Of course, I wanted to “shoot the moon” as it passed in front of Ole’ Sol. It happens that the Lodge at Onawa Lake is smack-dab in the middle of totality as the eclipse moves northeast from Mexico and up to Maine. But would it be worth it to travel 2,000 miles for a lousy photo like everyone else’s, risking cloudy weather and the good chance of if not snow then knee-deep mud? No.

But wait, the Lodge needs new flooring in the kitchen and if we don’t get it scheduled now, the vendors will get busy with summertime work and we’ll be left with nothing. And while we’re at it, we want to redo the downstairs bathroom so our guests can visit us without roughing it on our 50-year-old golden throne and tub. Plus, Anna Rolande Hempstead and Oliver Hempstead are getting baptized the Sunday before the eclipse so we can add that to the list. And we haven’t seen the fam in three months . . .  You get the drift . . . Rationalization complete, tickets booked and off we go, leaving Friday AM and returning Wednesday PM. One more “meant to be” factor: Rebecca, Esme and Griffin are coming Wednesday to visit us in Florida, so we booked the same flight. 

Getting to Onawa Monday morning, the day of the eclipse,  was a breeze – clear skies and dry pavement all the way. Even the Onawa Road was passable without too much difficulty. We were ahead of the crowd so the traffic wasn’t bad. Half of the Northeast was in Maine, it seems. We had to walk down through some snow and mud, but nothing too serious. We opened the Lodge, turned on the heaters and the cell repeater for Internet and phone access and prepared for the big event.

The eclipse was scheduled to start at 2:19 PM, go total for 1 minute 44 seconds from 3:31 to 3:32, and complete at 4:40 PM. I had about 3 hours to get my act together. The first question: where to set up for clear viewing. Thankfully, the skies were absolutely clear with temperature in the mid 50s. Perfect weather, despite a strong breeze  from the northwest across the still frozen lake.

It was important to me to do the shoot from our shore of Onawa Lake, not some parking lot or baseball field. But our view to the south is obscured by a hill that leads up to the railroad tracks and some pretty serious pine and deciduous trees. I did some research and learned that the sun would be at an azimuth of 238 degrees, roughly southwest, and an elevation of 37 degrees. My bet was that “Cannon Rock” in front of Spring Side Lodge (the Hemman/Kennedy building) might work. And sure enough, it sufficed. There were a few branches at the beginning and toward the end. If anything, I rationalized, they will add a bit of character to the otherwise stark black-and-white images.

I started shooting at the appointed moment and took pictures every 5 to 10 minutes throughout the period. You can see the results in the images presented below. (300 mm lens on a Fuji XT-2 camera, 1/250th exposure at f5.6 with an 8.5 stop neutral density solar filter).

The “money shot” for an eclipse is totality, the brief moment when the moon completely blots out the sun. And I was, thank goodness, successful, as you can see in the images. The white fuzz surrounding the moon is the sun’s corona. The red spikes are called solar prominences. I understand that we were lucky to have them for the eclipse; they don’t happen all the time. They are loops of solar plasma that can extend out as much as 93,000 miles from the sun’s surface.

I’ve included pictures of Onawa, mostly for those who’ve been there. You can see what springtime at Onawa is like. We’re told that they had three snowstorms of 27, 24 and 8 inches in the last 10 days or so. Rain and warm temps have melted most of it. 

Judy has put together a video that documents the Onawa Lake environment while I took the pictures and how quickly the sky became almost completely dark during the total eclipse. Here’s the link:

https://judyrick.zenfolio.com/p308488979/hf1f94285#hf1f94285

Bottom line: mission accomplished. We got our plumbing and flooring folks in motion for late May work, we had four nice meals with family and friends, enjoyed the baptisms and now we’re looking forward to fun in Florida with Rebecca and the kids this week. Jeff and Carter come to us at the end of April. 

Life is good!

Click on the first picture for a slide show.