I was invited last minute to see the eclipse in Oregon.

I didn't expect it to be so dark. It was 10:16 A.M! I've seen photos of other eclipses. It doesn't prepare you for it actually getting dark. Night fell for a few moments that morning. Venus and a few stars appeared. I could see the pink of the Solar Flares and the glow of the Corona. I was stunned. The photo was taken. I glanced at it. It seemed reasonable from a distance. I let go of the camera. It swung on it's tether. My goal was to observe. To stay in the moment.

That's my excuse for the focus being wrong. I've learned to make sure to be present even when "being the photographer." I've missed too many life events being "stuck in the camera." Learned my lesson years ago. It wasn't going to happen this time. I stood and stared.

I managed to convince my camera to take some shots through the eclipse glasses leading up to the main event.

Near

Look at the sun! It's going away behind the moon! Haha! Bye bye Sun! Nice job Moon!

Nearer

Oh... This is really happening. Everything felt wrong. The light was off. 15,000K light color temperature. But so dim? This is why those blue-white LED bulbs look so terrible. It's not natural. The light is all wrong. Was I on a different planet? I announced to the my friends "Look at this light! This is the closest you'll ever be to another planet with a different sun." I thought of ancient cultures. No science to light their way. It must have been terrifying.

Gone

The rest of the sky: The blues, greens, yellows, oranges, and reds.

Dusk? A bit early today for that.

And Back Again

Everyone cheered when the sun peeked out. A chant of "One more time! One more time!" broke out across the crowd, but there was no encore. The whole experience was amazing.

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