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The Annular Solar Eclipse of 2021 was only visible for the lucky few who could find a great view of the horizon in lower Canada and beyond. For those of us on the east coast of the United States, we were positioned to view a partial solar eclipse. Those who could be on the “centerline” would be treated to a rare “bulls horns” eclipse in which the Sun rises as the moon is positioned such that the Sun sticks out evenly on either side resembles bulls horns. Or devils horns, if you wish. My planned destination, Sea Isle City, New Jersey, USA, was just a bit south of the line of maximum partial eclipse.
Sea Isle City has always been one of my favorite places on planet earth. It was only fitting to plan to be there to photograph the eclipse. It would be a partial solar eclipse with an obscuration of the Sun of about 72%. Indeed on eclipse morning the sunrise was much dimmer compared to the day before. On that day, I awoke to do equipment setup, testing, and positioning for the next day - eclipse day. Waking at 4:15 am is not exactly something I do often. But there’s never a shortage of energy that early when anticipating one of natures “unnatural” cosmic events that really alters a persons thought process. It’s not normal- this blocking out the Sun thing.
Weather is a defining factor and so after checking the forcast every 5 minutes for days, I finally hit my head to the pillow on June 9th. Skies were forecast to be mostly cloudy with a small chance of rain. A cold front was sagging down from the north which made for stress. Upon waking, and walking out the front door, I was greeted to mostly clear skies overhead at about 4:45 am! Alas once I got to my photo location there was a nice deck of clouds sitting out at sea to the northeast. This would be an issue.
My setup location was on 46th Street, right at the beach entrance to the beach among the protected dunes. I was at a high point with a clear view of the oceanic horizon. On eclipse morning, I was the only one within long eyesight to have a photography setup. A few people were on the beach ready to view. My BIGGEST issue was the tiny, almost invisible, biting gnats that are common there in the early morning. I sprayed so much deet on myself that everything started getting sticky!! And they were still biting!! (what we do to view an eclipse…)
With a low cloud deck obscuring, 5:32 am arrived with no Sun. But HEY! A couple minutes later I saw a little bit of brightness above those clouds and noticed on my camera screen the eclipsed Sun!! I started snapping away! There was a person (a woman?) sitting within my field of view. There was grass. Reflecting ocean. There were seagulls. Unexpected things that enhanced my photos without my planning. I was overcome with joy as I was able to make out the eclipse behind the clouds. The Sun waved and poked thru, like it was trying to hide, but just gave me enough of a view to see what was going on. Enough to get a few shots with my trusty Canon EOS T7 DSLR camera.
As the eclipse progressed I continued to shoot whenever I had a view of the Sun. I adjusted my ISO settings and shutter speeds to get the best combination of brightness, color, and FEEL to the photos.
Enjoy the photos!
Facts for this eclipse: C1=4:37am. C4=6:28am. Sunrise at Sea Isle City: 5:33am local time. Max eclipse: 5:35am with 70% obscuration. 50% obscuration: 5:50am. Last “sliver” of obscuration: approximately 6:25am. Next solar eclipse in the USA: Annular on October 14, 2023 (two and half years!) Number of TSE’s over the next 5 years: Three.
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