Well, we did not expect to see the eclipse at all here in San Francisco. Forecast called for clouds through the entire event.
But nature cooperated, in a way that turned out better even than a clear sky!
The sky was mildly overcast, light enough that you could see the eclipse with glasses.
But we didn’t have glasses! So we quickly fashioned a pinhole projector. Three of us did our best to hold the pieces in the right orientation…but it didn’t work. Not at all. Not even close!
Eventually, we just asked others on the deck if we could borrow their glasses. Folks were happy to oblige, the mood was great up there.
Then it occurred to me that, with the overcast, we might be able to shoot the event with our big-boy 400mm prime lens! Last eclipse it just didn’t work: even with the minimum ISO, f32 and 1/8,000 of a second, there was STILL too much light getting in. But not this time. The clouds filtered out enough light that the camera and the glasses all worked better. Getting the right focus was a challenge, but we got it eventually.
I did not point the camera at the sun for more than a few seconds at a time, lest the workings get incinerated! And when framing the shot, I just looked into the viewfinder at a distance, and sideways. Once it was very bright in there, the sun was in the frame, and I fired away.
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