I have learned that the last Total solar eclipse in Arizona was in 1806 and the next one will be in 2200 so in order to see a total eclipse in my lifetime I had to travel. For the April 8th 2024 Eclipse my family and my friend Jesse set out to go witness a total solar eclipse. We planned and booked an Air BnB in San Antonio the year prior but you cannot plan perfectly for weather. We thought Texas had a great chance of clear skies but as the date was approaching the chances of us getting clouded out for the eclipse were getting higher and higher
We watched the cloud forecasts in the days leading up to it and found a small clearing of clouds a few hours northwest of San Antonio in Kingsland. We found a park in Kingsland near a Colorado River where my son could swim and we waited for the approaching eclipse. As the eclipse came closer the cloud cover got thicker and we really could only hope for a clearing during totality.
Our luck panned out and we got to witness totality behind some thin clouds! I was astonished with how amazing it looks in person and I think it has converted me into an umbraphile (Eclipse Chaser) and I am already thinking about the next couple ones in 2-4 years from now across the world. I’ve experienced many partial solar eclipses but totality is absolutely next level, if you are anywhere near a totality area definitely make the travel plans.
Totality Photos
Our Setups
My friend Jesse was there for his second totality so he was really prepared with a star tracker and several cameras, he called his main rig “The suncatcher 6000.” He also flew his drone during totality to capture the moons shadow approaching. My setup was relatively simple in comparison, My main camera was a Canon R6 with a rented RF 800mm f/11 and my second was a canon t5i crop camera with a 300mm with home made solar filters. My partial shots unfortunately did not come out, and with the cloud cover I couldn’t create a progression composite, But the few minutes of totality we had I was able to capture a few solid photos!
