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It's really not that rare. This will be the third one since 2015. Eclipses happen all over the world, not only over the USA.
That's what puzzle me. I guess it's just the media in the U.S., but this particular eclipse seems way over-hyped. I saw that someone began selling those cardboard sunglasses online for $999 a set when the original stock ran out.

https://www.amazon.com/forum/-/Tx2O8DXKWS6LKOM/ref=ask_dp_dpmw_al_hza?asin=B073X5TWQ6

I've seen a half-dozen or more eclipses, total and partial. This one just seems like an excuse to make money.
 
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That's what puzzle me. I guess it's just the media in the U.S., but this particular eclipse seems way over-hyped. I saw that someone began selling those cardboard sunglasses online for $999 a set when the original stock ran out.

https://www.amazon.com/forum/-/Tx2O8DXKWS6LKOM/ref=ask_dp_dpmw_al_hza?asin=B073X5TWQ6

I've seen a half-dozen or more eclipses, total and partial. This one just seems like an excuse to make money.

It's unlikely you've seen more than one total eclipse unless you've intentionally traveled to go see them.
 
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That's what puzzle me. I guess it's just the media in the U.S., but this particular eclipse seems way over-hyped. I saw that someone began selling those cardboard sunglasses online for $999 a set when the original stock ran out.

https://www.amazon.com/forum/-/Tx2O8DXKWS6LKOM/ref=ask_dp_dpmw_al_hza?asin=B073X5TWQ6

I've seen a half-dozen or more eclipses, total and partial. This one just seems like an excuse to make money.
I've seen one partial solar eclipse, in 1984. This will be my first total solar eclipse.

It's easy to be blasé about eclipses if half a dozen or more crossed positions where you just happened to be. If you traveled to see any of them, then there was a past you that wasn't yet jaded. And if you flew your Lear Jet up to Nova Scotia, we know what that means.

This eclipse crosses the continental United States, putting it in driving distance of large numbers of people. Millions of US residents don't even have to leave home. The opportunities to gouge are limited.

Hotels in the path are fully booked, but there are a lot of hotels so they couldn't jack their rates up too much. I waited until relatively late to book (less than six months) and only paid $100 for the night. If you can't get protective glasses you can always poke a pinhole in a piece of cardboard.
 
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I experienced the total eclipse in the UK in August 1999 and it's totally surreal. You feel the temperature drop, birds stop tweeting and this black shadow just creeps towards you from the distance. Then it passes by a minute or so later and the birds start again and the temperature comes back up. It really is a freaky experience.
 
I heard the weather is going to be bad there for Monday, but I hope it's good enough to see it. It's pretty awesome to see it in person.

Yeah last night it became clear that the whole south-eastern portion of SC would likely be under cloud cover. We got up at 6am to beat possible traffic and are currently on our way up to the Greenville/Anderson area where there should be fairly clear skies.
 
Yeah last night it became clear that the whole south-eastern portion of SC would likely be under cloud cover. We got up at 6am to beat possible traffic and are currently on our way up to the Greenville/Anderson area where there should be fairly clear skies.
Huge cloud and storm blowing in where I am. :( I won't be able to see the eclipse itself despite it being right over my head but I guess I'll get to see everything go dark.

Traffic to get here Saturday was horrible.
 
I've never photographed an eclipse before—I'm doing some test runs this weekend—so hopefully I don't screw it up! And hopefully the weather holds out. I'll be posting photos here, for those who are interested:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aacduke
Instagram: https://instagram.com/duke.photos

I'm using my old 7D so I can get some more reach with my 400mm lens. Hope the image quality will be good enough. I'm in the process of switching to Sony mirrorless but don't have all the parts I need yet, and my 5D MkIII at work doesn't have the crop factor to get a tight shot of the corona.


The last time a total solar eclipse crossed the entire continental United States was in 1918. That's fairly rare. Furthermore, the mean frequency of a total eclipse occurring at any given location on the Earth's surface is roughly 1 in every 375 years. So it's pretty rare!

Furthermore, many people can't afford to travel the world to chase eclipses. Many of us have seen a regular partial eclipse, but a total one where the corona shines bright with the stars and inner planets visible? Rare! It's going to be amazing! That being said, we're lucky to have another one happening in April 2024, and both cross through my state. The one on Monday goes directly over my house. I am within seconds of maximum totality. We have friends and family coming in from across the country! I'm super hyped and have my camera gear ready.

Again, feel free to check out my social media for photos! I don't ever promote myself but people might like to see some of the shots.
You must be getting lots of hits on your links. The pics were loading slow for me so I had to quit for now. Or it could be slow wifi where I'm at. What I saw of your pictures was impressive.
 
Just wanted to update! As I said earlier, I live in the path of totality. Had some thin clouds overhead which kept the photos looking a little soft, and then during totality a big one moved through which was a bummer. As it moved away it went diamond but I panicked and only got a semi-ok shot of it. Learned A LOT of lessons for the 2024 one. Can't wait!

I've got my three best shots posted:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aacduke
Instagram: https://instagram.com/duke.photos

Here's one:

IMG_4579.jpg

[doublepost=1503349507][/doublepost]
You must be getting lots of hits on your links. The pics were loading slow for me so I had to quit for now. Or it could be slow wifi where I'm at. What I saw of your pictures was impressive.
Thanks! I just put one on here. Were you able to see it? Clouds here were super sketchy but it barely worked!
 
The trip up to Greenville was worth it. Watching it happen in person was a bit surreal. Got engaged to my girlfriend at the beginning of the first partial phase as well.
 
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The trip up to Greenville was worth it. Watching it happen in person was a bit surreal. Got engaged to my girlfriend at the beginning of the first partial phase as well.
Congratulations! Wow! Best wishes to you both. :D
[doublepost=1503352886][/doublepost]
Just wanted to update! As I said earlier, I live in the path of totality. Had some thin clouds overhead which kept the photos looking a little soft, and then during totality a big one moved through which was a bummer. As it moved away it went diamond but I panicked and only got a semi-ok shot of it. Learned A LOT of lessons for the 2024 one. Can't wait!

I've got my three best shots posted:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aacduke
Instagram: https://instagram.com/duke.photos

Here's one:

View attachment 713783
[doublepost=1503349507][/doublepost]
Thanks! I just put one on here. Were you able to see it? Clouds here were super sketchy but it barely worked!
All I saw were clouds and we were supposed to have 99.5% totality here but it didn't get anywhere near as dark as I saw other locations get. It looked like it was just about a little after sunset. We had a huge cloud roll in and linger. I'm at the beach. It was all cool nonetheless.

This is going to sound weird but I felt it more than saw it. I felt like there was something looming over me, like somebody tall standing behind me about to stick a hat on me or something. :eek::p I kept hunching over and looking back over my shoulder.
 
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The trip up to Greenville was worth it. Watching it happen in person was a bit surreal. Got engaged to my girlfriend at the beginning of the first partial phase as well.
Hah! My wife's best friend and that girl's boyfriend came to visit so I helped him coordinate recording it about an hour before totality. Cammed it with two Sony RX100s, an iPhone 7 and Galaxy S8. She didn't get tipped off because I was already planning to do reaction videos and he's a photo nut too. I shot stills using his Pentax dSLR, which I've never used before, because my dSLR was still mounted with solar filters and my big lens. This was directly after totality. Most stressed out I've ever been as a photographer! But she said yes.
 
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