With very few exceptions, I don't name my images. More often than not, the images have a very practical name, like "Shea's Go Bills" or something I will remember if I'm doing inventory, like "4th of July Flowers" - not because there are fireworks in the photo, but because that's the date I remember shooting them.

But, if March's image had a name, it could be the "Calm After the Storm." 

During the early months of 2024, the talk of Western New York was about the upcoming solar eclipse, and WNY was prime viewing for this rare occurrence.  News stories reported that hundreds of thousands of people could descend on WNY to see the eclipse. Schools and businesses were closing, and there were eclipse parties and viewing events scheduled across the region.

Sadly, cloud covered limited the visibility of the full eclipse. The region grew dark for about 4 minutes, which was cool to experience, but many were disappointed. A few hours later, the skies had cleared, and the sun was clearly visible – we only missed it by an hour or two.  Oh well, the excitement was fun anyway.

With the sun out, I decided to head to the Buffalo waterfront to see if there was a sunset image to be had that evening. It was warm for an April evening, but what was more unusual was the stillness of the evening hours. Not only wasn’t there any wind, but there was also no breeze. The water was calm, providing an almost perfect reflection of the sky.

I travel along the waterfront every day, and I know I have seen the water in many different states of activity, from the rough waters of the windy winter months to some easy summer nights. I just don’t think I’ve ever stood alongside the entire area when the essence of the entire evening carried this much stillness.

When the sun hit the horizon just before 8 p.m. (yes, I cannot wait for 8 p.m. sunsets) I remained awestruck by the calm serenity that drew the day to a close.

As I have said before, sometimes an image may take months or years of planning, and other times you just head out, because you may experience something you haven’t seen before. So, although I was prepared to see (and photograph) a solar eclipse, that is not the image that stuck with me from April 8, 2024.

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