ARCHIVE KENYA 13 – TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN

 

 

.

A total eclipse of the Sun occurred in Kenya on 16 February 1980. Better views were forecast for southern Kenya, and so four of us drove down to an area of open bush just north of the Taita Hills to see it. I probably missed most of the experience as I was frenetically bracketing (decreasing) exposures with my set up of the OM-1 camera on a tripod, using the 400mm (= 8x magnification) Vivitar telephoto – and trying not to have my eyes boiled into the bargain!  However I do remember looking westwards and seeing the great bulk of Mt Kilimanjaro turn black as the eclipse shadow swept over it. And then we were very soon in twilight, with the birds singing their dusk chorus.

WHAT DO THESE PICTURES SHOW?

Click onto this image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

The Sun is so bright that nothing of its structure can usually be seen. More detail is visible during total eclipses however, and I gradually decreased the photographs’ exposures, to see more deeply into the Sun’s structure. The photograph on the right shows the Sun’s blazing white Corona or “atmosphere”, which extends for millions of kilometres out into space from our star and is only visible during eclipses. The Corona consists of extremely hot gases – temperatures of millions of degrees.

The photo on the left was taken with greatly reduced exposure, so that most of the corona has failed to register. A close look at the periphery of the Sun’s black disc shows a thin but distinct line of bright pink at about 5 o’clock on the disc. This pink area is either the Sun’s Chromosphere, or a Solar Prominence. The deep red Chromosphere is one of the Sun’s outer layers, with temperatures of 4,500 to 20,000 degrees K. Solar Prominences are relatively cooler material that erupts up through the Chromosphere and out into the Corona.

CAN PHOTOGRAPHY ROB US OF ACTUAL EXPERIENCE?

Reflecting on the thought that I probably missed much of the experience of a total solar eclipse because I was so intent on photographing it (despite the fact that, let’s face it,  thousands upon thousands of eclipse images have already been obtained by other photographers in the past) brings me to something that I’m sure of. 

And this is that being an enthusiastic photographer can rob us of fully experiencing people, places, happenings, whatever: we are simply too busy setting up and taking pictures to fully take in all that is around us.  I don’t see this at all as a reason not to be an enthusiastic photographer, but it is something to keep in mind and to remain conscious of.  For me, I suppose, a compromise would simply be to go somewhere without any photographic intentions whatsoever – but to have my little Canon PowerShot G11 slung over my shoulder or in my rucksack, in case some photographic potential appeared and I felt like taking advantage of it.

THE ARCHIVE KENYA SERIES

I’m re-posting photographs that I took in Kenya over 30 years ago.  You can find more context here .  Click onto the “Archive Kenya” tag (below) to see more of these film images from Kenya.

.

.

.

ARCHIVE 484 – HARBOUR SHALLOWS

 

 

.

Sunlight twinkling in shallow water, Mevagissey harbour, Cornwall; 4 Oct 2006. 

A bright sunny morning, and we walked down to Mevagissey’s harbour.  The tide was out, and there were shallows above the dark rocks of the harbour’s floor.  The sun shone brightly, and as the shallow water was pulled this way and that by wavelets and currents, the bright reflections skittered around ceaselessly and fast – and I needed a high shutter speed to capture a frozen moment of this transient beauty.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: F6 with 80-200 Nikkor lens; Fuji Provia 400 colour slide film, rated at 1600 ISO.

.
.
.

OUTER SUBURBS 219 – EARLY MORNING LIGHT

 

 

.

Walking in the early morning, walking in the lockdown.  The rising sun inches up behind houses across the road from me and, finding gaps between them, shines through onto the houses, still in shadow, beside me.

Click onto the “early morning” tag (below) to see more images from the early hours of the day.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 80mm (equiv); 320 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 5 Apr 2020.

.

.

.

OUTER SUBURBS 216 – HOUSE WITH BURGLAR ALARM

 

 

.
Walking in the lockdown on a beautiful, clear morning.  The low angle sunlight was making the end of a block of modern housing glow, and so to a triangle of shadowed wall at lower right, and the sloping roof of the house parallel with the top of the frame. These are the design elements in the image, and just by sheer luck the burglar alarm is more or less at the intersection of the upper and right thirds (see Rule of Thirds, here).

Click onto the “early morning” tag (below) to see more images from the early hours of the day.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 53mm (equiv); 320 ISO; spot metering; tilted camera; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 5 Apr 2020.
.
.
.

BRISTOL 167 – STREET SCENE 7 (MONO)

 

 

.
Other images in the Bristol Street Scenes series are here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 .  Searching on the “street” tag (below here) will also find these posts.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: Z 6 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 1600 ISO; spot metering; in-camera processing of the raw file, using the Graphite profile; Cotham, central Bristol; 18 Dec 2019.
.
.
.

BRISTOL 165 – STREET SCENE 6

 

 

.

Early morning sunlight inches across the side of a building.

Other images in the Bristol Street Scenes series are here: 1 2 3 4 5 . Searching on the “street” tag (below here) will also find these posts.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique:  X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 183mm (equiv); 800 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Provia/Standard profile; central Bristol; 16 Sept 2016.

.

.

.

OUTER SUBURBS 189 – EAST STREET: PHOTOGRAPHING A FACADE

 

 

.

Lower angle winter sunlight blazing across the side of a building – and not the slimmest creature in this whole world photographing it.

The first photo in this East Street series, with context, is here . Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 . Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 53mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; East Street, Bedminster, south Bristol; 21 Jan 2020.
.
.
.

OUTER SUBURBS 136 – PLANT GROWING AMONGST GARAGES

 

 

.
In hardly the most visually pleasing of surroundings, a low angle beam of autumn sunlight still manages to conjure a moment of magic as it sneaks in between the scarred walls of old garages and illuminates the single natural and visually appealing thing there.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 400 ISO; spotmetering;  Lightroom, starting at the Camera Portrait profile; south Bristol; 17 Sept 2019.
.
.
.

OUTER SUBURBS 135 – WALKING DOWN TO THE CITY

 

 

1: loved the plants!  What do they add – patina / character / a touch of Life???

Walking down to the city centre on a sunny morning.  Walking northwards, and so keeping to the right hand side of the roaring main road to watch the glare of the low angle sunlight striking the buildings opposite and also, where the view to the east is uninterrupted, to watch the glare interacting with the ground around my feet.

And so to a series of random photos: little scenes seen during a walk down to the city … to buy a loaf of (very special and simple) bread as it happens …

Click onto each image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it.

Technique: TG-5; Lightroom; south Bristol; 14 Sept 2019.
.

2: part-shaded by buildings and trees on the opposite side of the road

3: the roof of a sports pavilion, with floodlights and a street light

4: loved the gulls!

5: bridge with red railings, and a white line to keep walkers safe from cyclists …

6: roadside shadows
.
.
.

OUTER SUBURBS 129 – PARKED CAR 6

 

 

.

Walking towards the early morning sun, head down against the glare.  Walking past cars parked along a roaring main road, and glorying in the fierce light glinting and sparking off surfaces that, at once sleek, engineered and immaculate, are nevertheless now alive, organic and streaming in the heavy dew.

There are earlier images in this Parked Car series here: 1 2 3 4 5 .

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 200 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Natural profile; south Bristol; 29 August 2019.
.
.
.