Prominences at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by Dennisheckman:
Very very excellent Richard! Congrats on taking the win in this very technical challenge. Your image is top notch professional quality.

Prominences at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by IreneM:
So glad this won, it's stunning. Congrats, Richard.

The Sun's Corona at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by Lustre:
Is that a hot pixel in the lower left? I would have cloned it out - yes, it's tiny but it grabbed my eye and keeps doing so.

Prominences at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by DCrest01:
Congrats on the blue Richard! Excellent!

Prominences at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by vawendy:
Huge congrats, Richard! Your practice paid off!! I went with the autofocus as well, but mine were more fuzzy.

It really was an emotional experience, wasn't it!?

Prominences at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by P-A-U-L:
Superbly captured. Congrats

Prominences at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by kirbic:
Congrats on the blue Richard! Wonderful presentation of the prominences. Minimalist and beautiful!

Prominences at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by hahn23:

Originally posted by NiallOTuama: Super capture. I'm a big sucker for astronomical photography. And this is top notch. So many features of the event are so clear here. How much time did you have to take this image? It can't have been long. How did you prepare the settings for it?

I had 2 minutes 20 seconds of totality at Shoshoni, WY. (4850' above sea level with clean, dry air really helped.) I was mounted on a tripod with shutter release cable. I didn't need a solar filter during totality. My Canon 5DMarkIV was set to take seven bracketed shots over 12 stops of light. That range and number of image captures provided just the right exposure several times. I did not have an equatorial mount, so I re-positioned and re-focused the camera for each set of images. I captured 70 images during totality plus a few seconds before (Baily's Beads) through a few seconds after (the diamond ring). I stopped down to f/6.3 to improve DOF and sharpness. My ISO was set to native 100, which gave me pretty much noise-free images. I was using evaluative metering. My focus was set to AF. I had 5 focus points activated and offset to the side slightly so I could focus on the high contrast area between the moon's edge and the sun's corona. I did look through the viewfinder to set focus on each set of bracketed images. Using "live view" was an option, but in the heat of the moment, I went with the viewfinder acquisition of focus.

The eclipse tutorials from Canon and B&H Photo were the most helpful. I thought I was prepared, but was totally shocked to be able to discern the prominences and the corona. It was an inspirational, thrilling and spiritual experience. I could not speak for an hour afterwards because I was so emotional. Now that I've seen a total solar eclipse, I long to see another. The prospect of the next in 2024 has given me incentive to try to live that long.

Prominences at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by NiallOTuama:
Super capture. I'm a big sucker for astronomical photography. And this is top notch. So many features of the event are so clear here. How much time did you have to take this image? It can't have been long. How did you prepare the settings for it?

Prominences at Totality
by hahn23

Comment by twmax:
All I can say is "WOW." I would kill for a photo scoring over 7, but this deserved higher, in my opinion.