fourpointedstar

I told my boss after the 2017 eclipse “slap me if I choose not to travel for the eclipse in 2024.” I chose Spenser, Indiana because it was a small town along the path of totality, and I wanted to avoid the crowds. I ended up shooting the eclipse from a grassy field outside of town along with maybe 50 other folks. The group shared Oreos and stories, and we generally enjoyed the warm, sunny weather.

As totality approached it was a very odd feeling; it was almost like dusk, but the colors in the sky were all wrong – an unnatural hue. Totality was more like a nice moonlit scene; the frogs in the pond didn’t understand what was going on and were discussing their confusion very loudly. But the humans were in awe of the scene; it’s an incredible experience.

Photographically, I had prepared myself to be content and happy no matter what – weather, camera malfunctions, etc. So, I am thrilled to have gotten this image during totality (and many other great images).

Anytime that I attend an event, there is always the question – “how many of my photos do OTHERS want to see from this event?” After all, I take way too many photos and seeing 38 images of the exact same car/plane/waterfall isn’t how most people want to spend their time.

So, as I was driving home after the Eclipse (confident that some of my photos were good), I wondered how I could share the Eclipse without 38 photos of a smaller and smaller wedges of yellow. How about a video? Just 2 minutes long.

Anyway, you should watch it. In fullscreen. On the biggest screen you can find. Obviously.

Goodness, it was cold.  We stood on a parking garage roof in Elgin for 2 hours, stepping back into our cars in between photos to allow the soles of our feet to warm back up.  Luckily, the lunar eclipse didn’t happen during the “Polar Vortex” (that was the next week), but it was only 4° F (-15.5° C), and being 5 levels up meant there was nothing blocking the wind.

However, unlike the 2015 Lunar Eclipse and the 2017 Solar Eclipse, there wasn’t cloud cover.  I didn’t stay for the entire eclipse, but I’m pretty happy with the images that I did capture.

… a little note about my 2017 eclipse images…
Both of the above images were shot with the solar filter. Since it was overcast on and off during the entire eclipse, I switched between solar filter, ND8 filters, and using f/22 with a high shutter speed. I had both my D600 and my D7000, with my 80-200 f/2.8 and 70-300 f/4-5.6 with me. Although I’d only used the solar filter twice before, and despite my ignorance, the clouds, and my location far from totality, I’m quite happy with the images that I did capture.
Lastly – the D7000 is a crop frame, so it’s images appears much more zoomed in.