Lunar Eclipse Still in Progress!

About half an hour from totality
9:45 pm, 9/27/2015
Photo by S. Vardatira

Near totality - 10:13 pm, 9/27/2015
Photo by S. Vardatira

Yes, totality just passed, but the stars are still shining (click on the lower photo to see the stars even better). You still have another hour (give or take) to watch the moon come back to its full brilliance. And as you watch, consider for a moment that what you are seeing is essentially the Earth's shadow passing across the surface of the moon. Awesome is the only word for it.

Supermoon Lunar Eclipse this Sunday evening, 9/27

This Sunday evening, 9/27, stargazers will see a rare supermoon lunar eclipse. If you miss it, the next one isn't until 2033! What makes this event so special?

If this video doesn't play for you, you can find it on YouTube here.

Tips on Submitting Photos for the Head in the Clouds Wall Calendar

Cover of the 2018 Calendar

(Updated May 2019)

The response to our call for photos has been growing each year, and it's a thrill to open each email and be treated to such a wealth of beautiful local scenes. We've been told more than once that each year's calendar is even more exquisite than the last!

Although we receive plenty of really imaginative and beautiful submissions, for a variety of reasons many are not quite right for this calendar. 

So as you are considering what photos to submit, please keep these pointers in mind: 

1. Photos must show Amherst, not Easthampton, Hadley, Leverett, or anywhere else not exactly in Amherst. We will ask you where the photo was taken - it has to be either in Amherst or "of" Amherst. We will consider photos taken outside of Amherst if the subject is Amherst. For example, if you stood on a hill in Hadley to take a photo of UMass from a distance, we would consider that photo even though you weren't standing in Amherst when you took it. But if the scene doesn't show Amherst proper, we won't be considering it for the calendar no matter how amazing the photo. 
2. Featured photos capture the progression of the seasons. Our April and May calendar photos will be more springlike, while October will be a fall scene. Thus, among all the fall foliage photos we receive each year, we will pick two or three for the calendar. We tend to receive fewer quality winter and spring shots than any other season. So feel free to submit multiple photos, but your odds of being selected increase if you submit a variety of seasons. 
3. Diversity of scenes. We have no idea why, but in 2018 we received more Mount Pollux photos than anything else. We did pick one for the calendar, but about a dozen excellent shots were rejected. We like to show different aspects of Amherst, and we won't include a Mount Pollux photo every year. Check out our calendars from past years, and consider ways to vary the subject.                           2018 Calendar     2017 Calendar     2016 Calendar                                               2015 Calendar     2014 Calendar 
4. Landscape orientation. Due to the layout of the calendar, your photo submissions should be in landscape orientation (photo is wider than it is tall). Photos in portrait orientation (photo is taller than it is wide) generally do not work. The one exception is if the taller-than-wide photo can be cropped into a landscape orientation. That said, only once have we cropped a portrait photo into a landscape variation, and in that case the photo was extremely high resolution, thus allowing us to crop the photo severely without significantly reducing the image quality. 
5. Main subject should be the place. People and pets in the photo are fine as long as the photo isn't all about the people or pets (we're not looking for portraits or close ups of groups of people, in other words) - the main subject needs to be the setting around the people or pets. Crowd shots - where groups of people are the focus of the shot - are also not appropriate.
6. Avoid extreme close-ups. While close-ups can be beautiful, they don't necessarily convey a sense of place. For example, a photo of a lilac branch taken at Lilacland doesn't say "Amherst" (it could have been taken anywhere). Better to pull back on that shot to show, for example, lilac bushes blooming against the hill and art gallery beyond.
7. Weather, clouds, and Amherst landmarks are a plus. Even though we are "in the clouds," we do not require all the featured photos to have clouds - and, ideally the photo won't just be clouds. But we do like good cloud shots, as well as pictures showing weather. We also love Amherst landmarks. Our cover photo in 2018 (shown above) featured all three - in addition to being a beautiful photo, it showed the Common (Amherst landmark), along with clouds and snow on the ground. This photo fit just about every criteria while evoking a true winter feel as well as a scene people rarely see unless they are up in the very early morning. 

Ideally, viewers will see and feel "Amherst" in the photos. It's not necessary that the places featured be recognizable, but the photos should convey a feel for the area, the nature around us, the sky, and, yes, sometimes those locations anyone passing through might recognize or feel drawn to visit.

Can't wait to see what you have. Full instructions on submitting photos can be found here.

Sunset tonight over Simple Gifts Farm

Sunset over Simple Gifts Farm, Amherst MA - 9-22-2015
Photo by S. Vardatira

Sunset, this evening, from Simple Gifts Farm. (And you've probably already seen many, many variations on this theme in the past few hours.) Lovely night. 

Good Yom Tov for those observing.

Seeking Photos for the 2016 Head in the Clouds Amherst Calendar!

Your photo could be featured (kind of like this) in our upcoming 2016 calendar!

CALLING ALL AMHERST-AREA & AMHERST VISITING PHOTOGRAPHERS:

Head in the Clouds Amherst is seeking photo submissions for our 2016 calendar.  That’s right, we’re changing it up this year to feature monthly photos by 12 different people!

The deadline to submit is October 1, 2015. Submissions can be emailed or uploaded via Google Drive to CloudsAmherst@gmail.com. Please enter "HITC Calendar Photo Submissions" in the subject line.

Along with your photo(s), please include: a caption or title; who is in the photo (unless it's a crowd scene or from a distance), where it was taken, the photographer's name, and your contact information

All submissions must have been taken in Amherst or feature a scenic view of Amherst. And photos must also depict scenes that evoke the seasons and the intersection of life and weather.  In addition, if your photo captures one or more of these themes it will get special consideration:

• Amherst landmarks (popular gathering sites, university/colleges, museums, etc.)
• Amherst annual events and happenings 
• Clouds formations and weather phenomena (over or around Amherst)

You can see last year’s calendar, here. But keep in mind that, with 12 different photographers instead of one, we would expect this year’s calendar to show a wider variation in styles and subject matter. We are open to professionals and amateurs, color, and black and white. And we’re also counting on friends of Head in the Clouds re-submitting photos you’ve already sent to us over the year. You can submit as many photos as you like.

If your photo is selected for the 2016 calendar, you will receive a free calendar and reduced rates on any additional calendars you opt to purchase. And keep in mind that we will not consider photos that are low resolution, low quality, or that contain inappropriate material.

So what are you waiting for??? Start flipping through your photo collection – or grab your camera and make some new memories. We can’t wait to see what you’ve got!

Hints of fall and a return to summer

Sundown on the Connecticut River, August 2015
Photo by S. Vardatira

The question of the hour is just how much fall are we going to get anyway. Could we be living the fall version of the one-day spring? Enjoy tonight’s cool evening while you can – the rest of the week will see a return of summer-like conditions as high pressure builds in and pushes temps up to the mid-80s, well above average for the week ahead. And there’s no rain in the forecast until maybe Saturday night (and that’s iffy). Somewhat cooler temps arrive on Sunday, which means they drop into the mid-70s instead of the mid-80s. Not exactly frosty and cool. And so goes our summer-like, above-average September. For those of you who crave the warmer temps, you’re in luck. For the rest of us, well, winter is coming. Eventually.

Ball lightning observed in Hadley last night

Note: this photo of ball lightning was taken by UK scientists -
it was NOT taken in Hadley last night (it's actually incredibly
challenging to photograph ball lightning)

I'm posting this observation, provided by Paula, a friend of Head in the Clouds Amherst, of what sounds for all the world like an electrical phenomenon known as "ball lightning." She saw this last night, around 7:15, during that intense thunderstorm that came through the area. I wonder if anyone else saw this? Here's what Paula observed:

There was lightning, yes.... It looked like a cloud that morphed into a white ball, then exploded and slowly broke into many pieces before it disappeared. We were on North Maple near the Hadley Farm, and stopped along the road to watch the storm in the east. Other cars stopped, too. Some took pictures. The dark grey clouds moved fast, while wispy fingers dipped down toward the ground. I wanted to see if one of those fingers would rotate into a funnel cloud. It didn't. The finger receded, then a bright white ball glowed in the air below, until it burst apart into many pieces. Quite a sight, whatever it was.

Read more about ball lightning here.

Thanks, Paula, for that incredibly clear and fascinating description!

Even as summer lingers on, a change is coming

No, summer won't be around forever
Connecticut River - Photo by S. Vardatira

As we look forward to another week of oddly hot, near record-breaking temperatures hovering near or above 90 through Thursday, it may be hard to grasp that summer will ever end. But a change is coming - on Friday, temps drop back into the 70's where they remain through at least Tuesday. Not exactly a cold snap (night temps only get to the mid-50s), but much more seasonable days are ahead.