Ring of Fire
The Story Behind This Photograph:
Taken in the Empty Quarter of the United Arab Emirates on December 26th, 2019.
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About Joshua Cripps

Joshua Cripps is a renowned landscape photographer who has garnered worldwide acclaim for his breathtaking images of our planet’s wild places. His photos have been published by the likes of National Geographic, NASA, CNN, BBC, and Nikon Global.
Josh is one of today’s most sought-after photography educators. He leads photo tours and speaks at conferences around the world.
Josh grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and has been exploring the “Range of Light” for most of his life. Since 2015, Josh has made his home in the Eastern Sierra, one of the most spectacular and photogenic mountain landscapes in the world.
The Mount Whitney Gallery

The Mount Whitney Gallery was founded in 2023 by Joshua Cripps as a way to share his passion stunning landscapes of the Sierra Nevada and beyond.
Set at the foot of the breathtaking Sierra with a view of the range’s highest peaks, the gallery features large format, museum-caliber fine art prints of Josh’s signature photographs.
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The Mount Whitney Gallery
126 N. Main Street
PO Box 655
Lone Pine, CA 93545
Where are you planning on shooting the OCT 14 annular eclipse? I’m thinking about Roswell, NM!
I tried to video the 2017 total eclipse in Oregon at 1 frame per second. It was impossible to track smoothly. Plus I used a welding glass as a filter and it came out eerily green.
Any ideas on some way to accurately track an eclipse for video?
Thanks Joshua.
Hey Bruce, right now I’m looking at a couple of spots in Utah, though I haven’t finalized my plans yet.
For videoing the eclipse, you could potentially buy a tracking mount like the ones that telescopes have, as they will match the movement of the moon or sun. Or you can track it manually by hand, then auto-align the frames in software later. Good luck!
I wanted to know about the measurement. 12X12, 20X20, 24X24 … its inches or centimers ?
Hi Samir,
All the print dimensions are in inches.
Cheers,
Josh
Hey Joshua, what a wonderful image. Superb timing and planning. Must have been during an eclipse, no? Would love to read more of the story behind the shot. Also, although unrelated, would really like to see a blog post discussing your drone experience. I’m just now doing the same thing and it would be great to hear your perspective on drones and the initial motivation and learning.
Cheers, John Dodson
Hey John,
Thanks very much! Yes, this was during last year’s annular solar eclipse. One of these days I’ll complete a full write up for my website, but in the meantime I do have a webinar on the planning and execution of the photo. You can watch that here:
Regarding drones, my thoughts can be summed up pretty succinctly: I find other people’s drones incredibly annoying, but I love my drone like a child. 🙂 Being serious, I think drones are a fantastic tool for shooting stills and video, and if you are interested in getting one I HIGHLY recommend it. Such a cool way to see the world. But they need to be used in a responsible way that doesn’t effect other people or animals where you are flying.
Cheers,
Josh
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