Web Savvy Mama - The Blog. Web Design for Small Business. » images http://websavvymama.com/blog What do you want to learn today? Web Savvy Mama answers many questions about web design and web site management. Sat, 28 May 2011 04:46:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 The Night Sky, Nature by Design http://websavvymama.com/blog/2011/the-night-sky/ http://websavvymama.com/blog/2011/the-night-sky/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 22:08:53 +0000 Kristine http://websavvymama.com/blog/?p=492 We all need something that inspires us, the universe inspires me! Its hard to believe that there is so much beauty around us and we often don’t take the time to stop and see it!

Late in the evening on March 1st I got a call from my husband, he was excitedly telling me to check the sky watch maps at Space Weather to see the Aurora intensity. When I pulled up the web site I mirrored his excitement and said “Heck yeah, we are so going sky watching tonight!” Since we live in Northern Minnesota we have the opportunity to see Aurora’s when they dip low enough, its not often though.

Northern Lights

What does this mean? Well, first of all the sun has to be active and when it is it sends out solar flares that can interfere with our atmosphere and cause geomagnetic storms. OK, this is the really simplified explanation, there are a lot of factors and more scientific stuff but I’m sure you don’t really want to hear all that. If you are interested check out SpaceWeather.com for more info. Our atmosphere is always slightly active but when its more active we get a nice light show of green and sometimes purple ribbons to the north. Because of the light pollution from cities most people that live in the northern areas still don’t see them. In order to catch them in Northern Minnesota we still have to go out to remote areas and use long exposure photography. On the night of March 1st we were hitting K5 to K6 for intensity, which means it was dipping low into the upper United States and perfect for sky viewing.

Canon 60D
After my husband’s call I rushed around the house packing up our photography equipment and preparing for what would be a cold cold night. I glanced at the thermometer and saw it was nearing -30 Fahrenheit in our area, brrr! At those temps you have to be especially careful with your camera equipment as well, the cooling and heating of the lenses and sensors can cause condensation that cameras and photographers hate. That’s an easy way to ruin a piece of equipment that cost more than your monthly wages!

When my husband got home we loaded up the SUV and headed for Lake Vermilion, the best place in Northern MN to view the Northern Lights. Once we got there and set up I was loving that I chose to go with the new Canon 60D as my current camera of choice, the articulating screen came in handy! When it’s that cold outside you want to be outside as little as possible. The articulating screen allowed me to use my remote shutter and stay toasty in the SUV. My poor husband had his Canon 7D with and while he has a remote shutter he couldn’t see his display and had to continually get out to make sure his shots were coming out correctly. I almost felt sorry for him.

Northern Lights

The results of our cold night and staying up until 1am were well worth it. We got some great shots of the sky and a bit of color. I will say I’m extremely jealous of those who live in even higher latitudes, such as Norway, who get an even more spectacular light show on a regular basis.

Want to see more Northern MN photography? Check out our other website.

]]> http://websavvymama.com/blog/2011/the-night-sky/feed/ 0 Portfolio Updates July 2008 http://websavvymama.com/blog/2008/portfolio-updates-july-2008/ http://websavvymama.com/blog/2008/portfolio-updates-july-2008/#comments Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:38:52 +0000 Kristine http://websavvymama.com/blog/2008/portfolio-updates-july-2008/ Bella Baby Couture Web Design Image Bella Baby Couture
offers clothing and accessories for moms-to-be, kids and babies. This client wanted a fun storefront landing page showing some of the products she has to offer with simple navigation to browse the site. Inner pages offer the same simple navigation and the fun tree and bird combination on the left.

the good machinery Web Design Image the good machinery
was a 2 part design that included both a portfolio website for the client to display her work and an integrated WordPress blog theme to match. This site features a very simplistic design to match the web site owner’s unique artistic style. It shows off her artwork simply and doesn’t detract the visitor. This was a redesign, from a previous Web Savvy Mama done design, showing that you can refresh your website and reinvent yourself at anytime!

Mom and Baby Naturally Web Design Image Mom and Baby Naturally
is another natural product website focusing on moms and their children. Offering a variety of products from cloth diapers to baby carriers. This client wanted more natural and muted colors with a touch of flair to liven up her style.

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