August 2017 solar eclipse preparation

Yes, the top link, but the bottom one is interesting also.

Get ready for the H Y P E.

We still have not heard from the alien conspiracists or doomsday peeps. The Rigelians, or maybe the Pleaidians, will destroy us all! Stay inside! watch it on NEWS4, Your Eclipse Central! Do not go outside until we tell you it is safe! Let Us Watch It For You!

Actually, I think the Idaho/Tetons disaster declaration is so over the top. People are going to be there for maybe a day or two, there is NO Disaster. The path is miles and miles wide and crosses a continent, and it ARMED with a shadow. How scary is that.

Gives new meaning to being afraid of your own shadow. People are gonna watch then leave departing in every direction. They are not escaping something. They are not starving or lacking clean water. They are going home. OMG. If that's what happens in Idaho, will Nashville be burned to the ground by starving hordes? Idaho should get ready for a traffic jam... maybe. Get some First Responders out there to direct traffic and they will be ready when astronomers and photographers fight it out for space on the scenic byways of the Famous Potatoes state. Probably not, you think? Geez, but that's a good reason to avoid the herd mentality and the Official Wisdom that accompanies it.

Coming from a hurricane prone state, a survivor of Katrina, this type of hyperbole is all too common. Disaster around every corner. There are going to be some traffic jams, as well as people picnicking with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, kids running around. There is NO disaster, unless for Idaho's Finest a traffic snarl for a couple of hours is a disaster. Preparation for lots of people and traffic is appropriate, but will it really be that much worse than July 4th or Labor Day or Memorial Day?

Sorry for the rant, but it often seems these sky is falling people do so to justify their budgets and their existence.

Back to the original topic, the eclipse, it is a sense that the sky is falling as the shadow descends, I forgot to mention that earlier.

My plan for northern KS as ground zero, with western driving into NE

Rod, I too am looking at Ne and Ks and Mo, maybe as far west as the National Homestead Park in SE Ne.

bit of a reprieve, in most places along the path the sun is a bit over 60 degrees from the horizon. That really does help with the ergos

OK, thanks all for a VERY enlightening thread. Between this discussion, Mr. Eclipse's website, and some other threads here and there, I've got a pretty good picture of what to expect and how to go about managing shooting the eclipse. Now it comes down to pulling the trigger on a lens, and I'm completely in Waffle Mode :confused:. So, a last minute straw poll before I pull the trigger (sometime this weekend to allow for shipping, setup and practice time):

 

1) That silly little 500mm mirror lens

2) A Sigma 400/5.6 APO mf , prob. with a 1.4x converter

3) A Nikon 80-400/4.5-5.6, and crop

 

Option 1's just listed for completeness' sake; far as I can tell the cheap reflex lenses have too much sample variation to risk getting a dud. The 80-400'd be the most useful *after* the eclipse, for concerts and airshows where my 18-200 daily-driver doesn't have quite enough reach. But the Sigma and a converter would get me to 500+mm, and the D7000 has plenty of low-light capability that I'm not too worried about losing the extra F-stop to the converter, and it'd be quite a bit less expensive. :) Any last minute thoughts?

I would opt for the sigma with the converter, assuming IQ is equivalent to Nikon??? 400 x 1.4 = 700, is that the way it works? and the 5.6 would then be ~~f8?

That would give you a focal length of 700mm, and to my view i think that is pretty close/ideal considering alignment ease and field of view. But, the Nikon does that too, right?

With careful focusing, and remember the shadow/moon is about 93 million miles closer than the bright bits so focus can be different, and a stable mount you should get some very memorable images. The Nikon, do you own it already(?), with a converter might be more salable/useful after--and there may be some really good deals on long lenses afterward! I would at least put into the equation costs of each setup, forgetting the 500 mirror because of sample variability.

If you've already reviewed the IQ of the Sigma and the Nikon zoom, and are comfy with it, look at costs. 700mm is 700mm so it would come down to, in my mind:

do you want to keep it after

will you sell it after?

what is out of pocket $$ ?

IQ

(not in that order)

 

don't worry about low light capability...does not come into play, at least not significantly

 

just my 2 cents

I may have missed it in this long thread but is there a detailed map showing the smaller county roads that are in the path of totality? I envision a cloudy day and trying to figure out where to drive to avoid big traffic jams by finding small roads that cross the path of the moon.

I may have missed it in this long thread but is there a detailed map showing the smaller county roads that are in the path of totality? I envision a cloudy day and trying to figure out where to drive to avoid big traffic jams by finding small roads that cross the path of the moon.

 

Total Solar Eclipse 2017 - Interactive Google Map

 

It's an overlay onto Google Maps. Zoom in right down to street level to your hearts content. Pretty handy! :D

Well, the decision was taken out of my hands (someone else bought the Nikon 80-400 :) ) so I pulled the trigger on the Sigma 400 APO. It'll get here next Friday. Now to scare up a 2x teleconverter, and download some camera control packages to try out on the D7000. The solar film came yesterday so I can start work on the solar filter for the lens soon as it gets here. My wife did some research and found a park called "The Dike" along one edge of the Clemson campus, which looks like an ideal place to set up. Two weeks and counting! :D

is there a detailed map showing the smaller county roads that are in the path of totality?

here ya go, complete with traffic. Kudos to the OP

 

USA - 2017 August 21 Total Solar Eclipse - Interactive Google Map - Xavier Jubier

bhm and john, Thanks much! That is exactly what I was looking for!

I took an old road atlas and drew eclipse lines (using the online maps that show less detail) on each state map (Idaho to Tennessee) that I might use. That atlas will go with me when I leave. Right now, I have planned and practiced enough and gathered the right equipment to feel confident I can enjoy the viewing and also get some decent images. I have chosen a remote Nebraska location that should be a good place for viewing and imaging. I MIGHT tell you that location if you email me and promise not to spread it around. :-) But my biggest anxiety is still finding out a couple days before the eclipse that a big swath of the Midwest is likely to be overcast or whatever. Then I'll have to do a last minute Plan B scramble to drive several hundred miles, camp out, whatever. I have worked so hard on this that at age 66 I am just not willing to be unsuccessful and will do just about anything to avoid it.

In response to Sandy Vongries's suggestion re: the eclipse postage stamp, can someone else confirm that the times on the backing sheet are off?

In response to Sandy Vongries's suggestion re: the eclipse postage stamp, can someone else confirm that the times on the backing sheet are off?

And the Post Office is how far in debt? The Postmaster hadn't even been told what the stamp did. If I recall correctly there are excellent links above. ;)

Just checked the mreclipse.com site and it looks like the times on the stamp backing are correct.

I took an old road atlas and drew eclipse lines (using the online maps that show less detail) on each state map (Idaho to Tennessee) that I might use. That atlas will go with me when I leave. Right now, I have planned and practiced enough and gathered the right equipment to feel confident I can enjoy the viewing and also get some decent images. I have chosen a remote Nebraska location that should be a good place for viewing and imaging. I MIGHT tell you that location if you email me and promise not to spread it around. :) But my biggest anxiety is still finding out a couple days before the eclipse that a big swath of the Midwest is likely to be overcast or whatever. Then I'll have to do a last minute Plan B scramble to drive several hundred miles, camp out, whatever. I have worked so hard on this that at age 66 I am just not willing to be unsuccessful and will do just about anything to avoid it.

 

Are there any on-line sites that show cloud cover for the day in question, or even better, projected cloud cover for the day after?

U.S. Weather

The above link is probably the best I've found for cloud cover forecasts and it looks fairly promising for the Nebraska area I'm planning on next Monday.

I would think the accuracy will be markedly better starting about Friday.

If you want a good chuckle (which could become a lot less funny if you have to reserve someplace) check out airbnb.com anywhere along the total eclipse line. Opportunism at its best. I saw one listing that shows a blue tarp tied between trees over some unmowed grass, advertised as an "entire tent with one bedroom." $175 per night.

ARGH! I'm rapidly approaching my wit's end. I'm trying to figure out how the blazes to automate shooting a range of shutter speeds with a tethering app on my Linux laptop. I've tried Darktable and Entangle. From stuff I've seen on various online forums both apps ought to be able to do this, but I can't for the life of me figure out how in either, nor can I find any useful information online on how to do it in either. I'd really rather not have to point and click my way down the shutter speed menu and spend the entire totality diddling with a keyboard. :(

 

Anyone familiar with either of these apps, or could suggest another? I'd even take a skeleton of a shell script I could use against gphoto2 at this point.

I have photographed Solar Eclipse on a cruise in South Pacific in 2012. There are 2 important setting. bright sun with solar filter and totality without filter. As far as solar filter photography it is easy because you have time and are able to practice days before. With totality you have one chance in lifetime lasting 2 minutes.I was using Nikon D7000 with 18-200mm lens,.Solid tripod, cable release, single point auto focus. I have pre-set U1 and U2 for totality. All my images were sharp and my best image of Diamond ring was in landscape mode. Most people I spoke to have photos out of focus because of the decision to use manual focus. Don't do it. .

Because solar eclipse is so rare most photographers would have never had opportunity to photograph it. Even Astronomer who was holding a lecture on the solar eclipse cruise has never seen one..I managed to take about 200 photos,and all were keepers. For Diamond ring only 7 photos were taken and in totality 48 photos.

Camera sensor will not be damaged if you use solar filter but shade the camera between shots. Solar filter has to be removed quickly to photograph diamond ring and totality or you will miss it. Best would be to use crop sensor camera. Most important is to use in camera focus.I used D7000 with 18-200. I preset U1 for totality but was overexposed so I used auto.instead and it worked OK

Attached are few photos with camera setting.

Few more images

News from the eclipse center line in Jackson Hole ... according to the Idaho Falls news, all campsites in the region are full, the highway authorities have no idea how much traffic will occur on Sunday and Monday, and the local porta-potty company has brought in additional units to handle the load. (Kenny, are you here?). The airport is full and will turn away aircraft without reserved tie downs, but has tankers of extra fuel on hand to get departing aircraft out of here. First responders have bikes available if traffic is gridlocked.

 

Went shopping Wednesday and the scene at the store was reminiscent of DC suburbs under a blizzard warning - crowded to the point you couldn't push a cart around and fresh produce shelves stripped bare. Store employees said that re-supply trucks would not come up if the roads were congested to the point of spoiling the perishables in the heat due to traffic stops (that includes beer and wine so it was a major concern ;-). Traffic yesterday was OK but construction on Rt. 89 to the south and a 4-car crash closing Teton pass kept the gridlock at bay. Stores are now re-stocked and refrigerated trailers are parked in the lots, so I guess we'll survive the apoc-eclipse.

 

No signs yet of Rigelian or Pleaidian invasions. We just call them tourists here. I guess we'll survive as usual.

 

(If you're in the Hole and need solar filter film, I have some extra Thousand Oaks film available in exchange for a donation to wyomingstargazers.org).

I only want to wish the best of luck to all of you who will be on the road, or in your own back yard for eclipse day. I'm content to stay home with approx 75-80% coverage. I look forward to seeing the images you folks are able to get as well as hear the great stories from the adventures. Good photo hunting to all.

In the 95% coverage Seattle area, the Trees provided a nice pinhole camera effect on the parking lot, showing the crescent sun:

 

#1

 

#2:

 

Field expedient (I did make a camera obscura) but this was fun.

Only a partial eclipse at my latitude. 200mm lens + 1.4 teleconverter. Plus several ND filters.

Here is the picture I took today in Houston, TX before the max eclipse occurred.

Shooting data: D 500, 300mm f4 E VR lens, cropped. White Balance cloudy. RAW, ISO 100, f 6.3 1/125, Live View used. Hand held. Processed with minimal changes in Nikon software. Solar filter was a 6 in made by Celestron which was taped to the front of the lens hood.

 

Edited August 22, 2017 by joseph_smith|3