Eclipse – Got It!
I shouldn’t sound smug. But I got some decent images. Today was the eclipse. You could see it if you had the right eye protection and the sun was not obscured by clouds. Then there was the matter of view. I was not in the “totality” zone. I was not OCD enough to travel that far. I had the right gear and had practiced once to be sure I had the exposure correct. We traveled to two spots. Really? I could have been fine in the front yard. It was like the end of the world. We watched at the beach with friends. Interestingly, they had protective glasses but I had to remind them when to view. Meanwhile I shot 500 images from start to finish. Yeah, OCD. I got it focused and …. The composite is what you see. We got 80% totality. What does it mean. At the fullest, the moon covered 80% of the sun. It was still plenty bright. There was no change at the beach. Everyone still got tanned. It got hotter when the sun came out again. I’ve shot a lunar eclipse before. This is my first solar eclipse. Was it fun? You’d have to ask my companions. I had a good time. Call it a once in a lifetime experience.
Barb kindly posted this one. Yes, I went upscale from my use of a ball cap.
Drama
I used to watch fascinated, the African “survivor of the fittest” where the lions took down their prey and everyone watched the ghastly horror of blood and gore as the victim was eaten on TV. Now, I hate insects and don’t care much for spiders. But a photo op is …. There, on the window, I watched a spider busily reeling in and entombing a large meal. I don’t know the bug (type). But it was still moving as the spider skittered up and down its silk thread to imprison and immobilize its prey. Ugh, a meal, life and death. I shot 175 images. Then I blitzed an edit down to four pictures and story. You get a lot of out of focus shots. The web thread was swaying because of the ongoing struggles. And I was shooting through the window. I guess I could have raised the window. The spider would probably not have been deterred from its mission. I could have gotten better detail. Maybe? I would have liked better focus on the eyes and the mouth. I could not do it on this day. My OCD stopped short of perfection.
photobackstory 