Saturday was eclipse day, so today is eclipse photos day. I've got a whole series for you, in chronological order.
The first picture was taken on Friday while I was scouting sites. This is Chimney Rock, a classic western rock formation about 15 miles south of Cortez, Colorado.¹ This picture was taken at 10:30 am, and as you can see, the sun is directly above the chimney.
¹Well, it's a Chimney Rock. It's a popular name for rock formations that look like this.
Moving on to eclipse day, Chimney Rock drew a large crowd. Check out the line of cars on the left.
An annular eclipse doesn't blot out the sky like a total eclipse. The moon covers 95% of the sun, but it turns out that even 5% of the sun is quite a bit. However, as totality approaches it does get a little dim.
A few minutes before totality, the sun is once again directly above the chimney. This is a composite photo, with top and bottom shot with different exposures.
Here's the sun just before totality. Admittedly, there isn't a lot to see here. The disk of the sun is still bright even though I shot at minimum ISO, minimum shutter speed, minimum f/stop, and a 10x neutral density filter.
And here it is at totality. It isn't perfectly centered because, although I was well within the zone of totality, I was a few miles away from the precise line of totality.
After totality, we all started to leave. But a few people stuck around for a while.
Next, a photo from the train please 🙂
While you were distracted by the sun did anyone happen to look behind them to see what was really going on?
Anyone?
ahem,
https://twitter.com/i/status/1711828812689014879
I saw the 10 May 1994 annular eclipse in Oklahoma. The light got weird, as it does just before and after a total eclipse, and it was noticeably cooler. But it is not a shockingly other-worldly experience like a total eclipse is.
Absolutely agree. I saw that same annular eclipse (in upstate NY, in my case). It was... nice, genuinely very interesting to a nerd like me -- but nothing at all like the surreal experience of the total eclipse in 2017.
I saw the same one from Chicago and I would say it was in some ways more other-wordly. The pin-hole camera shadows on the tree-lined streets were mind-blowing. I learned in 2017 that an unobstructed view, from an open field far from where I live, has its pluses but also significant minuses.
I made the error of buying a variable ND filter years ago. Absolute trash.
I used a pair of crossed polaroid filters to watch Venus transit the Sun about 10 years ago.
Yeah, but the thing with circular variable ND filters is that it's not a uniform field. It's easier to use a gradient ND or full field ND filter.
Thanks, Kevin! Here is our experience at Lowell Observatory, where you had just been on your way up: https://www.mattball.org/2023/10/eclipse.html
🙂
That "Caturn" t shirt is a real classic!
We took innumerable photos of the eclipse, from beginning to end, using a cell phone with a #14 welding lense strapped onto it with rubber bands. I went forth as the eclipse approached, reached, and went beyond totality with a non-upjumped cell, and got photos of the little crescent, then the little rings of light from the sunlight filtering through various trees. Incredible! Bizarre!
All we had to do was relocate to the driveway and set up comfortable chairs and a little table.
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