August total Solar eclipse [Archive]

Discus-n00b

02-05-2017, 03:38 PM

Anyone traveling to see the total solar eclipse in August? Lucky for me I'm in Columbia SC, one of the best places to view it on the line. The house is just a few miles north of the line of totality but I will be traveling to or close to the line to view and photograph it. I should get about 2mins and 37seconds of total eclipse. Locally they are expecting about 1 million people coming into town for this since we are one of the "major" hubs (airport, hotels, metro area, etc) closest to the center line with one of the longest viewing times of the eclipse and possibly the best place on the entire east coast to see it.

I am going to be ordering (or making) solar filters in the next month. Closer it gets to time, the more expensive and hard to find they become. Get your stuff early!!

Anyone else making plans?

brewmaster15

02-05-2017, 04:01 PM

My son wants us to plan our summer vacation to include being in the SC at that time. He is a big follower of the outer space events.. He saw the space station for moment the other night and it made his day.. Will we actually be there? Sigh, I don't know, but I will try. Any good camp grounds near you Matt. We picked up a used popup trailer this month and hope to take it south.:)
al

Discus-n00b

02-05-2017, 04:17 PM

Over the next month or so I plan on scouting some places out. Right now I've got a decent spot in the company office parking lot, quite an open area closer to the line than my house. For this event we don't really have to worry about dark skies! For viewing anyway, and of course if I find it's good enough you and the family are more than welcome to join. If you go traditional tent camping you could stay at Congaree, they don't allow any sort of RV type camping to my knowledge. If you want to stay closer to the coast and more secluded actual camping Francis Marion National Forest is probably worth the look. If looking for something around Columbia, Sesquicentennial State Park could be an option. I'm very close to that. Small little state park, nothing terribly exciting really but is a pine/hardwood forest surrounding a lake. Has some trails and such and allows for RV camping. Tons of places around just outside of the park to eat. I haven't actually been to the park in years though. I drive past it daily and always see people going in and out.

Akili

02-05-2017, 04:19 PM

Best place to see the 2017 eclipse with the path through different states on this website .............................https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/best-places-to-view/

NASA ....................................https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html

Discus-n00b

02-05-2017, 04:22 PM

Thanks for the links! Check where you are close to people! And remember never look at the sun directly!!

Willie

02-05-2017, 07:04 PM

I have a place in Driggs, ID, which is in the path of the event. We should get about 2 minutes of total eclipse.

The local hotel (there's less than 50 rooms in this town) is charging $4,000/night for the night before and after. We told our friends it's first come/first serve. Now we have people camping in the backyard!

Willie

Discus-n00b

07-05-2017, 01:54 PM

We are about a month and a few weeks out from the event. I've got my solar filter ready, though I'm thinking maybe I should order a second if I want to use two cameras. Hmmm. Not real sure I need to though, as I can stitch the phases together to make a transition sequence photo. Here is my test today, this is handheld almost straight up at 400mm in the backyard in full sun. This 1dx II is a BEAST! It's a boring photo but the test was successful. Crisp orange sun at max focal length, perfect. Only other thing I am thinking about is a tele extender to get closer.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4100/35571187432_98794a6fbb_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WciCK3)Sun eclipse test (https://flic.kr/p/WciCK3) by Matt (https://www.flickr.com/photos/scmatt/), on Flickr

Discus-n00b

08-15-2017, 11:06 PM

Did some more last minute testing for the Eclipse coming up.

Seems like I caught a sunspot this time. Bottom right corner of the sun. I even cleaned the lens thinking it was dust in between shots. Had to crop this heavy so quality may be so so but its pretty cool. Still pondering getting a tele extender for this event, hmmm.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4366/35764261154_2f14bb1973_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WunbQj)Sun spot (https://flic.kr/p/WunbQj) by Matt (https://www.flickr.com/photos/scmatt/), on Flickr

two utes

08-15-2017, 11:23 PM

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm about the up coming solar eclipse Matt, and l like that you are preparing for it. Can you please give specific dates when this is due to happen. I Haven't heard anything about it on the other side of the world where l live, and like you would like to try and take photos of it. What would you recommend an amateur like myself, that doesn't have the proper gear, use as a filter? I own a welding mask. Would that do the job or is it to overpowering?

DJW

08-16-2017, 02:36 PM

Here is a good way to check locations. Click on a spot and it shows the data.

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html

We are going to drive north a ways into Oregon and camp in a remote spot. I still have a big solar filter from when I did astrophotography and that should be come in handy.

RogueDiscus

08-16-2017, 02:40 PM

Everywhere in Oregon's path is booked supposedly; motels, campsites, with towns expecting a massive influx of watchers. If anyone happens to be travelling north on I-5 through Oregon and would like to stop by, let me know. I'm in the Medford area.
Steve

RogueDiscus

08-16-2017, 06:00 PM

I'll risk going a step further. My wife will be out of town anyway. If someone needs a layover Sunday, I might have a room.

two utes

08-16-2017, 06:16 PM

RogueDiscus

08-17-2017, 02:55 PM

A Saturday stop is OK too.

RogueDiscus

08-17-2017, 05:36 PM

Sorry to sound desperate, but if anyone is driving through southern Oregon on I-5 and wants to stop for a meal or a beer, I'b be glad to hookup and meet some fellow discus lovers.
Steve

Discus-n00b

08-20-2017, 11:33 PM

Cross your fingers for me tomorrow for at least partially clear skies!! It's sketchy at best this time a year, forecast is iffy.

RogueDiscus

08-21-2017, 12:22 PM

Yes, good luck! Hopefully you'll get some good pics to share with us. I'm in the 93% totality area, and it's very smokey from the area forest fires, but I'm expecting quite an event anyway.

Second Hand Pat

08-21-2017, 12:24 PM

We are 88% here in Orlando. Appears it might be cloudy however :( Hope things work out for you Matt.
Pat

DJW

08-21-2017, 12:36 PM

Yes, good luck! Hopefully you'll get some good pics to share with us. I'm in the 93% totality area, and it's very smokey from the area forest fires, but I'm expecting quite an event anyway.

Its smoky here too, but much worse over toward the coast.

111997

RogueDiscus

08-21-2017, 12:53 PM

We're about 25 minutes from the peak here and crickets have started chirping!

tvo

08-21-2017, 01:17 PM

i wonder how it affecting the water? ;):fish:

RogueDiscus

08-21-2017, 01:24 PM

Well, we got to twilight here but no stars, probably too smokey anyway, and it got chilly, low 60's.

AngryBird

08-21-2017, 01:40 PM

We're about 25 minutes from the peak here and crickets have started chirping!

Are you serious about the crickets chirping?

rickztahone

08-21-2017, 01:45 PM

Well Cali eclipse was a non-thing, lol. We never get the cool stuff. I hope everyone had fun with this event and can share some pics?

Second Hand Pat

08-21-2017, 02:02 PM

Watch it on the NASA channel.
Pat

DJW

08-21-2017, 02:18 PM

This was the maximum in far northern California. A little blurry from the smoke and heat waves. 750mm, f/5, 1/400th

111999

Poppa Ryno

08-21-2017, 02:30 PM

Im in the path of totality. Totality just passed, it was from 1:07 -1:10pm. We (my son & I) had a great spot on a tower overlooking our county.
Just had phone. so no pics of the eclipse. But heres a short vid of the view we had doing it. Lol
https://youtu.be/dhwhDAQeSn0

ssevasta

08-21-2017, 05:37 PM

Are you serious about the crickets chirping?

I was able to hear the crickets here in southern New York at around 2:30pm when I was outside having a cigarette. It was fun playing around with two pieces of paper doing the pin hole projector.112000

Discus-n00b

08-21-2017, 06:04 PM

I had absolutely AMAZING weather. Other than it being 95 degrees, the skies cleared off right as the Eclipse started and gave us one of the best shows in the world. Couldn't have asked for it better than fully clear skies that held all the way through. I can't fully explain what I just saw, I was as close to the line of totality as you could probably get, 99.8% for me or something crazy. It was the greatest natural phenomena I've ever witnessed. I shot all the way through the event and want to do a sequence with the phases of the eclipse, but while I do that I might as well give y'all the meat of the event and show you my totality photos. Beyond happy with what I got, if I had to complain it would be I didn't capture enough of the corona during totality.

Visit the images on Flickr to see them larger.

Here is totality and the corona around the sun, as well as totality with some Chromosphere visible.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4375/36675800626_79afed0d07_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XSV4L7)Eclipse Totality 2017 (https://flic.kr/p/XSV4L7) by Matt (https://www.flickr.com/photos/scmatt/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4389/35913181513_f0382a05e5_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WHwrEH)Eclipse Chromosphere (https://flic.kr/p/WHwrEH) by Matt (https://www.flickr.com/photos/scmatt/), on Flickr

And of course the classic diamond ring with some Chromosphere and Bailey's Beads
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4430/36552608242_851182be72_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XG2EXu)Eclipse Diamond Ring (https://flic.kr/p/XG2EXu) by Matt (https://www.flickr.com/photos/scmatt/), on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4439/36722153945_1b38b7a3ab_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XX1CZg)Eclipse Diamond Ring (https://flic.kr/p/XX1CZg) by Matt (https://www.flickr.com/photos/scmatt/), on Flickr

LizStreithorst

08-21-2017, 06:21 PM

Absolutely stunning. Congrats on your good luck and thanks for your planning and ability. Will you post these somewhere where non members can see them?

Discus-n00b

08-21-2017, 06:32 PM

Thanks Liz! They should be open to everyone, I will double check the privacy settings.

LizStreithorst

08-21-2017, 06:57 PM

Generally photos here are not visible to non members unless the rules change since I last checked. Let me know.

scubasaurus

08-21-2017, 07:05 PM

I'm in Omaha where eclipse coverage was 98.5% My son goes to school in Lincoln NE where they are in the "band of totality". Made a last second decision to take off work and make the 45 min drive and see it with him on campus. Glad I did. The difference between 99% and 100% eclipse is literally night & day. It was a bit cloudy but still spectacular. The 1+ minute of total coverage was a minute I'll never forget.

Altum Nut

08-21-2017, 07:18 PM

Been waiting all day for this Matt and knew you would come through for us all. Just simply amazing as I suspected. Going to flicker to check out more...:thumbsup:
The last pic is my fav...

...Ralph

Discus-n00b

08-21-2017, 07:18 PM

Oh you mean on the forum, sorry Liz I thought you meant my offsite hosting.

ScottW

08-21-2017, 07:26 PM

Awesome pictures! It was nothing special here in Pennsylvania. We also had alot of cloud cover.

Second Hand Pat

08-21-2017, 09:06 PM

So nice Matt, can only say wow. :D:D I thought I would get more here.

Liz, guest should be able to see Matt's photo since they are linked from Flickr.
Pat

Discus-n00b

08-21-2017, 10:48 PM

RogueDiscus

08-21-2017, 11:09 PM

That's beautiful Matt. Put you signature on that!

Second Hand Pat

08-22-2017, 12:05 AM

That's gorgeous Matt. :)
Pat

two utes

08-22-2017, 12:09 AM

Nice shots Matt. Thanks for sharing

Altum Nut

08-22-2017, 12:21 PM

Thanks!

Here is my go at a sequence. Not perfect but it works!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4440/36556562142_4567bb5997_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/XGnWjb)EclipseSequence2 (https://flic.kr/p/XGnWjb) by Matt (https://www.flickr.com/photos/scmatt/), on Flickr

Not prefect you say Matt:laugh: ...I would date it, location taken with each image timed, and sign it and sure people would be proud to display that image on their wall. I'll be the first my friend if you decide.:thumbsup:

...Ralph

rickztahone

08-22-2017, 02:54 PM

Not prefect you say Matt:laugh: ...I would date it, location taken with each image timed, and sign it and sure people would be proud to display that image on their wall. I'll be the first my friend if you decide.:thumbsup:

...Ralph

agreed. I told Matt that this could easily be sold

Clawhammer

08-22-2017, 03:40 PM

My wife and I camped out right in the middle of the band of totality and got 2 glorious minutes of awe and wonder. The sight of the blocked out sun was more beautiful than I expected, probably the most visually stunning thing I have ever seen.

Here is the video I took of entering totality. This captures the ambiance and the awe of the crowd, but in no way captures the visual experience. I meant to film through totality, but after seeing it I completely forgot what was going on, I stopped speaking mid sentence, and I put my phone in my pocket without even shutting off the camera. I was entranced.

https://youtu.be/CYND1nCdTw0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYND1nCdTw0

Discus-n00b

08-22-2017, 08:57 PM

Thanks all! I was debating putting a small title, date, location, etc at the bottom center on the sequence. Will have to do that and see how it looks. Ralph, Ricardo I can always print any photo I take to almost any medium available, I think I've found a printer I like for smaller jobs and single photos. However I've also been gearing towards and working towards getting an online gallery where you can purchase prints straight from the site and can handle more bulk. Just something in my back pocket that I'm trying to get going, this is just taking a bit longer.

Eric, cool video it was a pretty weird sensation experiencing that. It's actually really hard to explain the lighting effects you saw with your naked eye as it went into totality.

LizStreithorst

08-22-2017, 09:58 PM

I'd like to buy a print, Matt. I'll look at my walls and let you know what size will work. I have a couple of places in mind.

Disgirl

08-23-2017, 08:42 AM

Wow Matt, that pic is just fantastic! Add me to your print list please! We had about 96% coverage here and as far as I could tell, it never even dimmed the bright sunlight. I was disappointed, being so close to SC. That 4% sun looked just as bright as 100%.
Barb

Clawhammer

08-23-2017, 09:08 AM

That's beautiful Matt. Put you signature on that!

Seriously! With a picture that beautiful, Michael Li will soon have it on his website. lol

Discus-n00b

08-23-2017, 09:31 AM

Thanks all again. Barb, it's crazy how much difference even 1% really is!

Eric, LOL that actually made me laugh. I started doing away with watermarks on the photo about a year ago, I don't really like how they look on my photos. To intrusive. On this if I add a title and such it makes a bit more sense. If someone really wants to steal a photo they are going to find a way regardless of what you do, especially with social media, but I have protected my images in other ways so that hopefully limits the crime. It's a constantly evolving cat and mouse game.

SMB2

08-23-2017, 11:58 AM

Well done Matt. I love it when you plan for a shot and everything actually works out!
To far North here to get photographically excited but it was fun to watch. Have a sister in Maine, 2024...lots of time for the filter prices to come down!
Maybe by then I can actually work with layers in PS to get such a nice finished product.

Nice job.

LizStreithorst

09-01-2017, 09:00 PM

Mine is ordered. Matt knows what I want and he's making sure that I'm delighted with he sends me. He's testing different papers now and seeing which type of paper is best for the print. I'm looking so much forward to having this framed and hanging it in the perfect place. The perfect place for me is over my bed. Imagine walking to bed every night and seeing a total solar eclipse. I love just the thought of it. I know that how an eclipse works is known by scientists. The scientists don't understand the mystical side of a total eclipse.

Second Hand Pat

09-01-2017, 09:28 PM

rickztahone

09-02-2017, 06:57 PM

That is awesome Liz, please post a pic once you have it hang. :)
Pat

+1

I wouldn't mind a print myself.

LizStreithorst

10-01-2017, 02:03 PM

I got it hung today. It's stunning. I snap a pic and post it hanging over the bed as soon as the sheets on the line dry and I make the bed.

LizStreithorst

10-01-2017, 03:01 PM

Drum roll please...112658112659

Discus-n00b

10-01-2017, 03:59 PM

Nice Liz! Choice of frame and mat look great! Glad you like it.

If anyone else is interested in one, send me a PM and we can discuss size, paper/print material, and price.

Second Hand Pat

10-01-2017, 04:22 PM

I am with Matt, perfect choice of frame and matt...nice and rich looking. :)
Pat

LizStreithorst

10-01-2017, 04:56 PM

I'm absolutely delighted despite all the holes I put in the wall looking for studs and making it level. I used a tape and a level but still ended up with 5 prospective holes for two hangers. The framing people were invaluable. They presented me with several choices of frames and mats. I stepped back and looked at all of them and decided what I liked best. The frame couldn't be fancy or it would have taken away from the artwork it contains. This is just right.

Pat, I still haven't done anything about the pic I got from you for a small donation to Simply. The camera place will print it for me, but I don't know how good they are about finding the perfect paper to print it on. I know from personal experience that Matt it good. I'll send him a PM and ask if he's willing to print it and send it to me. I've changed my mind about where it needs to be hung. I was going to hang it on a light colored wall at the end of a hallway. It needs to go on a Hershey bar chocolate wall in my office.