Cruising to the Eclipse

[Sarge]

My wife and I have been thinking about taking a cruise for some time. Then I found a 14 day Solar Eclipse Cruise departing Sydney 7/11/12, it seems perfect. A tropical cruise along the eastern coast of Aus up to Hamilton island stopping a three ports on the way, then off to the islands of New Caledonia, three more ports, following the path of the Solar Eclipse on 14/11/12. What could be better!
:cool:
May not be suitable for photography on a moving ship, but provided the skies are clear - it will be a completely unobstructed view from sunrise till completion. Already got the solar viewing glasses!
:2thumbs:
We've booked, and are now waiting confirmation (tickets). Flights to Sydney booked, travel insurance organised - now only need to pack and wait!
:sunny:


Clear skies

Rod
:D:D

[AstralTraveller]

Sounds great - especially if you are more nautically inclined than me. I think there is a school of thought that any clouds will only form near the coast (orographic uplift) and that out to sea it will be clear. [Of course I'm hoping for clear skies everywhere. :prey:]

Photography has been done from the deck of a ship but the case I know of they were in the Black Sea, which had about as many waves as a swimming pool. The biggest source of vibration was when the Captain blew the ship's horn long and loud at second contact. Apparently the deck shook.

[Sarge]

Thanks David,

I'm not really set up for solar photos. I've got a couple pair of solar glasses, that's all.

This is a quote for the cruise description:
Sailing with us will be Alan Wright (http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/ViewChefBio.action?chefNameKey=Gues t Speaker: Alan Wright), former principal astronomer at Australia's Parkes Radio Observatory, Daniel Ostler (http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/ViewChefBio.action?chefNameKey=Gues t Speaker: Daniel Ostler), presenter of ‘Connecting the Dots’ lecture series, and Donna Giesler (http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/ViewChefBio.action?chefNameKey=Gues t Speaker: Donna Giesler) (aka "The Star Lady"), who's led stargazing workshops for years on the Big Island of Hawaii.

So with all that expertise on board - I am really looking forward to the experience.

Clear skies

Rod
:D:D

[Rob_K]

Photography from shipboard is fine for everything except the longer exposures you need to bring out the finer details of the solar corona. Diamond ring, prominences, the lot - the exposures are really quite short. :thumbsup:

Good luck Rod, you'll have a blast!

Cheers -

[AstralTraveller]

If that lot can't get the moon in front of the sun then no one can. :P



True, but if your fov is say 2 degrees and the ship rolls 5 degrees you won't keep the sun in the frame.

[Rob_K]

Look, just to set the record straight, shipboard eclipse photography is a routine thing, not something that happened once on the Black Sea. As in all photography, you shoot to the conditions so you're probably not going to shoot a 2-deg field if degree of difficulty worries you. As far as a 5-deg roll goes, if you get that in a modern ship of any decent size then you're more likely to be going for the barf bag than watching the eclipse! Pitch is more likely to be a problem than roll, but the worst is if the ship is not steering a straight course, eek. And there's no need to limit yourself to a tripod, shoot handheld if necessary.

I was lucky enough to be shipboard for the 2010 TSE (my only TSE so far) and got shots I was really happy with (and David Malin was too, in 2011 ;) ). I shot conservatively at 200mm (about 6.5-deg frame width?) and over 4 mins only made one slight adjustment to the framing. The eclipsed Sun moved about frame-to-frame but never got near the edges. Seas were fairly light but not perfect, and it was a cargo/passenger ship, tiny compared to cruise liners like the Oosterdam.

Not only that, there were heaps of photographers on board, many of them very experienced with a number of eclipse cruises behind them. They put up a slideshow of shots taken that day by various people and it was a sight to behold, blew my meagre offerings away. Some really detailed proms, Bailey's Beads, Diamond Rings, all sorts of scales & features, amazing shots. But no shots of the finer details of the solar corona, you'd need a millpond and no engine vibration for that.

That said, a few precious minutes is too short to be mucking around with a camera too much. Just enjoy the experience! :thumbsup:

Cheers -

[Sarge]

Thanks Rob,

I am really looking forward to it. I've only experienced one other TSE, and then only with a pin hole card.:lol:
I know there will be plenty of helpers on board, so I should get heaps of advice on how to photo the eclipse. I'll probably be shooting hand held, but will try to fit a tripod in the luggage (weight and size allowable). Do I need any special filters etc, or can my 60D handle the totality phase?

Clear skies

Rod
:D:D

[Rob_K]

The 60D will handle totality, + Diamond Rings, but you'll need a filter if you want to photograph the partial phases. In that case a bit of Baader AstroSolar Safety Film would be the go. I had a bit taped (securely) inside a spare lens cap that I'd cut a hole in.

Sounds like you'll have plenty of help on board, just don't get so caught up in the photography that you forget to look LOL! :thumbsup:

Cheers -

[Sarge]

Thanks Rob

Rod
:D:D