ring of fire
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.

view from Brian Head mountain
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.

marty
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.

moon crest
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.

ear view
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.

crescent sun
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?