My photography of the solar eclipse on April 8th of 2024 is a perfect example;e of “not all plans go as planned.”

I didn’t try and photograph the moon in front of the sun. Not having the right filters for that and having respect for my equipment I wasn’t going to chance ruining the tools of my trade. I knew there 2ere thousands of others with the right equipment and knowledge to capture those images so it would be a waste for me to even attempt it. 

At the last minute, I decided to see if I could find an angle where I could photograph the impact of the eclipse on Downtown Cambridge and see the sun in the top of the image. I found a vantage point in Mill Race Park but the location of the sun was so high in the sky that I had to shoot at a focal length of 24 mm to get it in the frame and still be able to see the Grand River and the city. I put an eight-time neutral density filter and polarizing filter on the camera. Unfortunately, even with the eclipse by the moon the sun was so bright seeing detail was not possible. Working quickly I managed to take several pictures capturing a variety of exposures. 

Post-processing to get the maximum impact and then stacking the best image of the eclipse with the best image of the scene resulted in this image. 

Because of the wide-angle exposure, the sun is only a dot in the sky. However, cropping in on the upper right corner of the photograph you can see the moon is blocking at least a third of the sun. 

So, …  even though “not all plans go as planned” that doesn’t mean the results are any less successful. Sometimes they are better than you had planned. My image doesn’t show the actual eclipse as I had originally hoped, however, I am more than satisfied with my illustration of the mood and light that occurred during the eclipse. 

Your comments are more than welcome.