Original published on Aug 29, 2017. Viewed 66 times, then replaced with this version.
Two years before the eclipse, before anyone knew about it, a friend booked a room on the Oregon beach, near dead-centre of the path of totality. We were there to see the spectacle. Many, including me, expected bedlam, no food, no accommodation, no gas, but plenty of people. The opposite occurred. It was great for us - almost like our own private eclipse. The only drama was, would we see it. The day broke to cloud cover, but the sun appeared moments before the eclipse began. I used my solar filter to capture images of an orange ball as the moon began to take bites out of it. Then, half-way to totality a fog rolled in and the sun disappeared through the filter. But, the fog did a nice job of filtering the sun and I captured the entire thing with a five-minute time lapse.