Eclipse 2017

Like many people, I was bitten by Eclipse mania - I couldn't wait to peer up at the sky (through my safety glasses of course!) and see the moon cover the sun. Unfortunately, my work schedule meant I wouldn't be able to travel to an area that was part of the path of totality, and Washington, DC was only going to get about 85% obscuration. Despite the fact that this wasn't going to be the tremendous eclipse show that so much of the country would enjoy, I was determined to make the best of it and spent weeks planning my shot.

I will do a blog post in the coming days sharing how I took this image, because it is (obviously) a composite of several images. The sky never naturally looked like the image below, but every element in the photograph is genuine! 

As it would happen, planning in photography pays off, because I got a shot very close to the one I had visualized before setting out for the day. 

The sun images were captured with the Leica SL and a 400mm f/2.8 lens with 2x teleconverter (rendering an 800mm equivalent lens). I used a homemade filter to protect the lens and camera from the sun's harmful rays. The photograph of the Jefferson Memorial was made with my Leica SL and Leica 24-90mm lens with several neutral density filters and a polarizer mounted.

Come back soon to see the 'behind-the-scenes' for how this photograph was made. I hope you enjoy the finished product as much as I enjoyed taking it!

You can purchase a copy of this photograph for your home and have it delivered framed and ready to hang!