2 From The 'Great American Eclipse'

[Mike Lewis]

So lots of images posted of this of course, and nothing compares to having seen this in person, but I thought if only to get a few others to post their versions, I thought I would post 2 images of the eclipse. Lots of stories to tell on that day, but one of the best parts was that I was able to automate my data collection and tracking so that I was able to watch significant portions of the eclipse by eye, and not be fumbling about with the camera trying to see things through the viewfinder or on the back of the camera only.

The totality image is pretty self explanatory, it is a blend of 10 frames shot from 1/4000 up to 1/8th second. Having seen Kyle's excellent effort, I think I could learn a little bit from his techniques to combine the individual frames for best results, but I eventually decided I was finished post processing this one when I got sick of messing with it, and in truth I am not unhappy with the result.

LRCC_Totality_FW_TAP26437_PSCC_HPF

• Mike Lewis
• Jan 2, 2019

Totality, a blend of 10 exposures, 2017-08-21 Eclipse, near Agate Fossil Beds National Monument

The pano combo shot is mostly fun as it is actually huge, being made from my full size 5DSr images. Like most extreme pano images, it does not display well in a venue like this, and it has been resized down to the required 3000 pix long side to fit in the gallery, but the actual image is 24000 x 6000. I hope to get a BIG metal print made of it someday when I become rich The other thing to say about it though is that in order to get the background of the totality image to achieve black (to properly blend in to the black background and match the other images) required me to truncate the coronal details, as can be seen in comparison to the single totality image. If it was not such a complicated edit I would consider this as a let's play entry - perhaps I could use just that single frame with the requirement to see how much detail all the professional image jockeys could get out of the corona while making sure the image faded to black at the borders. But I digress...

LRCC_FW_TotalEclipse_PSCC_Ver15

• Mike Lewis
• Jan 2, 2019

Eclipse Composite of the Great American Eclipse of 2017

In any case, the experience was second to none, and both my wife and I are now dedicated to trying to be present for the April 8th, 2024 eclipse as well!

Hope this at least gets a few others to post there own efforts here in our astro forum.

ML

 

[JimFox]

This is very cool Mike! And thanks of course for making me cry again for missing this event. The worst thing was I missed it by choice, confusing a past partial eclipse with this full eclipse and not thinking that the partial one was worth it, so this one wouldn't be worth all of the uproar everyone was making.... sigh.... my loss...

Kyle definitely nailed his processing, but I think yours looks pretty good too. There is nothing that jumps out at me from viewing this. our pano is very cool and I can imagine it was a lot of work.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Well Jim, don't let the one in 2024 pass you by then! My wife was instantly turned into an eclipse chaser by this event There is a guy at work who pretty much tries to go to almost every total eclipse no matter where it is. He has seen some phenomenal number of them (and a lot of out of the way places in the world too.) He strongly advised my to not even try to image it the first time, so as not to miss experiencing it in person. Well, there was NO WAY I was not going to try to image it. But his advice did prompt me to work very hard to automate my camera tracking and control so I COULD see it myself, so it was good advice in any case.

Yes, the big pano was a lot of work, but I will be excited to see how it comes out if I ever get the courage up enough to print it out. I guess a paper print to asses the overall quality before an expensive metal print would make the most sense, and be much cheaper.

ML

 

[Kyle Jones]

For me one of the fun things is being able to play with the files to get different kinds of results. I took series of shots with exposures from 1/4000s to 1s (I preset my 3 custom functions to each cover a third of the range).

For this one at 3rd contact I didn't include as much corona as I felt the narrower band of light better showed the sun peaking around the moon

I didn't even use the 1s exposure for this one. I only wanted a little earthshine in the moon. Even then, the light bled into the moon and some cloning was necessary to keep things clean

This was kind of a mix between the two

I didn't stick around for the partial eclipse to end, I needed to drive back to California from Oregon that day and didn't want to get stuck in traffic. So my series shot is truncated...

Most of my processing was pretty straightforward - layering the images and using soft circular masks to bring in details. From there is was mostly just adding contrast. Happy to share details.

 

[Tom Narwid]

So lots of images posted of this of course, and nothing compares to having seen this in person, but I thought if only to get a few others to post their versions, I thought I would post 2 images of the eclipse. Lots of stories to tell on that day, but one of the best parts was that I was able to automate my data collection and tracking so that I was able to watch significant portions of the eclipse by eye, and not be fumbling about with the camera trying to see things through the viewfinder or on the back of the camera only.

The totality image is pretty self explanatory, it is a blend of 10 frames shot from 1/4000 up to 1/8th second. Having seen Kyle's excellent effort, I think I could learn a little bit from his techniques to combine the individual frames for best results, but I eventually decided I was finished post processing this one when I got sick of messing with it, and in truth I am not unhappy with the result.

LRCC_Totality_FW_TAP26437_PSCC_HPF

• Mike Lewis
• Jan 2, 2019

Totality, a blend of 10 exposures, 2017-08-21 Eclipse, near Agate Fossil Beds National Monument

The pano combo shot is mostly fun as it is actually huge, being made from my full size 5DSr images. Like most extreme pano images, it does not display well in a venue like this, and it has been resized down to the required 3000 pix long side to fit in the gallery, but the actual image is 24000 x 6000. I hope to get a BIG metal print made of it someday when I become rich The other thing to say about it though is that in order to get the background of the totality image to achieve black (to properly blend in to the black background and match the other images) required me to truncate the coronal details, as can be seen in comparison to the single totality image. If it was not such a complicated edit I would consider this as a let's play entry - perhaps I could use just that single frame with the requirement to see how much detail all the professional image jockeys could get out of the corona while making sure the image faded to black at the borders. But I digress...

LRCC_FW_TotalEclipse_PSCC_Ver15

• Mike Lewis
• Jan 2, 2019

Eclipse Composite of the Great American Eclipse of 2017

In any case, the experience was second to none, and both my wife and I are now dedicated to trying to be present for the April 8th, 2024 eclipse as well!

Hope this at least gets a few others to post there own efforts here in our astro forum.

ML

Great work Mike.

 

[Mike Lewis]

For me one of the fun things is being able to play with the files to get different kinds of results. I took series of shots with exposures from 1/4000s to 1s (I preset my 3 custom functions to each cover a third of the range).

For this one at 3rd contact I didn't include as much corona as I felt the narrower band of light better showed the sun peaking around the moon
View attachment 15325

I didn't even use the 1s exposure for this one. I only wanted a little earthshine in the moon. Even then, the light bled into the moon and some cloning was necessary to keep things clean
View attachment 15324

This was kind of a mix between the two
View attachment 15322

I didn't stick around for the partial eclipse to end, I needed to drive back to California from Oregon that day and didn't want to get stuck in traffic. So my series shot is truncated...
View attachment 15323

Most of my processing was pretty straightforward - layering the images and using soft circular masks to bring in details. From there is was mostly just adding contrast. Happy to share details.

Excellent results Kyle. I would love to chat more at some point about some aspects of the processing, as I am fairly certain that I have enough high quality raw data to do most anything, but struggled a little bit to achieve some of the type of looks I was after, so at least without knowing more I am attributing that to my limited post processing skills in Photoshop, primarily.

If agreeable I will shoot you a PM at some point, which you can then respond to at whatever point you want (given your copious amounts of spare time) - but if I am lucky perhaps before the next eclipse in 2024

In any case, thanks for posting these here - I definitely wanted to get your great work on this into the astro forum (now that we have one.)

ML

 

[Kyle Jones]

Excellent results Kyle. I would love to chat more at some point about some aspects of the processing, as I am fairly certain that I have enough high quality raw data to do most anything, but struggled a little bit to achieve some of the type of looks I was after, so at least without knowing more I am attributing that to my limited post processing skills in Photoshop, primarily.

If agreeable I will shoot you a PM at some point, which you can then respond to at whatever point you want (given your copious amounts of spare time) - but if I am lucky perhaps before the next eclipse in 2024

In any case, thanks for posting these here - I definitely wanted to get your great work on this into the astro forum (now that we have one.)

ML

Thanks Mike. Happy to respond either to PM or in this thread. One of my favorite things about digital is that if you capture good date you can always try new things in processing

 

[Ben Egbert]

Nice work guys. My area only got about 95% or something, maybe less, so I did not invest in a good filter and got a so so set.

 

[Colorado CJ]

Very nice! I went up to Wyoming and camped on a mountain top to watch the eclipse.

It was my first total eclipse I ever saw. The darkening skies had an eerie feel, the wind stoped and all sound seemed to go away. Then when totality hit, MAN I have never experienced anything like it! I can see why ancient people thought eclipses held great portent.

It changed me. I will now travel to any eclipse in the U.S. I can't WAIT for the next one!

Here's a couple I got.

Eclipse 2017 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

2017 Eclipse Super Wide by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

2017 Eclipse 2 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

 

[Colorado CJ]

Here is a previous partial eclipse. It happened while the family and I were out at a local lake fishing and swimming. Partial eclipses are nice, but they don't compare, at all, to a total eclipse.

Eclipse-at-Sunset-v2 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

 

[Kyle Jones]

Very nice! I went up to Wyoming and camped on a mountain top to watch the eclipse.

It was my first total eclipse I ever saw. The darkening skies had an eerie feel, the wind stoped and all sound seemed to go away. Then when totality hit, MAN I have never experienced anything like it! I can see why ancient people thought eclipses held great portent.

It changed me. I will now travel to any eclipse in the U.S. I can't WAIT for the next one!

Here's a couple I got.

Really nice shots - I didn't even try to show the sun in the landscape like your second shot. I don't think I'll ever forget the black hole in the sky.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Here is a previous partial eclipse. It happened while the family and I were out at a local lake fishing and swimming. Partial eclipses are nice, but they don't compare, at all, to a total eclipse.

Eclipse-at-Sunset-v2 by Andrew Marjama, on Flickr

Andrew,

Very nice - the full view with the landscape is very nice indeed. It was my first total eclipse too - and as you say, I can't wait for the next one either!

ML

 

[Mike Lewis]

Thanks Mike. Happy to respond either to PM or in this thread. One of my favorite things about digital is that if you capture good date you can always try new things in processing

Kyle,

Very good. I will get back to you when things around here calm down a little. Would like to exchange notes on post processing, and maybe even pass on some data for you to evaluate if there was a feasible way to do so...

ML

 

[Jim Dockery]

Nice work by everyone. Like Mike I set up my cameras to do time lapses so I was capturing lots of images throughout the eclipse then could make a video. This gave me freedom to watch totality without much camera fussing, which was an emotional experience.

Here is a shot as the partial was beginning in central OR.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Nice work by everyone. Like Mike I set up my cameras to do time lapses so I was capturing lots of images throughout the eclipse then could make a video. This gave me freedom to watch totality without much camera fussing, which was an emotional experience.

Here is a shot as the partial was beginning in central OR.

View attachment 15438

Nice Jim - captures that weird almost watery weak-looking sunlight feeling when the sun starts to get eclipsed. Hard to describe, but something to experience for sure!

ML