Faroe Islands Total Eclipse 2015

[gleaf]

Monthly travel tours etc brochure arrived yesterday offering an Icelandic tour including seeing the March 2015 eclipse from the air in the totality zone.
The imagination roils with thoughts to setting up an LF camera at the aircraft window for the shot in an environment of digital camera people.
It might make for a good humor video however....

Search shows Faroes and Svalbard are in the path.
http://www.visitfaroeislands.com/be-inspired/total-solar-eclipse-2015/time-and-duration/

Not that I will ever have the funds to make the trip.
Have any of our members traveled to the Faroes?
Anyone planning to make the Eclipse shot in in the Faroes in 2015?
Location ideas, lodging, logistics... ,(Gear in Gear out) information?
Ferry vs Air seems Ferry Service would be more LF friendly.
Perhaps a European tour operator is offering a photo tour package to the Faroes for the event?

Pot prepared. Paddle inserted. Stir Stir Stir. :)

[Steven Tribe]

A total eclipse is not a good time to visit either The Faroes or Svalbard unless you are an astrophysicist who gets off on corona photos. Both have unique landscapes and buildings/towns but have the disadvantage of indirect travel, high costs and unreliable weather. Greenland and Island are somewhat more accessible, though Greenland has the disavantage of restricted and expensive internal air connections.

[Stephane]

I have been to the Faroes few times, and to Svalbard.
The Faroes are know for the unpredictable weather, which means you might end up with grey skies, and hence nothing to see.
Svalbard is very cold, and you need to carry a gun if you go outside Longyearbyen for protection against polar bears. By the end of March you approach the midnight sun period. Svalbard is a very expensive place to be...

[gleaf]

I knew that they were not offering see it from the air based from Iceland for no reason. Green Gate Incoming appears to have two ferries being chartered to act as out of season hotels with 8 day round trip and stay over in the Faroes. The write up I found says scouts will check the 4 best mountain seeing spots to see which one(s) are go and the buses will get you the viewing... A lot of money to take a shot on North Atlantic weather. I spent 4 years at Lajes Field in the Azores. No North Atlantic High, no stability. Marching storm fronts... The shot of eight or ten view cameras in a row catching the event is a mythical shot for a near mythical visual happening. Sigh. Faroes sounds like great trip in the better season.

[Steven Tribe]

Some facts:

It rains on the average 25 days in the month of March.
Average temperature is 4 deg Centigrade.
Average rainfall for the month is 160mm.
Average hours of sun per day is 2.

"scouts will check the 4 best mountain seeing spots" - the highest mountain in The Faroes is just over 800m and this won't be above the cloud cover.

Otherwise it's a great place!

[George Hart]

Steven's right about the Faroes. Been there once, wonderful place, would gladly go again. First time I got out of the car at a photogenic location my hat blew off. All apart from the remainder of the "weather", wind there takes on a new dimension. What trees there are get uprooted regularly. Any camera with bellows is liable to become airborne!

[billschwab]

I've been leading groups there for a couple years and have to admit trying for this period, but it was booked 2 years ago. Also, as others have mentioned, there is a slim, although not impossible chance of seeing the sun.

Anyone interested if shooting there, it's quite beautiful and not always as has been described. Still not for the feint of heart though. ;)

I've got another trip going in September if anyone is interested.

http://northlightworkshops.com/tours/faroes/index.html

[Monty McCutchen]

A Bill Schwab led trip is Bucket List Territory. Faroes or Iceland would be an outstanding opportunity to be led by a great photographer to some of the best spots possible. September…hmmmmmmmm

My 20 x 24 with 8 other photographers holding umbrellas up to shield the wind, and then all of the other photographers voting me off the island 20 minutes later. The quickest photographers survivor exit ever! I may have to re think this!!!

Monty

[bigdog]

A Bill Schwab led trip is Bucket List Territory. Faroes or Iceland would be an outstanding opportunity to be led by a great photographer to some of the best spots possible.

:)

But probably not for Sun worshipers ...

[billschwab]

September…hmmmmmmmmWe'd have to rent a van just for you... but it would be fun! Thanks, Monty.

[billschwab]

But probably not for Sun worshipers ...Yeah, David... No guarantee there. Sun's over rated anyway. ;)

[redrockcoulee]

A Bill Schwab led trip is Bucket List Territory. Faroes or Iceland would be an outstanding opportunity to be led by a great photographer to some of the best spots possible. September…hmmmmmmmm

My 20 x 24 with 8 other photographers holding umbrellas up to shield the wind, and then all of the other photographers voting me off the island 20 minutes later. The quickest photographers survivor exit ever! I may have to re think this!!!

Monty

On my bucket list as well, most likely a retirement gift to myself in a couple of years

[HouseinHvalba]

Hi,

I am from the Faroe Islands. I think personally that the Faroe Islands is one of the most interesting countries to take photos in. My husband and sister take photos all the time, and me too, when I have the time. We have everything here, beautiful scenery, incredible light, and of course, as some of you have mentioned, all kinds of weather, also bad. This summer was very good, though, and we were really lucky with the weather this year. But in winter, the weather can be very unreliable. But you can get lucky, and then there it is nothing that compares. But no guarantee :)

But even so, there are really really many tourists coming this way for solar eclipse in March next year. Some travel even all the way from Australia, just to get a chance to be here at the Solar Eclipse. So if any of you are interested in coming this way, I can get you a place to sleep, I have a great vacation rental with room for 6 people. Just write me an email to: househvalba@gmail.com, if you are interested in knowing more :)

Best Regards,

Randi Debes

[Steven Tribe]

This total eclipse (Faroe islands and Svalbald) is next Friday, 20th of March.

Over 80% in many other countries in the North-eastern edge of Europe.

Let us hope the weather is fine!

[Steven Tribe]

No sign of the eclipse in the Faroe Islands to-day (apart from the darkness!).

Svalbard was the place to be - with fine weather.

[steveo]

Had enough broken cloud here to see the partial 90 odd percent, and the quality of the light was very very weird. Just wish I wasn't stuck in an office complex in the middle of an industrial estate.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hello from France !

Here in Besançon (47° 14′ 35″ North - 6° 01′ 19″ East ), the maximum coverage of the Sun by the Moon was about 70%, hence nothing spectacular could be seen outdoors.
However I converted for a few hours one of our rooms into a big pinhole camera, and this is what I recorded at the maximum of the eclipse.
I made a crude ~1mm pinhole punched in a kitchen alumin(i)um foil, located at 2-3 metres from the observation paper, the first piece of paper picked from the paper recycling bin.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/43175600@N00/16870235811/

The "official" pinhole image is at the bottom, and above you see several parasitic images created by parasitic slits in the wooden (French-style, not Venitian) window blinds.

[appletree]

Someone I follow on instagram posted a pretty good photo. Never heard of these islands or knew the total eclipse was last night/recently. Pretty neat, although this person seems to travel all over the world taking photos. Must be a pretty great life! I'm not jealous, but do think that is very awesome for those that can sustain and do such a thing.

[StoneNYC]

Always wanted to make it out there, knew a girl who was a pen pall there as a kid.