My home was in the path of the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024. Spring weather here is often unsettled and this year is no different. I watched the weather forecast day by day as the date for the eclipse approached. The forecast consistently predicted cloudy, rainy weather for April 8, although with some variation. There was considerable uncertainty about whether the eclipse would be visible or not and I feared my son, who planned to fly in to photograph the eclipse, would have wasted his time and money flying into Dallas for this event.
April 8th arrived and it was heavily overcast. The cloud cover was widespread, so there was no viable option for quickly getting to any other location with any expectation of having any better weather. So we set up our tripods and cameras in my backyard and hoped for the best. As the time for the eclipse to begin approached, we could not even tell exactly where the sun was in the sky. The cloud cover was moving and we occasionally got breaks that allowed us to spot the sun and at least aim our cameras.
As the eclipse began, there were intermittent brief periods of breaks in the clouds and we shot whenever possible.
I was not able to capture the beginning due to the cloud cover, but got shots whenever the clouds thinned sufficiently to see the sun and find the sun in the camera’s LCD screen. I used Live View touch focus on my D850 with a Nikon 400mm lens and a 1.4 Nikon Extender.
My solar filter took all of the color out of the sun, so I converted a number of my images to black and white. I think the thin cloud cover added interest to these images. Otherwise, there would be only a bright object and a dark sky. I captured a couple of sun spots with one easily visible in the image above.
Two sun spots are clearly visible in these two image.
I was able to add some color into a few images with software, trying to mimic the color that I saw through my eclipse glasses.
The total eclipse was much more awesome than I had expected. Viewing this event through my eclipse glasses was so enthralling, that I did not do the best job of photographing the event. I needed to adjust camera settings more quickly, but in the excitement of the moment, I was not thinking clearly or quickly. As a consequence, I did not capture the most amazing part of this eclipse very well. I was really surprised to see those little pink flares of the solar prominence.
As totality continued, a flare of light began to emerge at one point around the circumference, that I’m informed is sunlight passing through valleys on the moon’s surface.
The image above reveals the cloud cover, which began to thin quickly as the event was ending.
By the time the eclipse ended, the sky was nearly completely clear over a large area around the sun and moon. Yet, I still think, in spite of the tension, uncertainty and missing portions of the eclipse due to the cloud cover, the clouds still added interest to these images, when they were thin enough to allow viewing of the eclipse.
This experience makes we want to witness another such eclipse, but to do so in my lifetime, I will have to travel out of the country. Something to ponder.
Ken
