My first total solar eclipse!

It seems like I just can't find time to post much these days. I think part of the problem is that I'm trying too hard to think of really good posts, which combined with my OCD/perfectionist side is probably holding me back some. I think I'll just try to post more often whatever random thing I feel like and not care too much about whether it's perfect or interesting...

Back on topic: So I finally graduated from grad school and found a job near Knoxville, TN, and what do you know, my wife and I bought a house a week before the line of totality for a total solar eclipse would pass by overhead. I guess for my slightly superstitious side... maybe that's a good sign? :p

Anyway, I decided to fully geek out and take a half day at work and watch the eclipse from the comfort of my own (first!) home with my wife, and my parents decided to drive down too. So anyway, we had some fun experimenting with pinhole cameras, and they DO work.... but slightly underwhelming....

Pinhole viewer: basically foil with a bunch of holes in it.

Tiny eclipses on a piece of paper!

Well anyway, the pinhole viewer is nice.... but it got slightly boring, so I decided to try to photograph the eclipse in progress. This is my first trial photograph....

Needless to say.... you cannot just point a camera at the sun and expect a good picture. Luckily I had my ISO-certified eclipse glasses, so I just popped those on the camera and managed to take some pretty decent (amateur-quality) pictures. Here are a few of the different stages of the eclipse that I managed to capture pretty well.

We noticed a bunch of projected images of the eclipse showing up on the concrete once it got close to totality. Our best guess is tiny pinholes in the leaves on the trees???

Finally, when the eclipse approached totality, it seemed to move very quickly, and I managed to get a picture during the event, which I think is pretty awesome for a total camera noob.

Also, I had to get a total solar eclipse selfie of course :p haha

I did also manage to get a video of the eclipse as it reached totality which is pretty cool (sorry for the shakiness!).

Also, if you're curious, here are some time-stamped pics to show how much darker it got outside during totality. I swear that the moment of totality, all of the neighbors' dogs started barking at once. It was.... slightly surreal. Also, you can see a lens flare of the partial eclipse reflecting on my chin! haha

I hope some of you got to see the eclipse too! It was beautiful weather in Knoxville, without a cloud in the sky. If you posted any pics, put your links in the comments so I can check them out!

All the best,
Trogdor :)