Annular Eclipse Over the Grand Canyon, May 2012

On May 20, 2012 an annular solar eclipse swept across the southwest United States.
On Mark Alsip's recommendation, we spent a weekend at the south rim of the Grand Canyon to photograph it, because of both the scenic opportunities and likely clear skies.

We met in Phoenix, with carefully coordinated flights and rental car pickup.
Hertz almost surprised me: the category I'd reserved included a Smart Car For Two,
which would have been rediculously inadequate for two photographer/campers.
Fortunately they didn't have any on the lot, and I got the 4-door subcompact I'd expected.

We headed north with a side trip along Oak Creek and Sedona, in Arizona's famed Red Rock Country...

...and a break to splash around Slide Rock State Park (click here for a video).

After that refreshing break (it was in the 60's when I left Portland, and high 90's when I arrived in Phoenix),
we continued north to the South Rim via Flagstaff...and I misjudged the time so we missed sunset.
Mark was nice enough to allow that Oak Creek was worth it.

So we found our campsite, threw down our bags, set our alarms for 4:45am, and fell asleep to the sigh of wind in the pines. And loud-mouthed neighbors.

But at ~5am Sunday we got the last laugh as we started the car and drove out of camp to the rim.

Odd, there were lots of cars in the parking lot. And crowds of people walking towards the rim. With coffees in hands. At 5am???
Yep, they all crowded into Mather Point:

We joined a lone fellow at a nearby point and set up. Sunset wasn't spectacular, but definitely pretty. Hard to go wrong at the Grand Canyon.

Right at sunrise, the crowd oohed and clapped...then starting leaving. 5:20am and they were done.

Mark's hat, Sunday Sunrise from Mather Point

Eventually we were done, too. Without sky drama the light quickly turned harsh.
So back to the car, and as we're driving out of the parking lot...
...we saw a herd of elk. Good thing we had cameras handy!

Got some breakfast and packed sandwiches for lunch, passed through the visitor's center, bookstore and gift shop.
Toured east along Desert View Drive, stopped at the viewpoints along the way - see a little video here.
Discussed where to go for sunset and the eclipse. The Ranger's advice seemed best: hike along the Rim trail between shuttle stops to avoid the crowds.

Then a mid-afternoon lunch-snack outside the Watchtower at Desert View, and it was time to head out for sunset and the eclipse!

After a snack, ready for sunset and the eclipse!

Back to Grand Canyon Village, we scrambled a bit looking for a parking space near the Hermit Road shuttle stop.
We packed our gear and took a shuttle west to the Mojave Point viewpoint and then a very short hike along the Rim Trail.

With only a few people at the point, we were by ourselves as soon as we hit the trail. We shortly found a perfect location for shooting,
a platform just big enough for four tripods and two photographers, a knee-high wall to hold our gear,
far enough below the trail to discourage people from tromping through.

We got out our charts, computer, smartphone, dumbphone, calipers, compass, and transit to do what engineers do best.
Mumblemumbletangentdeclinationazimuthascensiondegreeselevation and take a few practice shots.
We each set one camera to create multiple exposures through a filter on a single frame, and another camera for big-lens closeups.

And...they're off!

Here's my multiple exposure; a post-sunset image; and the two combined (still needs work, 6/12 MKD):

Multple exposures through a filter onto a single frame

Here's a cropped, big-lens close-up shortly after the eclipse began; then I finagled three big-lens images into one for pretty. Those are sunspots. Really!
The cropped close-up really shows the warts of my equipment and technique - obviously I need more practice.

Cropped close-up through a big lens, shortly after eclipse began

At maximum eclipse it was almost-sunset-like dim and colorful, which felt very odd with the sun well above the horizon.

Here's another close-up, now at maximum eclipse.

As the sun set we could photograph without filter - the eclipse ended when the sun was below the horizon, shortly after sunset.

Unfiltered sunset - eclipsed ended shortly after

Click here to see a time-lapse video of the whole affair.
Nothing special, but if you pay attention, you can see everything dim as the sun reaches the middle of the frame, then brighten again before sunset.

And that was it. Well, almost - we needed to catch the last shuttle back to avoid hauling our gear by foot, in the dark, 5-ish miles.
It was getting a little late. Dark. Cool. Breezy. And we'd started the day at 4:45am and were tired and hungry. Still, no worries!
A few vehicles passed by on the main road...but no shuttle bus. No worries yet!

Finally the bus arrived, and we went into the Village for a late dinner/dessert/drink, then back to camp and bed.
I was beat, and we had an early morning appointment with sunrise.

I don't know about Mark, but I went to sleep smiling.

Monday morning the campground wasn't full, and there was less of a crowd at the viewpoint for sunrise.

And that was it - we had planes to catch, so after a shower we zipped south to Phoenix and home.
We're already thinking about the 2017 total eclipse!

And back in Oregon, it was, of course, damp and cloudy - what a contrast: