Glad others were photographing it. I was just there for the ahhhhs. It's a kind of a religious experience for me and, though it was my second, I knew from the first one that I ought to just ignore the phone and just take in the experience. No regrets.
I'm old enough that it's questionable I'll be around in 21 years for the next one in the U.S.. Only my middle daughter has not yet seen one (wife and the other two daughters are good). If I am lucky I'll be alive to join her for it.
I have to say, bit off topic, I'm fairly pissed off that I didn't get "my Halley's comet". Or rather, I got it, but it was crap. I suppose I could live to be 97.... (I am not sure if Mark Twain was lucky or unlucky with regard to Halley's.)
Anyway, Hale-Bopp was a treat, I have to confess. I suppose I am fortunate for that.
I ditched the phone, camera, telescope all of it. In 2017 when I saw it the first time I think I wasted precious seconds fiddling with the gear trying to get the best shot. This time soaked all of the time and gave my eyes a visual treat ! totally worth it. No regrets whatsoever. Anyone reading this and hasn't seen one yet, I would advise to prioritize viewing it with your eyes a bit more than trying to capture it , its just very hard to capture the visual effect of experiencing totality.
I went into it with that attitude, but my dad talked me into bringing the whole camera setup. I’m glad I did: I enjoyed experiencing the whole thing, and wouldn’t have given that up—but taking some killer photos was the cherry on top, and I’m really glad I did it. YMMV, and I’ve done a ton of astrophotography, so maybe this was more up my alley than for most folks.
It was my 2nd, but my first without cloud cover, so it was my first time seeing it.
I told myself going in I wasn’t going to get destructed taking pictures. I decided to only bring my phone, with the thought being that other people would take and share much better pictures than I could ever get.
However, in the moment I still reached for my phone and took some shots. About halfway through I had this, “what the hell are you doing, stop taking pictures as enjoy this” thought. So I just marveled at the last half.
I’m glad I was able to check it off my bucket list, but hope it’s not the last one I see.
As a pro photographer I’ve always been intrigued by serendipity and luck. For instance, the amateur who photographed Mt. St. Helens moment of “the big one” eruption with a spectacular landslide preceding the event has made money licensing those images every year since.
Yet this is an example of something that required foresight and planning- and just a bit of serendipity. It’s a great image.
I’ve had some trouble illustrating the difference between these two concepts for people not in the profession. Yet my professional success has been entirely based upon the latter. However even with all the planning and preproduction work, most of my success has relied on serendipity to a degree. Sometimes this results in failure because this last little ingredient never happened.
I remember a couple of pro photographers died in their cars in separate incidents after taking shelter from the eruption. I believe they were outside the restricted zone that was considered dangerous, but that didn't take a possible lateral eruption into account. One of the photographers laid across the backpack with his equipment and they recovered some of the film when they found him.
Scrolling down that page it seems many photographers had a really fun time with this eclipse. Obviously the birds pics, but also the mountaineer and the guy "holding" the eclipse are absolutely amazing.
The photographer likely used a DSLR or mirrorless camera with a telephoto lens and a solar filter to protect the camera and lens. They may have also used a tripod for stability. By adjusting settings like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, they captured the eclipse's phases, ensuring proper exposure and sharpness. Additionally, careful planning, timing, and location scouting were crucial for capturing the moment effectively.
Which is only possible because people go out and take photographs like this. This is a bit like saying "Why do science, when you can subscribe to Ars Technica?"
So let's stop creating music, painting and writing fiction books because GenAI can do it. Also no cooking at home because restaurants do it. Also no point playing chess.
I'm old enough that it's questionable I'll be around in 21 years for the next one in the U.S.. Only my middle daughter has not yet seen one (wife and the other two daughters are good). If I am lucky I'll be alive to join her for it.
I have to say, bit off topic, I'm fairly pissed off that I didn't get "my Halley's comet". Or rather, I got it, but it was crap. I suppose I could live to be 97.... (I am not sure if Mark Twain was lucky or unlucky with regard to Halley's.)
Anyway, Hale-Bopp was a treat, I have to confess. I suppose I am fortunate for that.
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