On October 14 we experienced an annular eclipse, in which the moon blocked about 90 percent of the sun, leaving a ‘ring of fire’ around the moon’s edges during totality.
A partial eclipse is when the moon partially covers the sun showing a crescent shaped ‘bite’ taken out of the sun, but the sun is never completely occluded. During the usual total eclipse the moon appears larger to block the entire sun. But because the moon’s orbit is elliptical and not perfectly round, during an annular eclipse the the moon is farther away from Earth, making it appear smaller, so it doesn’t completely block the sun. Because a portion of the sun is still visible during the few minutes of totality, the ‘ring of fire’ must be viewed with special eclipse glasses to protect the eyes.
The path of totality for the recent annular eclipse took it over the Four Corners region. Since it wouldn’t be too far of a drive, I decided I head up to Bluff, Utah, about forty miles north of Monument Valley, to photograph it.
I made my hotel reservation in Utah a full year in advance. For this eclipse I slept in a room at the Recapture Lodge in Bluff, instead of on the ground in a bean field as I had for the 2017 eclipse. Since I’d successfully photographed that, I already had the solar filters and equipment I needed, plus the experience, so I was confident I could get the shot of the annular eclipse.
There were a lot of fun and educational eclipse-related activities going on nearby. At Goosenecks State Park near Mexican Hat there was the ‘Ring of Fire Fest,’ with food trucks and other activities. NASA was shooting video and broadcasting from the Valley of the Gods, also near Mexican Hat. These were the same kind of fun, family-oriented activities I witnessed at the 2017 eclipse.
It’s really wonderful to see the camaraderie of large groups of people gathering for a natural event like the eclipse. Everyone from scientists gathering data to New Agers ‘charging their crystals’ were friendly and helpful. Everyone behaved themselves and had a great time.
Monument Valley Tribal Park, managed by the Diné nation, was closed for the duration of the eclipse. When I reconfirmed my hotel reservation I was told that most of the stores and restaurants in Bluff, most of which employ Diné people, would also be closed during the eclipse. I called up a Native American friend to explain to me what the Navajos were up to during the eclipse. He told me:
“In Diné/Navajo culture, an eclipse is a new beginning. The Navajo word for a solar eclipse is jóhonaa'éí daaztsą́, which means “the death of the sun” in Navajo traditional teachings. During a solar eclipse, many Navajo people will remain inside, fasting and praying. The sun and moon are powerful deities in Navajo culture. The sun controls and regulates the Universe, while the moon controls and regulates the Earth.”
Ancient rituals and New Age prognostication aside, there’s nothing mystical about an eclipse. All the ‘spiritual’ aspects of eclipses are applied by man. Eclipses happen like predictable clockwork as a result of orbital dynamics, planetary and moon sizes and positions. If no one was on Earth to witness the eclipse it would happen anyway, exactly the same.
Prior to departing for Bluff I was warned by UDOT and others to expect between 20,000 and 400,000 people between Monument Valley and Monticello, Utah; these estimates are often overstated, but I prepared for the worst, just in case. I’d rather be early than sit in traffic, so I left Prescott pre-dawn. By the time I got to Kayenta, the gateway to Monument Valley, I saw no unusually heavy traffic. All in all it was a normal day on the highway. I saw signs warning of ‘high traffic’ and ‘solar eclipse 10-14-23,’ but experienced no impediment to my progress toward Bluff. I could see staging going on at Goosenecks State Park and Valley of the Gods, but no large crowds — yet.
Arriving in Bluff way too early to check in, I spent time scouting for where I’d shoot my eclipse photos the next day. Driving around I saw a lot of yellow tape and ‘no entry’ and ‘local traffic only’ signs, among other signs that read ‘event parking’ and ‘food trucks this way.’ Okay, the folks in Bluff have got the traffic-control going on. I’d have to find a location where I could do the photography.
Later, after checking in, I noticed mere feet from my room door an area of the sidewalk with a picnic table that would be a perfect place to set up for the eclipse on Saturday. Great! My fundamentally lazy self can get the shot without the need for a hike!
The path of totality is only about a hundred miles wide. If you’re not under the path, you will only see a partial eclipse. If you leave out the part about getting into the path of totality, it does sound rather silly to drive 300 miles to take a picture of the sun from a parking lot!
Saturday morning I set up two tripods by the picnic table and mounted the cameras, checked my exposures and got ready for the eclipse. About ten other people had the same idea and had set up tripods in the parking lot and on the nearby sidewalk. All the photographers at the lodge were friendly and helped each other out.
For the technically minded I used two cameras, one a backup for the other, just in case. One camera was a Canon 5D, the other a Lumix mirrorless camera, and I used 400mm-equivalent telephoto lenses on both. Both tripods were weighted with 25-pound sandbags for extra stability. Lenses were fitted with black polymer solar filters from Thousand Oaks Optical (used by solar astronomers). This is the same material used in Eclipse Glasses and is the only way to safely view the sun. The only thing worse than frying your camera’s sensor would be frying your retinas! Since I still had all my data from the 2017 eclipse. I already had the exposure figured out.
The photography went well. It was so convenient photographing from right outside my hotel room. I felt no need to mix it up with the masses at Valley of the Gods, Goosenecks or Monument Valley. The moon began to occlude the sun at about 9:09am, and totality lasted four minutes and forty seconds beginning at 10:27am. The eclipse ended just before noon. During totality the temperature dropped at least ten degrees and the light did look weird.
A lot of eclipse-viewers don’t even stay for the partial eclipse remaining after totality — they’re packing up their gear and heading out like it’s the eighth inning of a baseball game. I photographed till the very end, but I was beginning to think about lunch.
When the eclipse ended I packed up my equipment, and the memory cards with the eclipse on them went into my shirt pocket, never to leave my person until I returned home — those photos were now the most important thing in my possession. Once everything was put away I headed to the BBQ joint across the street from the Lodge. I had to get my brisket sandwich to go, since the place was so packed there was no seating available. Yes, all those folks from Valley of the Gods were coming to Bluff, and they were hungry!
I was told that Goosenecks State Park and Valley of the Gods were packed. The dirt roads leading to both Butler Wash and Comb Ridge camping areas looked like a Los Angeles bumper-to-bumper traffic jam. There was a large crowd at Monument Valley. All the hotels and campgrounds between Monticello and Kayenta were full. Although there were a lot of eclipse-watchers in the area, none of the crowds effected my ability to move around.
I was afraid that immediately after the eclipse there would be a lot of highway traffic so I added an extra night to my stay in Bluff. There was one photo I wanted to get on my way home Sunday, so I left about an hour before dawn so I could be in Monument Valley at sunrise.
I’ve shot this particular photo so many times that the first one is on Kodachrome! About ten miles north of the Utah state line there’s a view from Highway 163 that’s a straight shot into Monument Valley. This shot was made famous in the movie Forrest Gump, when Forrest went for a very long run. It’s so famous now that there’s a sign there saying ‘Forrest Gump Hill.’ When I arrived there at 7:15 there were already about 30 people there shooting photos. Unbelievable! Shouldn’t you people be eating breakfast? I got my shot, but I had to warn one guy laying in the middle of the highway that he’d be roadkill in about 15 seconds if he didn’t move. He jumped up and ran to the shoulder of the road while saying, “Damn, I didn’t even hear it!” To which I replied, “Well, it was a Tesla.” (Yeah, those electric cars are quiet!)
That was one weird stop on the road.
I wrote this after the 2017 eclipse and it remains true: While solar eclipses are rare, it is highly likely that during your lifetime an eclipse will happen over the landmass on which you live. You should see an eclipse. Even if you have to travel a great distance. There is nothing comparable. Each and every human being on Earth should see at least one eclipse.
