The Diamond Ring and now a widefield from Palm Cove

[iceman (Mike)]

Greeted with pouring rain overnight, barely any sleep because my wife came down with a virus and had temperatures all night, and then a walk down to the Palm Cove jetty at 4:30am.

We had clouds from sunrise right until 3 minutes before totality when we saw the sucker hole approaching.

Jen (IIS) was there with her hubby and son, and my wife and kids were there with me.

Then it cleared, and then the Moon covered the Sun.

It was a surreal experience - the sky got considerably darker in the minute or two before totality, then it was very dark, sort of like early twilight - could see planets and stars and it got quite cool too.

The bright corona was extending out from the sun and it was amazing to see like a ring of fire in the sky. The crowds were cheering and hollering. I just get goose bumps recounting the story.

Canon 40D, 400mm @ ISO400, f/5.6, 1/8000s exposure. Barely any processing - noise reduction and cropping. It looked great right off the camera.

The Diamond Ring framed by clouds.
Added a widefield shot which shows the darkening of the sky, and the black Moon in front of the sun.

I couldn't setup where I wanted to, to get a better foreground so I was on the jetty with loads of other people who got in my way Plus, the clouds ruined the chance of a sequence type shot anyway Was happy to get what I did.

Added 2 more:
- The 2 cameras setup, with Jen behind - who cried like a baby right after
- Myself and the kids during totality - taken by my wife with her iPhone. I love this one. You can see the smile on my face, and it hasn't gone yet

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Very nice, Mike! I think the cloud adds to the image.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

The F/L and framing is spot on. Good pic.

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

Awesome shot Mike, the clouds give it some nice perspective. Congratulations.

[Paul Haese]

Yes I find te surreal aspect never leaves me. 3 down now and quite a few more to go. Nice shot.

[Kal (Andrew)]

I forgot to look up for stars and planets, too caught up in other things.

When it started to get dark it felt alot like artificial light to me, it wasn't a warm light but a cool light, almost like a fluorescent light.

Your pic pretty much sums up the event, the eclipse through the sucker hole

[Forgey (Paula)]

Beautiful image Mike!

[hotspur (Chris)]

That first one is a cracker!-the clouds really add to the timeless feel of the event.You'll get gongs for that one!

[Rodstar (Rod)]

Glad to hear the heavens cleared for you Mike. Sounds like things were looking rather pear shaped in the hours leading up to it....I can imagine you would have been very concerned at what might be!!!

Wish I could have been there.....

The diamond ring shot is quite extraordinary - I look forward to seeing what else you post in the coming days.

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Glad the conditions improved for you. Fantastic images.

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

Glad you got the Sun - super pic - thanks for sharing!

[naskies (Dave)]

Congrats - I'm glad you managed to see totality through the sucker hole!

[Garbz (Chris)]

You lucky bugger. I was 5km north of you. I missed totality in the cloudy hole except for a brief glimpse. Was a great show anyway. Fantastic photos.

[swannies1983 (Dan)]

I love the second picture. You get a feel for how dark it was. I will always remember being on a cattle station in middle of nowhere looking over the Great Victoria Desert during the 2002 eclipse.

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks guys! Appreciate the comments.

It was such a fantastic experience.

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Mike,

Nice pics, it certainly is a humbling and even spooky experience.....

In Hangzhou China for the 2009 TSE, I experienced 5 and a half minutes of totality with almost 5,000 chinese people "ooohing" and "aaaahing" behind me while I stood in the driveway of the Hyatt West Lake and the crowds behind me almost lost their collective minds....the temp dropped from 42deg C at 10am to almost 25deg C during that time, with the birds freaking out and the taxis all with their lights on.....surreal doesnt explain it well enough....

Goosebumps stay with you for a loooong time. Its a very special feeling to see it first hand, glad you got to share in the experience.

Cheers

Chris

[ChrisM]

Nice work Mike. I especially like the wide field pic as the jetty lighting helps show how dark it got.

To save dragging our chairs, tripods and scope down to the Palm Cove beachfront at 4 am, we took it down the night before and left it in the boot of our hire car. It's amazing how many others were already there at that time.

Chris

[RickS (Rick)]

The first image is lovely, Mike. Very atmospheric!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Real nice Mike. The clouds on the bottom right of your widefield near the hills at totality are the ones I got stuck into.

[anthony.tony]

As long as you Live You Will Never forget The Experience-Two Of our Parkes CWAS members Did it at Ellis Beach Clouds parted a few minutes Before totality -They Got Some top images -They are Still on a High- Tony.