Annular Solar Eclipse over Wukoki Pueblo

            When I started researching locations to shoot this weekend's solar eclipse, I knew almost immediately I wanted to try to capture it over something ancient--it seemed the perfect setting for an astronomical phenomenon that touches something primal inside all of us.  Looking at the path the eclipse would follow, the Wukoki Pueblo at Wupatki National Monument was my obvious choice, and my research showed the setting eclipsed sun would descend directly over the pueblo.

This image is two exposures, blended by hand in Photoshop (not HDR, and not a composite). I took one exposure for the pueblo, and one with a solar filter to get a crisp shot of the eclipsed sun.  This is where being an auto-didact pays off: I've never shot anything like this before (this is my first attempt at any kind of astrophotography, not counting the occasional moon image), and with a little reading and research, I found the info online I needed to buy the materials and instructions to craft my own solar filter.  Thank goodness everything worked as expected!

This was such an amazing thing to witness--I was so absorbed in watching the eclipse through my eclipse viewer that I almost forgot to start clicking the shutter when the eclipse reached maximum!  There was a HUGE crowd at Wupatki National Monument to view the eclipse, clustered primarily at the various groupings of ruins.  I'm fascinated with the apparently universal desire among all us humans to witness phenomena like this.

Taken in: United States / Arizona (show map)

Taken on: May 20, 2012

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Sets appears in: • American Southwest • My personal faves

Groups appears in: • Astrophotography - Astronomy - Astrophysics • Canon DSLR User Group more » • Sunrise, Sunset -- Anything Sun! • Eclipses • Flickr Addicts • The Light Fantastic • U.S. National Parks • U.S. National Parks and Places • Astronomy • Professional landscapes • Outdoor Photographer Magazine (Unofficial) • Total Photography (No AI or SL) • canon digital photography. • Native American Indian Ruins & Artifacts • The Nature Conservancy • Wonders of the World • NATURE'S BEST • Light Stars (starbursts) • Native American Cliff Dwellings, Petroglyphs and Pictographs • Totally Awesome Pictures • Official National Geographic Group • Flickr's Best Landscape Photographers (Post 1 Award 2) • Canon EOS 5Ds/R, Mark 1, 2, 3, 4 • National Geographic | World Wide • Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year • Landscape Beauty ! • NPR Look At This • ☆The Power Of Now ☆ • National Geographic Group • Portfolio: artscape • National Parks Traveler • ᗪiscovery .ᗯorld • WONDERS OF ARCHAEOLOGIE & ARCHITECTURE *P1/C1 • 2012 Annular Solar Eclipse • Apollo and Dionysus (Moderated) P1/C3 « less

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, f/16.0, 1/250 sec, 150mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:	150-500mm
Aperture:	f/16.0
Exposure Time:	0.004 sec (1/250)
Focal Length:	150mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Manual
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
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