The mood was surreal and profound- it was cold all of a sudden, and dark, it felt like 10pm, even though it was 3-something in the afternoon. The horizon(s) glowed as if it was the last glimmer of evening light, and there we were, some newfound friends and I taking in a total solar eclipse. I knew the avid amateur- probably a doctor, lawyer, professor- someone with a bigger budget & a longer lens than I- would take beautiful photos of the sun/moon itself, as they should, but based on what I had discerned, the whole world around you changes, and that is what I wanted to capture. So I took a series of images that I combined into a 360 panorama, which included an empty beer can right in front of me. I kept it in the photo- the Truth matters! Earlier that day a friend driving toward the SW had told me that the skies were clearing in that direction- strangely, the news and weather stations were not telling us that. Since covid, perhaps before, they seem to filter information, decide some things for us. So I postponed my plans to be responsible and drove into the “zone of totality”, arriving with time to set up. It was over within minutes, but we were there! And when driving back home, it felt like I’d played hooky, taken a vacation, or just had a real adventure without knowing what would transpire, but knowing the day would be unique. And it was.
