2017 Solar Eclipse

On August 27th, 2017, a total solar eclipse made its way across the continental US. Eager to photograph this event, I packed up my kids and headed towards Carbondale, IL. We camped out at state park the prior evening, but as I tracked the weather, the projected cloud cover did not look promising. So, we got up early that next morning and headed towards Hopkinsville, KY following the path of the eclipse, in search of clear skies. My diligence paid off as we found a small park to setup, where others had also pulled off to witness the event.

I had never photographed such a spectacle, so I did a ton of research ahead of time, and practiced as best I could, photographing the sun with homemade filters, and the moon as it waxed toward full. The trickiest part was the transition into totality, where several key moments happen in rapid succession, and camera settings change dramatically. It was a surreal experience, and I could not be more pleased with the final results, especially given the fact that I had never tried this before.