During the last few weeks, almost everything in North America was about the solar eclipse that happened on April 8. It was the last total solar eclipse in North America until 2045. It swept the United States from Texas to Maine, so here, in Connecticut we only had a partial eclipse, but it was still a unique experience. Originally, we wanted to go to the path of totality, but due to bad weather forecast, we decided to cancel our hotel reservation and stayed home where it was supposed to be clear skies. We enjoyed the eclipse from our backyard, so it was very convenient. Naturally, I wanted to photograph this phenomenon, and unlike in 2017, now I was able to buy some solar filters for my 300mm f/4 lens and my binoculars too, so Gabi and I could really enjoy this interesting celestial event. I didn’t want to buy a huge solar filter for my 500mm lens, but I wanted to get a decent size sun in the frame, so I used my 1.4x extender as well. The 50 megapixel sensor in my Canon EOS 5DsR camera also let me crop enough, so I didn’t really miss using my big lens.
The solar filter was very dark, so it allowed me to use the best aperture for my lens + extender combo, which was between f8 and f11. I used my sturdy Gitzo tripod, plus I converted my BH55 ballhead to a gimbal head with the Wimberley sidekick. It made it easy to follow the sun during the eclipse. I used the live view mode of my DSLR, so I could precisely focus manually on the edge of the sun. I also used a remote control to avoid any vibration as my shutter speed was usually between 1/6 sec (when the sun was the smallest) and 1/20 sec at f/8 using ISO400. Everything worked perfectly and we really enjoyed the experience. We could even see some sunspots with our binoculars and also through the telephoto lens, but most of the time we just appreciated the view via our solar glasses.
I also made a composite image of multiple exposures capturing the different phases to show the progression of the partial solar eclipse over Hamden, Connecticut. It was truly an unforgettable event.
