“I’d seen a great many partial eclipses, but a partial eclipse has the same relation to a total eclipse as flirting with a man does to marrying him. It’s completely different.”
—Annie Dillard (b. 1945, American author)
“A total solar eclipse is the most spectacular celestial phenomenon that earth-bound humans can behold. Most will agree, it is truly a miracle of nature.”
“Zeus, father of the Olympians, turned mid-day into night, hiding the light of the dazzling Sun, and sore fear came upon men.”
—Archilochus, (Ancient Greek poet, 680-645 BC)
“It’s best not to stare at the sun during an eclipse.”
—Jeff Goldblum, (b. 1952, American actor and musician)
My Personal Recommendations
I have but three:
- Leave the photography to the pros with their monster telescopes, clock drives, and their thousand specialized filters. You are likely not going to get a better picture than they are. Just sit back and enjoy the show, and check out their photos later in the news feed. The evidence? My pics in this post. That was about the best I could do*. (Next time I think I will photograph the folks watching instead.)
- Don’t settle for 99%. If you say to yourself, “Well, it will be 99% coverage where we are, why go through all the hassle of finding a spot where it is 100%. Not much difference, right?” WRONG! That last percentage point makes all the difference. Go find a hill somewhere along the path of totality and camp out, or have a picnic. Oh, and an annular won’t be quite as spectacular either.
- Get your eclipse glasses early and carry a few extra for folks who may have forgotten them.
This was my second total solar eclipse and it was, once again, quite the emotional experience. We are but tiny specks in this giant, mystical, magical, miraculous, chrome-plated universe where the answer to Everything is 42.
*Nikon D850 on a tripod, lens at 200mm, and lotssss of cropping.
A Few Images
First, the eclipse itself, as seen from the nice, tranquil village of Gumiel de Izán, about 42 miles south of Burgos, in Spain.
Here, I have the filter on the lens due to the brightness of the sun, but that’s a nice big bite the moon as taken, making the sun look very much like the moon often looks to us…
With totality, you can take the filter off the lens as in this shot. As is obvious, I failed miserably with my focus attempts in Live View, though. Perhaps it was the pressure of knowing that totality would only last a minute and a half or so. There was a nice solar flare on the left.
Too quickly, the moon drifted off to the left, revealing the sun’s brilliant edge…
One last shot before I had to put the sun filter back on…
Now for some odds and ends with a local Gumiel de Izán flavor…
The residents certainly designed some nice t-shirts, and they had their countdown banner (now showing zero days)…
One of maybe 150 spectators on the hill above the village. The ancient castle ruins here made for the perfect vantage point…
Even Peppa showed up to embrace the spectacle!
The actual eclipse occurred out of the frame slightly above and to the left. But the view from the hill above town (cool church!) was perfect, with a clear, if somewhat heat-hazy, western horizon for the late, late afternoon show…
So, where might we be on August 2, 2027? Only The Shadow knows…
