Monday night (December 21, 2020) was Winter Solstice. Most of us know that means it is officially the shortest day of the year and now we get to start counting down to Spring…. and SUMMER!!!!!! (YAY RIGHT?!) To us it may be any other day. To many others, it is a very significant day. Lots of people celebrate solstice as a day of new beginnings, a chance to make wishes and focus on your goals and plans for the next year. Some people just treat it as any other day. This year, though, something incredible happened. The “Star of Bethlehem” (also known as “The Great Conjunction”, when Saturn and Jupiter crossed, specifically, to many) has been in view for a few days now. The last time this was visible was in 1226. (Apparently it would have been visible in 1623, but the way the sun was sitting, it wasn’t able to be seen.)
I’m so lucky I got to go out and try and capture the conjunction. It was absolutely magical. I got to spend some good quality time with my kiddos, I got to teach them about the stars… Mom even came with us. While it was neat to see The Star of Bethlehem, the TRUE fun part for me was a challenge. I haven’t had the opportunity to capture the night sky in almost 3 years.
So, naturally, I was excited when I mentioned going to see the sky and Mom wanted to go. Things have been a little wild lately and we haven’t had much time to do things “for fun” so when Mom jumped at the opportunity to do something my soul needed, I was ecstatic and determined to make it worth the trip.
We taught the girls about the Milky Way and showed them where we could see it in the sky. I got to explain a little bit about WHY you can see it better in camera than you can with the naked eye. We talked about the constellations and where they were. We even went into some of the stories about each one and the mythology behind them. (a bit of the Milky Way, from Dawsonville, GA, seen above)
This wasn’t my first time “chasing stars”, though. And it wasn’t the first time I have gone out looking at the sky during Winter Solstice. Winter Solstice (and Summer Solstice, since we are mentioning it) are pretty important days in Alaska. They will have huge bonfires and parties on both days celebrating the coming season. During my time in Alaska, I got to experience a lot of things we don’t typically get to see in the “lower 48”. In fact, there’s a 99.99999% chance you will never see the Aurora Borealis from Gainesville, Georgia. When I lived up there, I took FULL advantage of the skies.
Above, you will see one of the (very very many) images I got to take of the Northern Lights. As you can see, the Auroras (or, Dancing Green Lady, as we affectionately called her) are breathtaking. Hopefully we can take the trip back this summer to see one of my best friends get MARRIED!!!! Hopefully we get to go because it’s going to be FUN!!! (I’ll also have more pretty pictures to post afterward, so its a win win right???)
As always, Emerald Creek Photography is here for all of your finest moments. We promise to capture all the best memories and deliver them to you beautifully. You can click on the CONTACT button on our website (or use the link here) for inquiries about availability and services!!