Annular Solar Eclipse 2012
My best photo of the ring of fire from the solar eclipse 7:33pm MDT
On May 20, 2012 at approx 6:22pm MDT, the annular solar eclipse started.
Our spot on top of Brian Head ski resort 6:23pm MDT
My wife and I drove down to southern Utah as we had read it was a “sweet spot” for seeing the complete ring of fire. We arrived at the top of Brian Head ski resort (which is 14 miles outside Parowan, UT) with a good 15 mins before the start of the eclipse.
Got my sun shades on 6:26pm MDT
As most people know, you should NEVER look directly at the sun. They make protective shades that allow you to look at the sun, which we had pre-purchased a few days before. I used these same shades with my Canon point and shoot camera to take the photos of the eclipse happening.
Eclipse under way 6:58pm MDT
Most of the pictures I took were blurring, due to how I was positioning myself and the camera to try and get the best shots of the eclipse happening.
I used my Canon SD 780 in program mode with the sunset setting and the zoom set to 9.4 times. Any camera movement at this zoom level produces blurred photos in darkened conditions, which the camera thought it was since the lens was covered by the protective shades each time I took the picture.
View from behind the ear 7:16pm MDT
With a good 40 mins still left to the eclipse, this was my view (minus the protective shades on my eyes, not the camera for this shot) of this awesome event.
The second half of the eclipse 7:38pm MDT
And as the second half of the eclipse was underway, I got one of my last photos – a bit blurry, but it shows how the moon was moving across the view of the sun.
The next eclipse is a total block out in August 2017 and slated to be seen on the east coast. I’m sure as that time gets closer, they will know exact date and locations to see the full effect.
Who else saw the eclipse? How was the view from your location?
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I didn’t see it, but I am loving all the pictures. I love your first shot!
Thanks. It was a good experience.
I am so happy you saw it and shared your awesome pics! We were bummed it was not in our region!
You are most welcome. And yes, very happy I was able to see this. Hoping a future eclipse will be seen your way.
Of course it was cloudy so I saw no solar eclipse. But the pictures look cool!
Yeah, Salt Lake was cloudy, which I kind of thought would hinder the viewing of it.
We didn’t get it over here. Boo. Did it get darkish?
The 2017 total eclipse is supposed to be viewable on the east coast.
I’m so jealous that we couldn’t see that in Illinois. Couldn’t see the Supermoon either due to weather. Lunar spectacles suck.
Yes, they do suck for those that can’t see them. I missed the supermoon here.
As usual we had cloud cover and didn’t see a thing so thanks for posting this – it’s incredible!
As Sarah posted above (she lives near Portland) you had the same cloud cover hinderance.