Totality from near Yorkeys Beach

[StephenM]

Hi all,

I just returned home from Cairns this afternoon, after a brilliant trip to the eclipse. We decided to head to a sugarcane farm just off Yorkeys Knob Road, after speaking to the owner of the property earlier in the week. There were only about 15 of us on the property, so it was nice a quiet. As others have reported, we were clouded out until 7 minutes before totality (and had given up any hope of seeing anything), but the clouds suddenly cleared. I still can't believe that we managed to see it, and the experience is something that I will never forget!

All of my photography plans went out the window then the clouds cleared, so I ended up just randomly adjusting the exposure and triggering the cable release while keeping my eyes fixed on the eclipse itself. But I'm happy to have captured a few nice images. Of course they don't even come close to capturing the beauty of the event itself, but they are a nice reminder.

Anyway, here are a few of the better ones.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Larryp]

Nice series of photos, Stephen!:thumbsup:

[Nico13]

Great series there Stephen, the clouds give it more depth I think. :thumbsup:

[RickS]

Nice images, Stephen.

[Derek Klepp]

A lucky break.Great pics

[astro_south]

Some great 'reminders' there Stephen ... looks like you didn't need the plans anyway :thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Despite the conditions you got good shots. Well done.

[Forgey]

Lovely pics Stephen.

[StephenM]

Thanks everyone!

Cheers,
Stephen

[Smyths77]

Stephen,

These are brilliant photos - the cloud adds to them - bit like a diamond ring in the smoke haze! Well Done!
I'm yet to process mine - we were near Edmonton abouth 20 mins South of Cairns (on a property with a dozen people) :)and lucked out with clear sky from around 45 mins prior to totality to well after.

Regards,

Stuart

[Dennis]

Hello, Stephen

Really liking these, in particular the ‘diamond ring shot, #6. Now don’t go telling me that these were taken with the 70-200 F4 L???

Cheers

Dennis

[StephenM]

Thanks Stuart. I agree about the cloud. You can also see shadow bands on the cloud which is cool!



Thanks Dennis. Yes, these were shot with the 70-200 f/4L. I had to crop them a bit, but I'm pleased with its performance for such a portable lens.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Shark Bait]

Glad it worked out for you Stephen. I was keeping an eye out for your eclipse photos on the forum. Great shots.

[iceman]

Very nice indeed Stephen, some great shots there.

[StephenM]

Thanks Stu and Mike!

Cheers,
Stephen

[jjjnettie]

What a great set to remember the experience with. :)

[AstroTourist]

Stephen,
A really great set of image.
If you have not noticed you have some excellent SHADOW BANDS showing up at C3 projected on the clouds on images 5 and 6.
This was an effect first identified at the 2010 eclipse and one I have not seen yet in any other images of this eclipse.
Very well done.
Rgds,
Terry

[StephenM]

Thanks jjj and Terry!



Yes, I was pleased to be able to capture the shadow bands, Terry! I didn't realise that they were there then while capturing the images, but I noticed them when downloading the images. I forgot to mention them in the original post, but pointed then out in reply #12 above.

I still haven't found a good explanation for what causes them... can you help me out?

(Incidentally I was chatting to a Californian guy who was chasing his 14th eclipse down on the esplanade 2 days before the eclipse, and when I said I was from Brisbane he immediately asked me if I was Terry Cuttle!)

Cheers,
Stephen

[Inmykombi]

Wow, they are really nice images Stephen.

Well Done.
I was off shore on the Pacific Dawn and saw most of the Eclipse including Totality. What an experience....
Most of my images were out of focus as I was too busy jumping out of my skin during totality....:D

[colinmlegg]

Amazing Stephen getting those shadow bands. Just saw your APOD. Congrats!

[iceman]

Ditto! Congrats on APOD! Well done.

[Liz]

Wow, congrats Stephen!!!!! A beautiful image and honour for you. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[alexch]

Wow indeed! A very unique capture of shadow bands - might well be the first of its kind.

Congrats with the APOD!

Alex

[geoffsims]

Congrats indeed!



Alex- as Terry pointed out earlier, almost everyone (including myself) who photographed TSE2010 noticed this in their images (since almost everyone had some transparent low cloud of some description). See for example:

http://joe-cali.com/eclipses/PAST/TSE2010/joe.html

Also, while recently in FNQ I was told that someone (can't remember who), upon re-inspecting their photos of TSE20xx (I forget also which eclipse) noticed in retrospect that they indeed captured shadowbands on their images too!

So it turns out 2010 was when this phenomena was first widely observed, but since 2010 it has been discovered on at photographs of at least one previous eclipse.

[gregbradley]

Are you sure that banding is an eclipse phenomena?

Here is a test image I did of the sun a week before the eclipse:

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/147235689

Isn't it just dynamic range in the image - very bright at the sun and darker in areas of cloud?

Greg.

[StephenM]

Thanks very much Geoff, Colin, Mike, Liz, Alex and Geoff! Much appreciated!


It's nice to score another APOD, and that makes it 3 for IceInSpace this week!




It don't think it's just dynamic noise in the image Greg. It only shows up just after C3 and also (weakly) just before C2, but not in any other images. And the banding pattern looks like those that were captured in 2012, especially when viewed at full res. I don't see the same pattern in your image...?

Cheers,
Stephen

[Tamtarn]

This is a wonderful set of images Stephen. What a beautiful keepsake to remind you of your magical moment. Congrats on your APOD!
Barb

[gregbradley]

The shadow banding is very clear on Tom's video. I wonder if it is the rough lunar horizon or some diffraction effect.

Greg.

[StephenM]

Thanks Barb!



There is a good description of the phenomenom here Greg:

http://www.strickling.net/shadowbands.htm

It seems to be a optical effect due to atmospheric turbulence, rather than a feature of the lunar horizon.

Cheers,
Stephen

[alexch]

Indeed, thanks for the links. Somehow I missed the 2010 eclipse results and there are some excellent images and videos by you and Joe.

[Jen]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: nice collection of pics and congrats on APOD woohooo cheers :D

[Becstar]

So, so, so, so, SO beautiful!

[StephenM]

Thanks very much Jen!



Thanks very much Rebecca! Try and get to one of these in the future, because these photos don't come close to capturing how beautiful and spectacular it really was visually!

Cheers,
Stephen

[venus]

Amazing capture!

[Rob_K]

Congratulations Stephen! :thumbsup: Just caught up with this thread although I did see your APOD earlier - magnificent!

I caught the 'shadow bands' in 4 consecutive images although nowhere near as clearly as you. Check the second image here:
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/fz841.htm

Funnily enough, my sequence of shots through the first Diamond Ring in the 2010 eclipse were almost duplicates of 2012 as the Sun emerged from thin cloud, but there isn't really any sign of similar banding. :shrug:

The only difference this time was that due to a dreadful clerical error I was shooting at ISO 1600 eek, must have forgotten to wind it back in the heat of the moment! :rolleyes: Obviously there are many factors at work - if the bands are projected onto the cloud layer from upper atmosphere effects then ideally the cloud layer should be quite thin and uniform to transmit the bands. Maybe the clouds I imaged through in 2010 were 'fluffier'?? FWIW comparison images are attached.

Congrats again, amazing stuff!

Cheers -

[StephenM]

Thanks very much Lydia!



Thanks very much Rob, and well done on capturing the shadow bands as well! Also congrats for the "Optics image of the day"!
It is an interesting difference between 2010 and 2012 - perhaps due to differences in the atmospheric turbulence as well as the cloud thickness? I'm looking forward to the next eclipse to see if they are visible again!

Cheers,
Stephen