August: Great American Eclipse
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Eclipse Photography Setup-Studio Shots
After the 200-500mm lens rental showed up I got some fancy photos of the setup: Berlebach Uni 16 Tripod w/Leveling Base Manfrotto 410 Geared Head Vixen Polarie Star Tracker Vixen Polar Meter Vixen Polarie Multi-Mounting Block Vixen Dovetail Slide Bar DD Vixen Counterweight Bar Vixen Counterweight Markins M10 Ballhead Nikon D800E Nikon 200-500mm Lens Homemade filter 95-105mm Step-Up Ring Thousand Oaks Solar Film Cardboard and Double-sided adhesive Nikon Right Angle Viewer The power for the tracker was provided by a 12v/5v USB battery pack and 6" USB cable
Cloudy skies about 90 minutes before the eclipse was due to start
The morning started out pretty clear but it was obvious that wasn't going to last. As we monitored the cloud cover and watched TV we realized this was going to be a bust. Moving east wasn't going to work and our original plan to go North was definitely a bad idea. As the weather guy said "If it were me, I'd stay put. Going anywhere it's clear now doesn't mean it will be later". So we stayed put and pretty much gave up on seeing it.
At about 11:30 I was very unhappy and was in the process of logging on to work to put in a half-day (we took the day off). As I was composing an email to our boss to let her know I glanced out the window and saw blue skies to the southwest. I went outside, decided to go ahead and set up the rig and see what happened.
Eclipse Photography Setup-Covered
This is the setup, covered with a trash bag. Clouds appeared to be clearing to the southwest so I went ahead and got set up. I ended up putting a bag over the whole thing because while I was setting up I kept hearing thunder to the north and there were very light sprinkles.
This is the setup, ready to go. The trash bag was still ready just in case of rain but the clouds were moving out. Berlebach Uni 16 Tripod w/Leveling Base Manfrotto 410 Geared Head Vixen Polarie Star Tracker Vixen Polar Meter Vixen Polarie Multi-Mounting Block Vixen Dovetail Slide Bar DD Vixen Counterweight Bar Vixen Counterweight Markins M10 Ballhead Nikon D800E Nikon 200-500mm Lens Homemade filter - 95-105mm Step-Up Ring - Thousand Oaks Solar Film - Cardboard and Double-sided adhesive Nikon Right Angle Viewer The power for the tracker was provided by a 12v/5v USB battery pack and 6" USB cable
Total Solar Eclipse-Partial (12:02:24 PM CDT)
The eclipse had already started while we were waiting for the skies to clear. As soon as I could see the sun through the clouds I started getting the camera aligned, setting focus and dialing in the exposure.
Total Solar Eclipse-Totality (1:10:08 PM CDT)
I suspect our view of totality wasn't the full experience. it didn't get really dark and there was no hush of critters. I suspect we were too close to the edge of the path of totality. In any case, it was all too brief and I really didn't get to play with my exposures to try to bring out more corona. By the time I had tried a few shots and started adjusting the exposure the sun was coming back.
Total Solar Eclipse-Partial (2:34:39 PM CDT)
About 20 minutes before the end of the eclipse, the clouds started to move back in.
Total Solar Eclipse-Ended (2:36:55 PM CDT)
The clouds were starting to thicken up towards the end of the eclipse but I was able to snag a couple images of the sun after the moon had moved away. As I was taking the equipment down, there was thunder to the northwest and we ended up getting 6 inches of rain overnight.
Total Solar Eclipse Panorama (2.5 : 1)
This is a composite of 11 images from the eclipse. Since it was cloudy we are missing the first two. I picked images at approximately 20 minute intervals from the totality image I picked and then cut and pasted the sun/moon images into this composite. Version 4: Changed the image ratio so that I could make the eclipse image even larger.