Photographing the Solar Eclipse
Although it wasn't going to be a total eclipse in this corner of Scotland, there was going to be something in the region of 90%. And I wanted to have a go at photographing it.
Knowing it can be dodgy to point my camera directly at the sun, I figured I needed an ND filter, which reduces the amount of light entering the lens. My friend, landscape photographer, Allan Wright, came to my rescue and supplied me with a couple.
However, all the weather forecasts were predicting heavy cloud cover for Castle Douglas and it was looking like there wasn't going to be the slightest hope of seeing it.
When I woke up this morning, the sun was streaming through the curtains and I got all excited - the weather forecasts had got it wrong!
Except, that an hour later, thick cloud covered the skies.
I decided to head out into the garden with my camera on a tripod, just in case, with the ND filters attached to the lens. And as I looked up, suddenly I saw it through a patch of thinning cloud.
I took a quick photo, but it was way too dark. With all the cloud cover, there now wasn't enough light hitting the sensor. I had to increase the ISO, open the aperture wide and although I got an image, it wasn't inspiring.
I realised I needed the eclipse to be next to something - to give it some kind of context, so I moved the camera and tripod back towards the house until the chimneys were in the picture. I took a bit more time to play with the settings and as the clouds moved across the scene - sometimes blocking it completely, but sometimes allowing it to show through - I felt I was on to something
But then I noticed a couple of crows periodically flying onto the chimneys and spent the next 10 minutes frantically clicking, while they mostly moved behind the stacks and flew off moments before I took the shot.
However, in among the 107 photos I took this morning, there are a couple I am really pleased with.
Which is just as well, because apparenly I'll be 124 years old before I'll get another chance to try again in Scotland...
Knowing it can be dodgy to point my camera directly at the sun, I figured I needed an ND filter, which reduces the amount of light entering the lens. My friend, landscape photographer, Allan Wright, came to my rescue and supplied me with a couple.
However, all the weather forecasts were predicting heavy cloud cover for Castle Douglas and it was looking like there wasn't going to be the slightest hope of seeing it.
When I woke up this morning, the sun was streaming through the curtains and I got all excited - the weather forecasts had got it wrong!
Except, that an hour later, thick cloud covered the skies.
I decided to head out into the garden with my camera on a tripod, just in case, with the ND filters attached to the lens. And as I looked up, suddenly I saw it through a patch of thinning cloud.
I took a quick photo, but it was way too dark. With all the cloud cover, there now wasn't enough light hitting the sensor. I had to increase the ISO, open the aperture wide and although I got an image, it wasn't inspiring.
I realised I needed the eclipse to be next to something - to give it some kind of context, so I moved the camera and tripod back towards the house until the chimneys were in the picture. I took a bit more time to play with the settings and as the clouds moved across the scene - sometimes blocking it completely, but sometimes allowing it to show through - I felt I was on to something
But then I noticed a couple of crows periodically flying onto the chimneys and spent the next 10 minutes frantically clicking, while they mostly moved behind the stacks and flew off moments before I took the shot.
However, in among the 107 photos I took this morning, there are a couple I am really pleased with.
Which is just as well, because apparenly I'll be 124 years old before I'll get another chance to try again in Scotland...
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