This is like a triple Miracle!
1. The Weather was supposed to be Severe Thunderstorms
2. All of my cameras each had something go wrong
3. Assembling all of those camera Errors into a Timelapse took lot's and lot's of hours and thinking how best to work it.
The Solar Eclipse was on April 8th, 2024. Quite a few of us in here, at least 4 of us headed to go capture the Solar Eclipse in Texas, though none of us were that close. @Mike Lewis ended up being only an hour from me, but that didn't dawn on me until after the eclipse or I would have gone and met up with. But everyone else ended up changing their plans and heading away from SW Texas. Historically SW Texas had the best chance of being clear in April on the Eclipse, and when we all made plans (I made mine 2 months prior), that was the best we could go on.
But the 2 weeks before the Eclipse, Texas was showing signs of bad weather, lot's of clouds. As the Eclipe drew nearer it was almost funny in a way how the weather was looking.
The week before and after the Eclipse for SW Texas it was crystal clear skies. But for 4 days around the Eclipse it was Severe Thunderstorm warnings. It was almost suspicious that the weather wanted to conspire against us!
I was in conversations with everyone from here that was going to the Eclipse, I wanted to pick everyone's brains on what they were thinking. 2 of the guys had picked out alternative locations that were North East of Texas or at least in North Eastern Texas. Both of those guys made great choices and while they didn't have crystal clear skies, they did have pretty clear skies.
I had the most Southern location of them all, and while I toyed with the idea of driving to Maine (which ended up with the best weather), or even driving further North. Oliver @BlackRockArt invited me to join him in NE Texas/Arkansas area for it. I decided to just stay where I was. Along with the goal of capturing the Solar Eclipse, I had the goal of capturing the Texas Bluebonnet flower. A flower I had been wanting to photograph for about 20 years but just had never made it to Texas in the Springtime.
So I stayed put.
The morning of the Eclipse started out totally cloudy. Then for about an hour or so, the skies partly cleared and the blue sky and sun came out I think just to tease us. Then the clouds came back in. It wasn't a solid thick mass of clouds (that waited for Totality), but it was layers of clouds moving back and forth across the sky. It would get almost clear in small area's and then it would get covered up again. This went on all the way through the eclipse. It never stopped being cloudy, it was just thinner at times in spots where the sun could be seen. It was 2 minutes of being able to make out the sun and then 3 minutes of it was clouded over and the sun totally disappeared.
It was a constant game of Cat and Mouse.
The worst of the clouds came right at Totality. As Totality was getting close we could see this large menacing black cloud approaching where the sun was. The cloud probably covered 25% of the sky. And sure enough as Totality hit, the black cloud covered it even more. We could tell it was Totality, not because we could see it, because we couldn't see it. But we could tell because it became super dark. Like the moment it happened, it wasn't even a transition, it was lie someone turned off a light switch.
We all took off our solar filters on our cameras. All of us hoping the eclipse would pop back out, but at the same time seeing this monster cloud over the eclipse area. And then about 2 minutes into the eclipse, for about 14 seconds, the clouds parted slightly, we could see Totality. Every one of the 100 or so people camping alongside me on this remote ranch in Texas started cheering and hollering. Camera's were clicking away, and it was looking so incredibly awesome!
And then it was gone. We got those 14 seconds, but then it was back to darkness and we didn't see the sun again until after Totality passed.
It's funny, leading up to Eclipse, on the various Astro sites I am on, There was always quite a few people that were so adamant in declaring, don't get so focused on photographing the eclipse that you don't stop and actually look up at it and take the moment in. Forget the camera's they said, look at the eclipse and take it in. That's the best way to experience the eclipse they said. They said almost sternly, that if you don't stop and look at the eclipse with your own eyes you will regret it because that's the only real way to experience the magic of the eclipse....
Well... I personally thought, that's great for you. But that doesn't work for me. Camera's have been a part of my vision of the world around me for over 50 years. The camera is my eye. But during those 14 seconds, brief as that was, all these people who had been clamoring that you have to take your eyes off the camera and look at the eclipse, that thought entered my mind. So I did stop, I looked up at the eclipse. I saw this tiny, almost microscopic looking ring of light in the sky. I couldn't make out any details because it was so small, I immediately went back to my camera screen where I could see prominences on the sun, and all sorts of other cool detail. That too me was exciting and how I best experienced the eclipse. I had thought all of these peoples talk, might make sense for them, but didn't for me. But I was willing to give it a shot, and I was right. The best way to experience the eclipse was with my eye glued to a camera. Now doing that doesn't make me blind to what's going on around me. I did experience the darkness around me. I experienced the quietness as well. Maybe because I am good at multitasking I could take it all in?
After the Totality, the Cat and Mouse game with the sun continued. And after the eclipse ended, it wasn't too long before a few drops of rain were felt. It never started raining at that point, but it was like the weather was reminding us it was still there. And from then on the sun was totally gone, the clouds covered it and it couldn't be see again that day. The Severe Thunderstorms had shifted until later that night, so the majority of us packed up. I took my time chatting with my new neighbors who were camping around me about the miracle of what we had experienced. By the time I finally had all of my cameras taken down, my tent taken down and a camping awning taken down, 3/4 of the people were already gone and on the road.
Explore Scientific is who hosted us on this ranch in Texas. It was a great experience, and one I would gladly do again.
In assembling this timelapse I hope it looks good. There was so many technical issues. I have mentioned some of them in other posts, so I won't mention them now. This has gotten too long as it is. But I do hope it looks good, it took a lot of work, and rework, and more rework. As I compiled the over 3000 images taken to produce this, I would process it to where I thought it looked good, but then when I viewed it, I didn't like something so it was back to the drawing board. I had actually finished the video, posted it on YouTube, I viewed it twice, and saw something that really bugged me, so I immediately took the video back down, and then reworked that section, and then posted it again....
Please.... Watch this in YouTube.
Please.... Click Like in YouTube.
(You can click Like in FocalWorld as well, but it's the Click on actual YouTube that helps the video the best)
Thanks!
Jim
1. The Weather was supposed to be Severe Thunderstorms
2. All of my cameras each had something go wrong
3. Assembling all of those camera Errors into a Timelapse took lot's and lot's of hours and thinking how best to work it.
The Solar Eclipse was on April 8th, 2024. Quite a few of us in here, at least 4 of us headed to go capture the Solar Eclipse in Texas, though none of us were that close. @Mike Lewis ended up being only an hour from me, but that didn't dawn on me until after the eclipse or I would have gone and met up with. But everyone else ended up changing their plans and heading away from SW Texas. Historically SW Texas had the best chance of being clear in April on the Eclipse, and when we all made plans (I made mine 2 months prior), that was the best we could go on.
But the 2 weeks before the Eclipse, Texas was showing signs of bad weather, lot's of clouds. As the Eclipe drew nearer it was almost funny in a way how the weather was looking.
The week before and after the Eclipse for SW Texas it was crystal clear skies. But for 4 days around the Eclipse it was Severe Thunderstorm warnings. It was almost suspicious that the weather wanted to conspire against us!
I was in conversations with everyone from here that was going to the Eclipse, I wanted to pick everyone's brains on what they were thinking. 2 of the guys had picked out alternative locations that were North East of Texas or at least in North Eastern Texas. Both of those guys made great choices and while they didn't have crystal clear skies, they did have pretty clear skies.
I had the most Southern location of them all, and while I toyed with the idea of driving to Maine (which ended up with the best weather), or even driving further North. Oliver @BlackRockArt invited me to join him in NE Texas/Arkansas area for it. I decided to just stay where I was. Along with the goal of capturing the Solar Eclipse, I had the goal of capturing the Texas Bluebonnet flower. A flower I had been wanting to photograph for about 20 years but just had never made it to Texas in the Springtime.
So I stayed put.
The morning of the Eclipse started out totally cloudy. Then for about an hour or so, the skies partly cleared and the blue sky and sun came out I think just to tease us. Then the clouds came back in. It wasn't a solid thick mass of clouds (that waited for Totality), but it was layers of clouds moving back and forth across the sky. It would get almost clear in small area's and then it would get covered up again. This went on all the way through the eclipse. It never stopped being cloudy, it was just thinner at times in spots where the sun could be seen. It was 2 minutes of being able to make out the sun and then 3 minutes of it was clouded over and the sun totally disappeared.
It was a constant game of Cat and Mouse.
The worst of the clouds came right at Totality. As Totality was getting close we could see this large menacing black cloud approaching where the sun was. The cloud probably covered 25% of the sky. And sure enough as Totality hit, the black cloud covered it even more. We could tell it was Totality, not because we could see it, because we couldn't see it. But we could tell because it became super dark. Like the moment it happened, it wasn't even a transition, it was lie someone turned off a light switch.
We all took off our solar filters on our cameras. All of us hoping the eclipse would pop back out, but at the same time seeing this monster cloud over the eclipse area. And then about 2 minutes into the eclipse, for about 14 seconds, the clouds parted slightly, we could see Totality. Every one of the 100 or so people camping alongside me on this remote ranch in Texas started cheering and hollering. Camera's were clicking away, and it was looking so incredibly awesome!
And then it was gone. We got those 14 seconds, but then it was back to darkness and we didn't see the sun again until after Totality passed.
It's funny, leading up to Eclipse, on the various Astro sites I am on, There was always quite a few people that were so adamant in declaring, don't get so focused on photographing the eclipse that you don't stop and actually look up at it and take the moment in. Forget the camera's they said, look at the eclipse and take it in. That's the best way to experience the eclipse they said. They said almost sternly, that if you don't stop and look at the eclipse with your own eyes you will regret it because that's the only real way to experience the magic of the eclipse....
Well... I personally thought, that's great for you. But that doesn't work for me. Camera's have been a part of my vision of the world around me for over 50 years. The camera is my eye. But during those 14 seconds, brief as that was, all these people who had been clamoring that you have to take your eyes off the camera and look at the eclipse, that thought entered my mind. So I did stop, I looked up at the eclipse. I saw this tiny, almost microscopic looking ring of light in the sky. I couldn't make out any details because it was so small, I immediately went back to my camera screen where I could see prominences on the sun, and all sorts of other cool detail. That too me was exciting and how I best experienced the eclipse. I had thought all of these peoples talk, might make sense for them, but didn't for me. But I was willing to give it a shot, and I was right. The best way to experience the eclipse was with my eye glued to a camera. Now doing that doesn't make me blind to what's going on around me. I did experience the darkness around me. I experienced the quietness as well. Maybe because I am good at multitasking I could take it all in?
After the Totality, the Cat and Mouse game with the sun continued. And after the eclipse ended, it wasn't too long before a few drops of rain were felt. It never started raining at that point, but it was like the weather was reminding us it was still there. And from then on the sun was totally gone, the clouds covered it and it couldn't be see again that day. The Severe Thunderstorms had shifted until later that night, so the majority of us packed up. I took my time chatting with my new neighbors who were camping around me about the miracle of what we had experienced. By the time I finally had all of my cameras taken down, my tent taken down and a camping awning taken down, 3/4 of the people were already gone and on the road.
Explore Scientific is who hosted us on this ranch in Texas. It was a great experience, and one I would gladly do again.
In assembling this timelapse I hope it looks good. There was so many technical issues. I have mentioned some of them in other posts, so I won't mention them now. This has gotten too long as it is. But I do hope it looks good, it took a lot of work, and rework, and more rework. As I compiled the over 3000 images taken to produce this, I would process it to where I thought it looked good, but then when I viewed it, I didn't like something so it was back to the drawing board. I had actually finished the video, posted it on YouTube, I viewed it twice, and saw something that really bugged me, so I immediately took the video back down, and then reworked that section, and then posted it again....
Please.... Watch this in YouTube.
Please.... Click Like in YouTube.
(You can click Like in FocalWorld as well, but it's the Click on actual YouTube that helps the video the best)
Thanks!
Jim
