When you didn’t see the Solar Eclipse, you can make it!

So were you like me on August 21st, 2017 planning for the Solar Eclipse?   I had the works!  My wife and I setup a trip out to Weston, Missouri on the Green Dirt Farm.  There was going to be live music, drinks, awesome food, and a killer spot to watch the Eclipse.  That is, of course, until the Midwest weather rained on everyone’s parade (literally).

The day was looking pretty cloudy, but very hopeful that the clouds would pass by noon.  However, there was this layer of clouds that went from white to gray, to near black and swept the farm.  I had downloaded an app for photographing the Eclipse and was using it to set my cameras up.  Just before the first contact, it counted down, 5…4…3…2…1, and that is when the wave of clouds covered the sun.  I kid you not, as soon as the first contact began the sky was covered in clouds.

I was hopeful at first and just watched the sky patiently waiting for an opening, but none came.  Five minutes went by and still clouds, then 10 minutes, then 20 minutes.  Then the crowd on the farm started to cheer as we caught a glimpse of the Eclipse.  It was there, just peeking through the clouds and while we were all very hopeful, little did we know that is all we would see!

By 1230, we were all but hopeful.  Instead of looking up to the sun, we patiently waited for it to get dark so we could at least witness the darkness during totality.  At around 1245 it started to drizzle, so I decided to break down my gear, gather my supplies and start packing up.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to shoot the Eclipse with the cloud cover that was above us, so I decided to sit with my wife and enjoy it.

Totality was pretty awesome.  If you have never experienced it, it is something worth taking the day off if the opportunity ever affords.  We were surrounded by a farm field full of bugs chattering, but as soon as totality neared, the grasshoppers stopped chirping, and the cicadas started humming.  In the Midwest that usually happens around sunset and lasts for a few hours.  This time, only a few seconds.  Soon the cicadas stopped, and the crickets began their symphony.

Soon the cicadas stopped, and the crickets started their symphony.  We were serenaded by the crickets for a short 2 minutes and 4 seconds.  But the most impressive thing was the dead silence of over 400 people that just stared at the mass of clouds above us as we watched a brief sunset and sunrise at one o’ clock in the afternoon.  As soon as totality ended, our dark and dreary clouds began to empty on us, luckily we were under a sun tent.

While I was a bit upset that I only got one, yes the one shot you saw above, of the actual eclipse I was thankful for the silent experience I had with my wife.  Instead of experiencing the Eclipse with two cameras blazing, I was holding my wife’s hand and enjoying the sounds (and lack thereof around us).

To still make something of this eclipse, I have decided to share a video tutorial with you showing you how to make your very own Eclipse in Photoshop!  We are going to build a Solar Eclipse from scratch on a blank canvas.  Let’s do this!

Download the Cloud file in this video!

 

Blake Rudis
f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
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