Geeking out at the solar eclipse!
My first total solar eclipse!
It seems like I just can't find time to post much these days. I think part of the problem is that I'm trying too hard to think of really good posts, which combined with my OCD/perfectionist side is probably holding me back some. I think I'll just try to post more often whatever random thing I feel like and not care too much about whether it's perfect or interesting...
Back on topic: So I finally graduated from grad school and found a job near Knoxville, TN, and what do you know, my wife and I bought a house a week before the line of totality for a total solar eclipse would pass by overhead. I guess for my slightly superstitious side... maybe that's a good sign? :p
Anyway, I decided to fully geek out and take a half day at work and watch the eclipse from the comfort of my own (first!) home with my wife, and my parents decided to drive down too. So anyway, we had some fun experimenting with pinhole cameras, and they DO work.... but slightly underwhelming....
Pinhole viewer: basically foil with a bunch of holes in it.
Tiny eclipses on a piece of paper!Well anyway, the pinhole viewer is nice.... but it got slightly boring, so I decided to try to photograph the eclipse in progress. This is my first trial photograph....
Needless to say.... you cannot just point a camera at the sun and expect a good picture. Luckily I had my ISO-certified eclipse glasses, so I just popped those on the camera and managed to take some pretty decent (amateur-quality) pictures. Here are a few of the different stages of the eclipse that I managed to capture pretty well.
We noticed a bunch of projected images of the eclipse showing up on the concrete once it got close to totality. Our best guess is tiny pinholes in the leaves on the trees???
Finally, when the eclipse approached totality, it seemed to move very quickly, and I managed to get a picture during the event, which I think is pretty awesome for a total camera noob.
Also, I had to get a total solar eclipse selfie of course :p haha
I did also manage to get a video of the eclipse as it reached totality which is pretty cool (sorry for the shakiness!).
Also, if you're curious, here are some time-stamped pics to show how much darker it got outside during totality. I swear that the moment of totality, all of the neighbors' dogs started barking at once. It was.... slightly surreal. Also, you can see a lens flare of the partial eclipse reflecting on my chin! haha
Cool pictures, I live in a point where closest solar eclipse is after I will die.
That's too bad, I hope you'll get to check one out someday.
But hey that's when its worth traveling for right? ;)
Me too! It was an amazing experience. You can look at all the photos you want but there is no way to adequately describe the anticipation and the actual experience of the sun winking out and turning into a black-hole surrounded by fire in the sky. Just amazing.
Unfortunately it was the shortest two minutes of my live and I kick myself for spending even 30 seconds trying to shot a photo of it. So I'm already planning to be seeing another one ASAP. Chile 2019 here we come!
Agreed! I wish I would have stared at it even more, but I'm still glad I managed to capture a picture :) It only lasted a minute and 20 seconds from where I was watching. We could have driven an hour and struggled with traffic, parking, etc... to get an extra minute, but we were happy to just watch from home with some iced tea! haha
I was going to fly to Kansas City but at the last minute (okay last hour) cancelled everything due to forecast of bad weather, got in a car and drove 12 hours to Idaho. The reward was a picture perfect clear blue sky by a lake with friends that I knew and an experience to remember instead of a frustrating chase probably in awful traffic looking for cloud-free skies which, judging from most of the KC photos was what happened there almost everywhere.
Even more miraculous was the day before and after there was high cirrus that would have diminished our experience in Idaho - but the day of, perfect. It was meant to be.
I liked congratulations
I liked congratulations
I've only seen a solar eclipse in my life, and I was very young.
Hopefully you will get a chance to see another sometime soon! Thanks for posting.
Thanks to you for sharing these photos, it reminded me of a moment of my childhood when I saw that eclipse with my 3 sisters
Those are some awesome shots! I got lucky enough to catch it as well - and not too far from you either since I'm just a little West of Asheville.
I was definitely a little bummed the total eclipse didn't last longer, but like you said it was absolutely surreal seeing it get so dark out in the middle of the day! The birds started going crazy right after it came back out, as if it was morning for them all over again lol.
P.S. - Congrats on graduating from Grad School! I know that's no easy task. Mind if I ask your major?
Cool, glad someone else on here got to see it! I didn't notice the birds, just the neighborhood dogs going crazy. Thanks for the congrats, I did a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering. My focus was on fluid mechanics, applied math, and scientific computing.
Wow, congrats² in that case!!
My background is in CS and my wife's is in abstract mathematics, so I can definitely appreciate what an accomplishment that is - major kudos man!
Wow that would have been amazing to see!
I have never seen a solar eclipse before so I am very grateful for the video and detailed pictures looks worth it taking the day off work!
And Congrats on your first new home with your wife :D
Thanks! Hopefully you'll get to see one someday. It's definitely worth a roadtrip.
It has been a great eclipse, fortunate that you have seen it. In my country I could not see it.
That's too bad, hopefully you will get to see one soon!
Thanks friend, I hope to see an eclipse soon.
These are some really great shots! We were outside while it was going on just to see the darkness start to come in. We couldn't watch the eclipse because we didn't have those special glasses. It was still cool to watch how everything changed in just a few seconds. You really have some nice clear shots...thanks for sharing :)
Thanks! I'm glad you got to experience it some too. It's definitely worth getting the glasses if you get another opportunity.
Oh yes! If we get this opportunity again we will be better prepared. It's so much more exciting seeing this in person other than just on the news. But thank goodness for people like you that take awesome shots like this ;)
Wow they are great pictures, you are so lucky to be able to experience this.
Thanks! I hope you'll get to see one someday.
You got some killer shots bud! Pretty cool stuff. Hopefully we'll all still be here to see your pics of the next one 😊
I just have to wait 7 years for the next one passing through Indiana... haha
We saw it at about 90% in Lynchburg, VA. As soon as it was over I went back inside and sent my wife a Google Calendar invite for April 8, 2024 in Austin, TX. The next one is going to travel from Mexico up to Maine.
I heard about that. I have some family in Indiana that will be very close to the path of totality, so hopefully I'll be able to see it. Just have to wait seven years... haha