2017 Eclipse Shadows and Bokeh

2017 Eclipse Shadows and Bokeh

2017 Eclipse shadows and bokeh were what I photographed yesterday. Albuquerque had a partial eclipse, rather than the total eclipse seen in a large swath of this country. But, any eclipse is exciting. I photographed what I know how to photograph, and learned some new things and a better appreciation of light along the way. For beautiful images of the eclipse itself as seen in Albuquerque, do yourself a favor and visit and visit Tim Price’s blog, Off Center and Not Even

Eclipse Shadows

I photographed these eclipse shadows on the sidewalk at my mother’s house six minutes after the peak of the eclipse here. The light was filtered through her crab apple trees. Clouds rolled over the sun, then left a clear sun briefly, then rolled over again. You will see much sharper shadows of the eclipse from areas with clear skies Nevertheless, I find these an interesting phenomenon. It is a safe way to view an eclipse.

Eclipse Shadows and Bokeh
Eclipse Shadows on the Sidewalk
Eclipse Shadows and Bokeh
Eclipse Shadows on the Sidewalk

Eclipse Bokeh

I knew about the shadows, and have photographed them before. Until yesterday, I had never thought about eclipse bokeh. Yesterday I learned about it accidentally. Had I known, I would have spent more time photographing birds and sunflowers in my yard! Not until I was processing casually shot images did I realize what I was seeing.

This image of the floribunda rose ‘Fabulous!’ is from May. The bokeh, the light filtered through the tree, is clear and round. This is normal bokeh.

bokeh
Normal Bokeh

Look at the bokeh in this image, taken when the eclipse was about three-quarters over. Note the distortion, and how different it appears from the bokeh in the image above. The eclipse is present in the bokeh! Seeing that in processing the image was an “Ah, hah!” moment for me. While it makes perfect sense, I had just never thought about it before.

eclipse shadows bokeh
Eclipse Bokeh

This is a closer crop:

eclipse shadows and bokeh
Bird, Sunflowers, and Eclipse Bokeh

Albuquerque saw only a partial solar eclipse yesterday. Nevertheless, I had so much fun photographing eclipse shadows and learning that the eclipse appears in bokeh! Most of all, because I had never thought about bokeh during an eclipse, this was a very exciting learning experience about light for me! Finally, I hope you enjoy the images too! 🙂

4 Replies to “2017 Eclipse Shadows and Bokeh”

  1. Herman had mentioned that he saw a full eclipse in 1999 while he was in France. That reminded me that we saw the same eclipse, but we were driving from Ravenna to Firenze, Italy at the time of the eclipse. I didn’t have anything to photograph the eclipse, so we stopped and made a pinhole card to view it. Your sidewalk “pinholes” from the foliage reminded me of that. You are getting a good crop of sunflowers

    1. Hi, Tim. I learned about sidewalk “pinholes” when we had the “Ring of Fire” eclipse here. I saw images friends had taken in their yards (my mom and I sat out looking across the Rio Grande with our Eclipse Glasses for that one! I remember your photographs of the real thing.) Sometime after that one, we had a partial eclipse here, and I did the sidewalk pinhole thing. So, I was prepared for that yesterday, even though I was at my mom’s at the peak.
      I had never thought about bokeh, and I’m kicking myself for not doing more with that. I did not even realize it until last night. Oh, well…another time.
      Yes, those sunflowers from the inexpensive grocery store seeds are doing well. The birds, including the hummers, seem to like them a lot this year.
      You are very lucky to have seen two total eclipses plus an annular eclipse plus a blood red moon plus a strawberry moon in your lifetime!!!! 🙂

    1. Hi, Bob, thanks! It really was, when I realized what I was seeing. Thank you for stopping by; very nice to see you here.

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