Solar Eclipse
with a wee nod to Batman
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This was always going to be a tricky one this solar eclipse, happening smack in the middle of the festivals, but also because of its height, temptingly low at 14 degrees, but not quite low enough to frame easily with a city object or building.
The last time we had one of similar magnitude in 2015 I’d persuaded my pal “Wee Jamie” to jump around on top of Salisbury Crags as seen above. Turns out not much changed for this one.
I’d done my research. Overdone my planning if I’m honest, with lots of options for different collaborations and people, and certain buildings, but the last few days I did a visit every evening at the 7.05 max eclipse time just to see exactly how it all lined up for the 2 or 3 minutes of golden opportunity.
Calton Hill was going to be absolutely hoachin so I ultimately opted for people instead of objects and off we trekked up Salisbury Crags - again.
The sun did disappear behind a massive cloud and many people got distracted enough to miss the sun doing peekaboo through the clouds every now and then. The one above was pretty close to the maximum of 91%. Notice the dude with the box, which is a homemade device to view the sun without looking at it. See on the left our wee band of three getting Wee Jamie (the latest model) ready for his moment of Batman fame. Brodie is on the phone to us at the bottom while Nomi helps Jamie with his outfit.
As we get Jamie lined up the sun makes another peekaboo and the folk down the hill realise they are in the presence of a superhero. I think I need to do a few repairs on that outfit, it’s gettin’ a bit raggedy.
Another near-miss here, but the conditions are about as hard as you can get. As well as the cumulus clouds getting in the way in the lower half of the sky, there was a whole blanket of cirrus clouds which you could see through, BUT they also lit up easily with the sun’s light and so distorted the shape of the sun and moon by being highlighted themselves.
Eventually, but too late for the maximum eclipse, we managed to sneak some shots of Batman.
We salvaged something from a difficult scenario, and learned that when it comes to eclipses we need a Jamie and we need Salisbury Crags. I’ll keep that in mind for 2050.
Maybe see you out there.
Cheers
TD
Worth the effort! Well done!
Oooooo, very neat! Drat the clouds but they actually add in some drama, I think. Very cool Batman shots!