My Eclipse Experience
When I first found out that the US was going to see a total eclipse in 2017 it was over a year away. Though I was immediately excited about the prospect of being in the area (well on the same land mass at least) the date was too far away to consider seriously, because my wife is not adverse to changing employer in an instant and moving to another country altogether. But, as the days fell from the calendar and we were still living this incredible life in the stunning beauty of western Canada the planning began in earnest.
I started by reading almost everything I could find on the topic of photographing a solar eclipse, there is no shortage of information out there but I found the most impactful came from NASA via their website, and a couple of photography sites that went into detail about the actual shoot rather than camera settings.
Obviously with my experience as a photographer I can pretty quickly come up with the camera settings required for any given light conditions but reading the experience of others who have done this before was invaluable. Simple things like go out and shoot the sun a few times over a few days to get accustomed to focussing which is quite tricky. Switching to manual focus and taping the focus ring to the lens to prevent movement is pretty standard stuff which I use for astrophotography but actually getting the focus on the sun first is very tricky.
I took my laptop with me to check my practice images and after arriving at my planned location 1.5 hours early I set up and shot the sun repeatedly (with a solar filter of course). I had a Canon 100-400 IS USM lens with a Canon 2x extender giving me an 800mm reach. This causes problems of it's own as the sun moves out of the frame and you must reframe it every few minutes, but with an 800mm reach a couple of millimetres of camera movement will lose the sun altogether (imagine looking at a ship at sea through a telescope then moving the scope and trying to find it again, same thing applies). Thanks to others who had written about their experience I was ready for that and selected a specific tripod that would allow me to make very small adjustments, I also took two other tripods along as back ups but they were not needed. Eventually I got sufficient focus to see the sunspots on the surface by shooting a few frames and checking them on the laptop in close up. Even though there was a little smoky haze in the atmosphere I was happy that this was it and taped up the focus ring and locked the telescopic ring on the lens too.
I started by reading almost everything I could find on the topic of photographing a solar eclipse, there is no shortage of information out there but I found the most impactful came from NASA via their website, and a couple of photography sites that went into detail about the actual shoot rather than camera settings.
Obviously with my experience as a photographer I can pretty quickly come up with the camera settings required for any given light conditions but reading the experience of others who have done this before was invaluable. Simple things like go out and shoot the sun a few times over a few days to get accustomed to focussing which is quite tricky. Switching to manual focus and taping the focus ring to the lens to prevent movement is pretty standard stuff which I use for astrophotography but actually getting the focus on the sun first is very tricky.
I took my laptop with me to check my practice images and after arriving at my planned location 1.5 hours early I set up and shot the sun repeatedly (with a solar filter of course). I had a Canon 100-400 IS USM lens with a Canon 2x extender giving me an 800mm reach. This causes problems of it's own as the sun moves out of the frame and you must reframe it every few minutes, but with an 800mm reach a couple of millimetres of camera movement will lose the sun altogether (imagine looking at a ship at sea through a telescope then moving the scope and trying to find it again, same thing applies). Thanks to others who had written about their experience I was ready for that and selected a specific tripod that would allow me to make very small adjustments, I also took two other tripods along as back ups but they were not needed. Eventually I got sufficient focus to see the sunspots on the surface by shooting a few frames and checking them on the laptop in close up. Even though there was a little smoky haze in the atmosphere I was happy that this was it and taped up the focus ring and locked the telescopic ring on the lens too.
I should add that I was using a cable release to prevent movement when pressing the shutter button, at 800mm everything is magnified..... including the slightest movement of the camera.
So, now I was ready, standing at the entrance to a disused quarry by the roadside on North Salmon Highway, 36 miles (57.9km) exactly from 'Ikes gas station' in Dubois Idaho, precisely as planned. There were thousands of people scattered between 'Ikes gas station' and my chosen spot, but as I made that 36 mile drive they thinned out to nothing and I actually began to second guess my choice of location to such a point that I pulled over and checked my maps again.
I had used a great NASA interactive eclipse map and then overlaid a semi transparent layer of google maps to get the most detailed road information in the area of totality. I used google satellite imagery of the area and found a disused quarry with good parking and then used google street view to check for overhead pylons, wires or obstructions of any kind. On checking my data I was happy that it was right and I continued on to my preselected spot. It was reassuring to arrive and see two other vehicles there, the owners of which were happy that this was indeed the perfect spot.....we were proven right at 10:14 when the wonderful phenomenon began.
So, now I was ready, standing at the entrance to a disused quarry by the roadside on North Salmon Highway, 36 miles (57.9km) exactly from 'Ikes gas station' in Dubois Idaho, precisely as planned. There were thousands of people scattered between 'Ikes gas station' and my chosen spot, but as I made that 36 mile drive they thinned out to nothing and I actually began to second guess my choice of location to such a point that I pulled over and checked my maps again.
I had used a great NASA interactive eclipse map and then overlaid a semi transparent layer of google maps to get the most detailed road information in the area of totality. I used google satellite imagery of the area and found a disused quarry with good parking and then used google street view to check for overhead pylons, wires or obstructions of any kind. On checking my data I was happy that it was right and I continued on to my preselected spot. It was reassuring to arrive and see two other vehicles there, the owners of which were happy that this was indeed the perfect spot.....we were proven right at 10:14 when the wonderful phenomenon began.
It's hard to describe my excitement as the culmination of all that planning came together and image after image of the moon slowly passing between us and the sun popped onto my review screen again and again. All too soon we were approaching the moment I really wanted to capture, the 'diamond ring' which appears as the very last tip of the sun shines out from behind the moon with the entire moon backlit by the sun to form the ring. In this one you can also see Baily's Beads making the 'mount' for the diamond.
As soon as the diamond ring has gone it is time to unscrew the three thumbscrews holding the solar filter in place change the exposure settings at the same time, then realign the scope and shoot the stunning totality and see that incredible corona as it bursts out from behind all sides of the moon simultaneously.
Totality lasts only 2 minutes before the second 'diamond ring' appears, you get perhaps one second to capture it before it's time to grab the solar filter and replace it on the lens and change the exposure settings once again.
With the solar filter back in place the sunspots are visible again as the moon slides silently away, at this moment I am full of adrenaline, I can't believe that I made it, I was here and I caught it on camera. I was already reviewing the shots as the second phase of transition was going on, I saw I had captured the diamond ring which just made me so much more giddy.
You can see the whole transition in individual frames in the gallery below, I took many more images but movement of a few millimetres in every frame would be a little tedious so I've tried to balance it out through this gallery. Below that is a very short video made up of these clips (about 2 seconds) which I really love.
This really was a big deal for me, not just to see it, but to capture it on camera. Photography (for me at least) is all about that one moment, that precious portion of time where you witness something fantastic and capture it to help reignite memories later in life.
All of the months of planning and preparation, 24 hours driving, $1k dollars in hotel, gas and additional gear, road fatigue, gas station food and mild panic that you've missed something really important all come to fruition for that wonderful moment and you are right there, right where you should be, right where you planned to be, with the knowledge, the gear and the wherewithal to capture a once in a lifetime moment that condenses down to a 2 second video that people will watch and say 'oh cool' before following with "you're so lucky", it makes me smile just to think about it.
All of the months of planning and preparation, 24 hours driving, $1k dollars in hotel, gas and additional gear, road fatigue, gas station food and mild panic that you've missed something really important all come to fruition for that wonderful moment and you are right there, right where you should be, right where you planned to be, with the knowledge, the gear and the wherewithal to capture a once in a lifetime moment that condenses down to a 2 second video that people will watch and say 'oh cool' before following with "you're so lucky", it makes me smile just to think about it.