Solar Eclipse

A moon transit, solar flares, sunspots, cars decorated for the voyage, gorgeous scenery — there was so much to see this eclipse weekend, at the National Elk Refuge, Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

“Magical” is a word that gets overused by marketers peddling the man-made. What are the odds the moon is exactly the right size, and exactly the right distance from the earth to perfectly cover the sun to our view? Not only do the sun, moon and earth come together for this event — the fourth part that aligns is you. Witnessing a total solar eclipse is to see something divine unfold, as if God is winking at you.


Let there be night. Ducks swim under an amazing 360° sunset during eclipse totality at 11:35 a.m. For a moment the sun goes completely dark, and then like flipping a switch, the gorgeous glowing ring of fire appears, to the sound of shouts and cheers across the valley. It’s like nothing I've ever seen.


A composite of 11 eclipse phase photos (I took a whole lot more). The moon crosses the sun from right to left, so the first photo in the series is at top left.


Shorter exposures (1/125 second) make it possible to see solar flares before they get overwhelmed by the bright corona.


Sunspots. Way cool, considering my solar filter is one half of a pair of cardboard solar glasses, masking taped into a circle of cardboard cut out of a Triscuit box.



National Elk Refuge was a gorgeous setting for shooting the eclipse. There was a lot of sitting around and waiting, so there was plenty to see with the ducks and swans feeding and the morning mist rolling off the lake. I was initially worried about all these clouds getting in the way, but they blew past a half hour beforehand, leaving 100% clear skies.


Waiting for the show to start at National Elk Refuge, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I set up here with three other photographers and their big cameras from California, Washington state, and Alberta. What's beautiful about an event like this is that it brings people together. Each of us ended up saying to the others — perfect strangers — "Hey, I'm going to head to the restroom/get a drink, will you watch my $5,000 camera rig?" and know all would be fine.


Traffic was jammed as expected: it took 5.5 hours for the trip from SLC to Jackson Hole, but 10.5 hours to get back. It didn’t matter, I was marveling the whole way home from what I had been part of.


"We're going to see the sun get mooned!" BYU Idaho campus, Rexburg.


"Totality or bust," northbound I-15, Utah.