I’ve had several successes in capturing eclipses, both solar and lunar.
In 2022, I traveled to Baldwinsville, New York and captured my best-ever lunar eclipse sequence. The photo collage eventually won several awards, along with a cumulative number of oohs and aahs from everyone who saw it.
In 2017, I drove to South Carolina for an attempt at a solar eclipse. And although I probably used the wrong lens for the show … I did capture something special that day.
And just last year … I did a run to Texas for my first-ever solar annular eclipse. And although I battled cloud cover for most of the event … I still captured an image of a lifetime.
I’ve planned this solar eclipse capture for what seems like an eternity. I need my best equipment – Nikon Df camera with my Matusov 1100mm mirror lens, topped with a Thousand Oaks solar lens filter. Wireless shutter releases to minimize camera shake. My dependable Vanguard Tracker 4 tripod. And plenty of flash cards and charged batteries. And fully-approved solar protection glasses. Heck, I still have my pair of glasses from last year’s annular eclipse in Pleasanton, Texas. They should still be plenty fresh.
And if I get a chance to use it … I’m also bringing my Nikon F2S (“Nikon Athena”) with my old 80-200 f/2.8 hand-held telephoto lens. I’m also packing my last-ever roll of Fuji Velvia 100 into Athena’s chassis – Fuji stopped making this slide film two years ago due to some of the slide film’s chemicals now being classified as carcinogenic – and I’m not paying $90/roll for this stuff any more. This is my last roll, and I’m treating it like it’s my last-ever batch of Kodachrome from 2010.
What do you think? Did I pack enough camera gear?
Now it’s a matter of where do I travel. I can go west to Rochester or Watertown or Erie. I can go north to Lake Placid or Plattsburgh or Sherbrooke. Or I could go west to Burlington.
In the days leading up to the event, I scoured every online weather resource. I needed a location with a clear, cloudless sky. And everything was coming back as rain, rain, clouds, thunderstorms, and more rain.
Then I saw some clearing spots. Partly cloudy. Partly sunny. Sun and clouds mixture.
I only get one shot at this. The rain date for another American total solar eclipse is 20 years from now. And the only other two total solar eclipses I could possibly experience in my lifetime would either take place in Saudi Arabia in August 2027, or in Australia in July 2028. Reasonably within my lifetime – but now we’re introducing budgetary factors. I can’t drive to Mecca and I can’t drive to Sydney.
But wherever I pick for this solar eclipse shoot today … I have to leave Albany as early as possible.
Any roads I plan to travel – the New York State Thruway, the Adirondack Northway, Vermont Route 7 – are not really designed for thousands of cars going to one specific destination. I’m expecting big fat traffic jams. That means if a trip takes four hours under normal travel situations, I need to double my time and leave Albany EIGHT hours before the eclipse starts. If I’m wrong and I get there WAY early, fine – I’ll get some breakfast at a local diner and just chill out.
Monday morning. One more glance at the weather forecast. I need to get this right. I don’t have time to change spots. Pick it and stick it, Miller.
And in the end … I chose Newport, Vermont. It’s a 4 1/2 hour drive from Albany, but if I can beat the traffic, I know I’ll get an incredible photo or twenty.
Long drive. All the way up I-91. Arrived at the signs for Newport. And sure enough, not a tenth of a mile from the off-ramp to I-91 … was a large parking lot. I sashayed my car into an available spot.
Now it’s time to find a shooting location. I found a clearing with a body of water and what looks like a factory building in the distance. This will work well.
And several other photographers thought that location was prime as well – and they brought all manor of photography and telescopic equipment to the event. One gentleman brought a camera to capture the eclipse on 8×10 sheet film. Another had a telescope and various tracking features. There were film shooters, digital shooters, heck I’d wager someone probably brought a Polaroid SX-70 and shot with that, for all I know.
And they came from all over. Some from Massachusetts, some from Maine. Some from New York, some from Wshington DC. I even found several people who journeyed from Australia to see this event – and who had already booked their 2028 Sydney eclipse hotel accommodations.
And right on time … at bout 2:15 p.m. … with extremely clear skies … the moon began its cha-cha in front of the sun.
It kinda looks like this.
More people arrived to view the event. An oncologist from Boston brought his daughter to the show. Two marine photographers – who had a personal plan of getting totality selfies while wearing pasta-themed necklaces – came in from Washington. A husband and wife arrived in Newport – after driving for three days from Waco, Texas. Amazing.
Someone offered raffle tickets for a Yankees-Red Sox day at Fenway Park. I purchased some tickets. Look, I made it here and there’s clear shooting as far as the eye can see. I’m receiving good karma, let’s give back some good karma.
A young man walks by, he asks us if anyone has a spare set of eclipse glasses. “My father doesn’t have one, and I don’t want him to look at the sun and go blind.” I reached in my camera bag – found the set of spare eclipse glasses I received from the annular eclipse in Pleasanton, Texas – and gave them to him. He tried to reach for his wallet and pay me for them, but I shook my head no. Let’s get the good karma going all around.
I took solar shots at 5-minute intervals, and I hope to assemble them into one of those stunning “beginning and totality and end” eclipse images. In fact, my Nikon Df did its job admirably. Check out this image of its hard work against the darkening sky.
Yes, those are clouds in the sky. But they’re wispy, gauzy cirrus-like clouds. They won’t bother me any.
And then … at 3:27 p.m. on April 8, 2024 …
Totality.
That’s a straight, unprocessed shot from my camera. Specs were Nikon Df camera, Matusov 1100 mirror lens with F/10 aperture, ISO 400 and 1:15 shutter speed. Damn, that’s tight.
A few more shots, and as the totality ended its three-plus minutes of a cosmic spectacular, I tried another “camera shot with my camera” capture. I positioned my cell phone on the Nikon’s digital viewer, and …
Wait a second … What are those teeny-tiny marks on the eclipse photo? Those may or may not be Baily’s Beads, let’s zoom in and find out and …
Those aren’t Baily’s Beads … that’s … that’s a solar flare.
That’s a solar flare at the 7:00 position of the totality eclipse. And a smaller but noticeable one at the 4:00 position.
And a few frames later … I pulled this image out.
That’s the elusive “diamond” shot – with solar flares!
Holy Helios, Batman, I got a photo of an eclipse containing the diamond AND SOLAR FLARES!
I GOT FREAKIN’ SOLAR FLARES!!
Okay, Miller. Okay… this is incredible, for sure. But the eclipse isn’t over yet. I still need to capture the last half of the eclipse, as the moon drifts away from the sun. And in this case, the moon headed north. I put the filter back on the camera lens … and went back to shooting.
I’m telling you. I cannot wait to assemble this into that long “beginning and totality and ending” capture.
And at 4:41 p.m. … the Great North American Eclipse finished its performance. And this time … the clouds stayed away. This time … all my camera equipment worked flawlessly. This time … I got exactly everything I wanted, and then some.
Okay. Now for that 5-hour drive back home. I quickly loaded all my gear back in my car, and drove to I-91.
And … stopped.
I-91 looked like a parking lot. Nobody was going anywhere.
I pressed the blue OnStar button, and the representative got me OFF I-91, having me take back roads through Vermont’s Route 14.
Which … halfway through my travel on that route … clogged up as well. At least 90 minutes stuck on what was supposed to be a 10-mile shortcut. Nertz.
I will say this … I finally got home at approximately 12:30 a.m. That audible yawn you heard was from me, for sure.
Got in the house, took the SD card out of my Nikon, and just loaded everything into my computer while I climbed in bed and zzzzz…
And what an incredible day. This is the eclipse run I’ve always wanted. Fantastic photos, great location, and a wide swath of enthusiastic photographers and videographers and eclipse watchers.
This was all worth it.
Even if I’m going to need a keg of Sugar Free Red Bull to get through today.
Chuck The Writer 
Congrats. You would not have gotten it in Buffalo, or Waterloo, southeast of Waterloo, where I was.
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BTW, the URL for this post is wack!
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