Waiting for the dragon to eat the Sun

[AnotherFairportfan]

Got up at 3:45 (was shooting for 3:30) out the door at 4:20 (shooting for 4:00).

Arrived ay Tallulah Gorge State Park at 5:20; i seem to be agout number 60 or so in line to get in when the gates open at 7:00.

I was so proud of myself as i contemplated the morning so far - i managed to pack both cameras (the Nikon 5300 to try to get sequence shots and the Olympus Pen FT with the 150mm lens to try to grab totality shots), the sun filter for the Nikon, the tripod, the half-gallon "Growler" vacuum flask of ice-cold Gatorade, film, both camera batteries, my new panama and ... well, fuck.

Missed the eclipse viewer.

Well, supposedly there will be a "limited number" of viewers available here.

More later.

[AnotherFairportfan]

Gates opened at 6:30

[AmriloJim]

You could always grab a Bondware, Kleenex 200s, or Snoboy shipping box....

19_eclipse_vintage.ngsversion.1490803213182.adapt.1900.1.jpg (122.06 KiB) Viewed 4317 times

(Teacher appears to be looking directly at Sun, but it doesn't look like those glasses are anywhere near stout enough.)

[AnotherFairportfan]

Stood in line waiting for the gift shop to open at 8. They had 100 pairs of eclipse glasses for sale (limit 5 per customer).

I think they sold about five pairs past me and ran out.

I wandered down a trail to a couple of scene overlooks, took some pictures (to be uploaded after i get home).

I'm thinking that Overlook 2 will be best for photography.

(I'll be shooting RAW format for the flexibility in exposure.)

I'm sitting in the car with the AC on right now.

[TazManiac]

Had to shift my location yesterday and left my new Sun Shields in a milk crate of books...

But wait!, the semi-local NASA-Ames will be hosting an event. We'll see.

EDIT- Oh, Noes!

"Public Eclipse Event Is Full
Registration for our public eclipse event is full. We’ll be checking registrations, and only registered guests will receive eclipse glasses and be allowed into the broadcast viewing area." Just going to have to wing it w/ a pin-hole camera...

[AnotherFairportfan]

We didn't get a recall on the glasses, though i did on the filter for the camera.

I checked with some astronomy sites - apparently the film it was made with is somewhat less than ISO standard inthe UV - it's intendedfor telescopes and cameras, where the glass absorbs UV. And i've got a UV filter on it, too.

We're somewhat more than three-quarters, and it is noticeability dimmer.

A while ago, trying to set up in the best spot, both the Nikon and i suffered a touch of heat stroke.

We're better now, and i'm sitting in a chair someone lent me, somewhat in the shade, and it' snapping away every three minutes.

At totality,i'll start shooting all sorts of exposures with the film camera.

It's gotten visibly dimmer since i began typing tgis.

[jwhouk]

...aaaaand it was rainy and overcast most of this afternoon.

[AnotherFairportfan]

...aaaaand it was rainy and overcast most of this afternoon.

Bright and sunny.

Sunstruck ke sunny.
=

Arrgh.

"Sunstroke". Damned autocorrect on the tablet.

[AnotherFairportfan]

None of the digital pics really came out.

Have to get the film developed to see what happened with the totality pics.