: travel

Eclipse Pearls

Photography by Tobias Yoder

Two photographers changed the notion that photography is a solo venture by teaming up for a year-long research gig on how to get the best pics of the next total eclipse. Canadian wildlife and nature photographer Liron Gertsman and Texas bird photographer Tobias Yoder traveled together to Spain. Each had taken spectacular eclipse photos in 2024 and were on a quest to capture the perfect eclipse photo in 2026.  They were not just looking for perfect weather conditions. They also were in search of a great white stork!

It turns out that Spain held the best eclipse opportunity. Spain also lays claim to possessing the largest stork breeding population in Europe. The pairing of this great bird with an eclipse shot was irresistible. With over 50,000 breeding pairs of white storks to choose from in Spain, the intrepid photographers went on a stork-nest hunt.

Oh, there was a third element desired in the perfect shot – either a church bell tower or a castle tower, please! Yoder created an app to help define eclipse possibilities, utilizing his background in software development. The determined photographers split up their tracking map, each searching for appropriate sites. They drove to nest locations, always on the lookout for nests on towers.

A particular church bell tower with a stork nest perched on top was pre-selected as “the one.” Yet, the big unknown (in addition to weather), was whether a given stork would return to its bell-tower nest by 8:30 PM local time. The stork-nest hunters visited their ideal location for 3 evenings before the big day. On two of the evenings, the picture-perfect stork returned to roost before the 8:30 time slot. One evening was a late night out, but Gertsman reasoned that their stork shot would be successful due to effects of an early darkened eclipse sky. Only arriving 30 seconds before eclipse totality that special night, the chosen stork became a collaborator, offering its silhouette in stunning stillness.

Just to make sure their photo adventure would not be a bust, the photographer innovators had set up backup cameras in a location far away. They programmed this second shoot to begin 15 minutes pre-eclipse and keep snapping away approximately every 5 seconds. Fortunately, their secondary location also delivered. It was an awesome photography evening!

For more photos from that lucky night, see https://petapixel.com/2026/08/19/two-photographers-spent-a-year-planning-the-perfect-eclipse-photo-and-success-came-down-to-30-seconds/?ck_subscriber_id=2584255186&utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Start%20packing%20to%20avoid%20this%20common%20regret%20-%2023021000

How much of our lives do we overshadow our own curiosity and creativity? We can be inspired by the grit (passion + perseverance) shown by these photographers. Their intention to collaborate paid off with unique results. How might we encourage others to take on peaceful projects that inspire creativity? As “Nickel Creek” Grammy Award-winning guitarist and singer-songwriter Sean Watkins suggests, “Only the curious have something to find. “  

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

528. When have you captured a photo of a unique slice of nature?

529. What has to happen to you to feel awesome joy?                    

Ancestor Pearls

Ever curious, I traveled to the UK to find my English ancestors in the Yorkshire dales (Viking word for valleys). On my plane ride over the ocean I read the history of Yorkshire’s people – industrious and opinionated – check and check. I also found a new understanding about my 9-times-great grandfather. Gathering Yorkshire lore, there is a line-up of possible gene diversity in early times. My Lonely Planet travel guide gives a history of a variety of people occupying Yorkshire. Originally there was a local tribe called “Brigantes” who were linked to the Celtic goddess Brigantia. But many adventurers desired claim to the lovely rolling hills and dales of Yorkshire. A revolving door of conquering warriors settled there:

  • AD 71 — Romans fought off Brigantes, building roads and fortifications.
  •  AD 122 — Roman emperor Hadrian, born in Italica, used the fort at York for “campaigns.”
  • AD 325 — Roman priest Paulinus converted Yorkshire people to Christianity.
  • AD 410 – Roman Empire rule ended in Britain with Anglo-Saxons taking charge.
  • AD 866 — Vikings arrived, making York a successful trading post.
  • AD 954 — King Eadred of Wessex took command, ousting the Vikings.
  • AD 1066 — King Harold II held off a Norwegian invasion, only to die at the Battle of Hastings.
  • AD  1066 – Vikings rebuilt York, including the beginning of the large cathedral…
  • AD 1644 – “Civil” War nearly destroyed the city of York.

My ancestor, Joseph Whitacre (also spelled Whitaker), was born in Yorkshire in 1680. Was he part-Viking? Was he Norwegian? I already knew that he was a Quaker who set sail from Liverpool to Philadelphia on the ship Britannia in 1699. The pacifist Quakers were persecuted for their religious beliefs. They rejected the Church of England’s rituals containing elaborate ceremonies and set ways of worship. Quakers held a different understanding of divinity, believing in the “Inner Light,” or the presence of divinity within each person.

In the University of Leeds Brotherton Library basement, my daughter and I viewed microfilm records of the Quakers in Yorkshire in the 1600’s. There were so many names beginning with the letter W and my relative was not at the beginning of the W names (not listed alphabetically). The last name of Wilson might be next to Wood. When I finally saw Whitaker, John, whose father was also John, it was amazing!

Unfortunately, there was no occupation listed for his father, or his mother’s name, but I found what I was really interested in – his identity confirmed, his hometown named, and his siblings’ names. I was able to visit the site of his Quaker Meeting House, and his family’s town of Halifax, important in the wool industry at the time. Halifax was delightful, nestled in the dales of Yorkshire…one immigrant family line traced to their hometown, three lines to go.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

395. Where did your precious ancestors live?

396. How many diverse groups of people might make up your family tree?