Greetings fellow eclipse enthusiasts!
Simply experiencing this eclipse after having a heart attack just a few months ago was something I wasn't sure would happen. This was a day I had looked forward to for 7 years, ever since the 2017 Total Eclipse! I had planned, practiced, read books and blogs, upgraded equipment, learned to use and capture images via a dedicated solar telescope. Then chased the 2023 Annular Eclipse to Utah as a full, live practice session. But nothing could prepare me for actually experiencing and capturing totality again.
I had contingency plans for viewing the eclipse in 4 locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, and New York. Fate landed me, as it did in 2017, in Southern Illinois. A heavy dose of that fate was the cloud forecast that pushed me back to Illinois.
If I met you in Carbondale, Illinois thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. I am beyond grateful to share my passion with each of you. Having the opportunity to connect with so many amazing people from all over the country really made the day even more special.
I am continuing to edit and upload more of my images taken from the Solar Eclipse Festival at Blue Sky Vineyard in Makanda. I captured the eclipse itself without issue, however, unfortunately my wide-angle cameras failed and many of my captures of the overall experience were lost.
I will be adding my favorites from this page to my shop. Please head on over to my store to order prints, canvas, or other items for your own keepsake.
Totality Begins!
High, thin clouds quickly dissipating just in time for one of nature's greatest spectacles. Sliding into Totality! Assembled 168 shots from my camera into a video of the Diamond Ring slipping into Bailey's Beads then into Totality.
Luna sliding off Sol!
The beginning of the end of one of natures greatest spectacles. Sliding out of totality, the brightness of the Sun beginning to restore its light to Southern Illinois. Prominences so visible moments prior slipping away into the brilliance of the Photosphere. The Corona and Chromosphere once again becoming invisible to the unfiltered eye.
HDR Image of Sol and her Coronal Crown both with and without Luna's surface.
The Moon was added for visual artistic impression. I have not yet developed the images that might allow me to pull out the Earthshine on the New Moon. The moon image I used is one I took two weeks prior to the eclipse during the last Full Moon.
The HDR is an 11-image HDR composite and the Moon is a 120-image stack to provide clarity and quality.
The HDR is an 11-image HDR composite and the Moon is a 120-image stack to provide clarity and quality.
These images were taken with my Canon R7 with a 600mm lens. Each image of the partial phase is a stack of 10-20 images to remove atmospheric distortions and bring out the clarity of the Solar Photosphere with texture and sunspots clearly defined.
The image of Totality with the Corona streaming out is an HDR stack of 7 exposures. It has the appearance of grain around the edges due to high-thin clouds during totality in Southern Illinois. I am working on stacking multiple images of Totality to filter out the effect of the clouds, however, this is a time-consuming process.
Composite of the eclipse with Partial Phase images take with a Lunt Solar Telescope. The telescope specifically filters for Hydrogen Alpha Light Emissions. This is light emitted from the Chromosphere and is only visible to the naked eye during totality. This is the part of the sun that was emitting the red prominences visible during totality.
I experienced multiple camera failures or errors on the day of the eclipse... I had two 360 Cameras, one failed altogether and the other only recorded the day one direction... facing away from the eclipse and at me taking pictures. Oops! Then my wide-angle camera got knocked out of focus during totality. A complete comedy of errors. I have done my best below to combine a frame from an HD Video Capture, an HDR Panorama from my wide-angle while it was still in focus, and my detailed images of the sun from my zoom lens. All of these have been merged in Photoshop, blended together, and the sky expanded realistically to create as real of an image of Totality in Wide View as possible with my editing skills.
To provide full transparency below are the images that were merged into this image:
Other miscellaneous images from eclipse day are below!
Eclipse Pole Banners on the Campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
Temperature gauge that I ran during the eclipse. At first contact the local temperature was 79.7*F. The temp steadily dropped, eventually reaching 67.5*F. Over a 12*F change in temperature due to the shadow of the Moon over Southern Illinois!
My setup at Blue Sky Winery in Makanda, Illinois
Pinhole Projection - My NAYR Arts Logo
Pinhole Projection - My NAYR Arts Logo
Post Eclipse afternoon at Blue Sky Winery
Pinhole Projection - Mine and my wife Ashley's initials and the date of the eclipse: R+A 04 08 24
HDR Composite of 7 Exposures during totality. Taken at the eclipse festival at Blue Sky Winery in Makanda, Illinois; the crossroads of the 2017 and 2024 Solar Eclipses.
Baileys Beads and the final burst of light before totality
Solar Filter:
Baader Planetarium AstroSolar® Film
Trackers:
Sky Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack
Sky Watcher Sky-Watcher AZ-GTI
Cameras and Lenses:
Canon R7 with Sigma Contemporary 150-600mm
Canon R5 with Canon RF 600mm f/11
40mm Lunt Solar Telescope with ZWO 432MM
Canon T7i with Sigma Art 18-35mm
Samsung 360 (ver.1)
Samsung 360 (ver.1)
Samsung S22
Samsung S24 Ultra
Software:
Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop
FireCapture
AutoStakkert
waveSharp