Everen’s recent travels have taken him to a variety of unusual places to capture images for the 360º World Atlas. Here are some notes from his Explorer’s Journal.

Timbuktu, Mali: Yes, Timbuktu really exists. This small town, near the center of Mali, has been the crossroads of West Africa for centuries. Its new international airport now serves travelers from every continent. Scholars visit the world-famous library, housing a precious collection of over 100,000 historic manuscripts. Tourists visit the mosques and other ancient structures and hunt for Timbuktu t-shirts to prove they actually made the journey to this mythical destination.

I am overwhelmed by Timbuktu’s mud buildings, which provide intriguing shapes for my 360º images. The central core of the city is tightly knit and challenges me to tell its story photographically.

Yiwu, China: On August 1, 2008, this city in China’s northwest corner became “Eclipse City.” Thousands from around the world converged on a special viewing site erected by the government to see the total solar eclipse. Taking extra pride in the event, the Chinese built an observatory and created a mini-museum dedicated to the planets and astronomy. Tickets to the site were sold for $100 US, which was funny, as you don’t need a ticket to view an eclipse. Later, I learned the fee was for the security forces, which swarmed the region to protect eclipse chasers.

Viewing and photographing an eclipse often comes down to luck. Even when you’ve done your homework, identified the best possible location, and tracked potential weather conditions, last minute cloud cover can spoil it all. I was in position — four Globuscopes loaded with film and ready to go. With five minutes to totality, clouds obscured the sun, and I prepared myself to miss the most important part of the eclipse. Would the clouds move fast enough to bring the sun back into view? With less than two minutes to go, the clouds parted just enough. My patience was rewarded with an incredible 360º image showing the sun high in the sky with the moon in front of it. Totality at last!

This image will be included in the 360º World Atlas in “transition VR” mode. The VR will transition every fifteen seconds between the two images, revealing the scene both before and during totality. This is only the second time I have created such a 360º image during an eclipse. With a little more luck, I plan to continue the series at the next total solar eclipse on July 22, 2009.

Cape York, Greenland: Aboard the Russian icebreaker, Kapitan Khlebnikov, I returned to the northeast side of Greenland to continue documenting this endangered part of the world. No polar bears on this trip, but a chance to seewalrus in the wild — what an adventure!

One of the unexpected highlights of the trip was a visit to an amazing monument at Cape York. This 60-foot memorial, built in the 1930’s and dedicated to the American polar explorer, Admiral Robert Peary, sits atop a remote mountain. The only way to get there easily is by helicopter — a method of transportation not available to either Peary or the builders of his monument. I can only imagine the work involved to construct it in these harsh conditions. The plaque also pays tribute to the polar Inuit of Greenland, who helped Peary on his expeditions, but begs the question: Who will visit it? I did and was grateful for the striking 360º vista, overlooking a glacier with icebergs in the distance.

Etah Glacier, Greenland, was another great destination with perfect weather.

Then it was on to Canada with stops at Fort Conger and Baffin Island, to capture more amazing sights in the polar north for the 360º World Atlas.