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Description

After a week of assuring forecasts for clear skies or, at worst high thin clouds, the day of the eclipse in Buffalo was disappointing. Increasingly thick clouds moved into the area at a faster than forecast pace, blotting out the wonder of the total solar eclipse for many in the city. The clouds periodically parted to give a fleeting glimpse of the sun. When totality set in and a bright early afternoon became dark as night a crack formed in the cloud bank and all of the sudden we could see the sun, blotted by the moon in its full glory. A hush fell over the world as we took in the sight for four minutes, punctuated only by a neighbor blasting Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." It was a breathtaking experience, perhaps made more exhilarating by the uncertainty of getting to see it at all.

In a way the clouds make for an interesting framing of the eclipsed sun in a way that flashy clear-sky corona shots don't. The ring of light illuminated the parting clouds around the sun creating a ghostly scene. Light editing on this shot including boosted contrast, de-noising with Lightroom's AI Denoise, and some camera shake correction with Topaz Sharpen.

Camera: Sony A7C

Lens: Tamron 150-500mm

Focal Length: 375mm

Aperture: f/7.1

Shutter: 1/8 second

ISO: 8000

Description

After a week of assuring forecasts for clear skies or, at worst high thin clouds, the day of the eclipse in Buffalo was disappointing. Increasingly thick clouds moved into the area at a faster than forecast pace, blotting out the wonder of the total solar eclipse for many in the city. The clouds periodically parted to give a fleeting glimpse of the sun. When totality set in and a bright early afternoon became dark as night a crack formed in the cloud bank and all of the sudden we could see the sun, blotted by the moon in its full glory. A hush fell over the world as we took in the sight for four minutes, punctuated only by a neighbor blasting Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." It was a breathtaking experience, perhaps made more exhilarating by the uncertainty of getting to see it at all.

In a way the clouds make for an interesting framing of the eclipsed sun in a way that flashy clear-sky corona shots don't. The ring of light illuminated the parting clouds around the sun creating a ghostly scene. Light editing on this shot including boosted contrast, de-noising with Lightroom's AI Denoise, and some camera shake correction with Topaz Sharpen.

Camera: Sony A7C

Lens: Tamron 150-500mm

Focal Length: 375mm

Aperture: f/7.1

Shutter: 1/8 second

ISO: 8000