Heading to see the Solar Eclipse soon
Discussion
Well, here goes nothing. Driving down to Walland, Tennessee to see the Eclipse. I booked this in October before the whole publicity thing..in a place with lots of land and few guests.
Realistically, there is about a 40% chance of cloud, rain, thunderstorms...but have to give it a shot. Fairly long drive, but no doubt there will be strange things to see in the very heart of Trump country.....
Realistically, there is about a 40% chance of cloud, rain, thunderstorms...but have to give it a shot. Fairly long drive, but no doubt there will be strange things to see in the very heart of Trump country.....
In the Great Smokies in Tennessee there is lots of risk of cloud so not betting on any great result.
I do have proper camera gear and the right filters and glasses, so if it is clear I will get a few shots which I will post... (or maybe I will end up posting a shot of a cloudy day) The thing is getting huge publicity and they are expecting that the cellular services will be badly overloaded by people posting cellphone pics and selfies...all of which will be useless.
There are a few thing I want to see in the area so the trip should be interesting. It is one of the relatively few parts of the US I have not visited.
I did not want to be stuck in some massive crowd of viewers so have managed to avoid that, but currently there is no way to get a room at any sort of reasonable prices if not booked months ago, and there are endless parties, T-shirts vendors, souvenirs and the usual tat everywhere. There is a good US postage stamp that goes into eclipse when exposed to the light though.
In any case I have not doubt there will be endless shots from the path of the eclipse that will be far superior to anything I shoot. I read about it though, and the experiences will be interesting...temperature drops rapidly, birds stop singing, farm animals lie down and so on, so it it more than simply waiting for the couple of minutes of totality.
I do have proper camera gear and the right filters and glasses, so if it is clear I will get a few shots which I will post... (or maybe I will end up posting a shot of a cloudy day) The thing is getting huge publicity and they are expecting that the cellular services will be badly overloaded by people posting cellphone pics and selfies...all of which will be useless.
There are a few thing I want to see in the area so the trip should be interesting. It is one of the relatively few parts of the US I have not visited.
I did not want to be stuck in some massive crowd of viewers so have managed to avoid that, but currently there is no way to get a room at any sort of reasonable prices if not booked months ago, and there are endless parties, T-shirts vendors, souvenirs and the usual tat everywhere. There is a good US postage stamp that goes into eclipse when exposed to the light though.
In any case I have not doubt there will be endless shots from the path of the eclipse that will be far superior to anything I shoot. I read about it though, and the experiences will be interesting...temperature drops rapidly, birds stop singing, farm animals lie down and so on, so it it more than simply waiting for the couple of minutes of totality.
The whole cycle takes several hours but totality is only a couple of minutes. You absolutely cannot look at the sun with bare eyes during the partial eclipse period and need special camera filters and glasses which have the darkness of welder's goggles .
However , during totality you can look without damage to your eyes and photograph it with no filters.
However , during totality you can look without damage to your eyes and photograph it with no filters.
Steve Campbell said:
Yeah...but given we've been planning this holiday for 2 years.....I'd prefer it if my wife and son got to experience the full effect in terms of seeing stuff like the diamond ring effect etc. Anyway, it's only 2.5 mins of a 2 week holiday so we'll have fun no matter what.
Absolutely!.. I will be in Walland ,Tennessee and there is about a 40% chance of cloud;...but if you don't try, then you will certainly see nothing. If it does not happen ,so be it.Steve Campbell said:
Currently in Blue Ridge Georgia....watching all the weather channels and trying to decide whether to go NW towards Nashville TN or SE towards Columbia SC. decisions decisions ! :-)
The problem is that it can change in just a few minutes...I am going to stay put in Walland TN and just hope for the best. Nothing to be done..there will be so much traffic that I doubt that there is any benefit to chasing the thing around to get better sky. Good luck in your decision
Will hit the US border at 630am Sunday, near Detroit, down through Ohio, Kentucky into Tennessee.
Overnight in Knoxville TN and early in AM will get to destination, a place called Blackberry Farm, only 26 miles from Knoxville.
I do expect traffic so will keep from running low on gas; have water in vehicle. Although fiercest not great, have to try...
Overnight in Knoxville TN and early in AM will get to destination, a place called Blackberry Farm, only 26 miles from Knoxville.
I do expect traffic so will keep from running low on gas; have water in vehicle. Although fiercest not great, have to try...
Steve Campbell said:
We won't be far from you. We're heading up to Chattanooga tomorrow night, then heading for Watts Bar dam to watch.
Good luck with the view..partially cloudy means it is a gamble, so I would not be surprised if we were watching the clouds within minutes of totality and justwilling them to get of the way...
Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff