I do not even know where to begin with this journey. So much to say, so much to cover, and did I mention I started planning this in December of 2017?
Yes, we will go back in time 7 years ago to when the planning for all of this started. Back in August of 2017, was the Great American Eclipse. An eclipse that I knew was coming, that I did not try and travel to go see totality. Bad decision on my part, I know. Here in NYC we had about 30% coverage of the sun, and I did not have a proper solar filter for my camera. I did manage to capture a few images with my 35mm lens and a 10 stop ND filter. I did the trick so I could see something. I did thing about purchasing a solar filter for my 200-500mm lens, but by the time I thought about it the prices had skyrocketed. I said it was not worth it.
A few months later, in December 2017, I received an Amazon gift card from one of my co workers for $80.00. I knew exactly what I wanted. I went online and finally purchased my solar filter on Dec. 15th, 2017. This is when the journey for Great North American Eclipse started. Over the next 6 years and 8 months I would periodically take pictures of the sun.
The sun, with a telephoto lens is not something you photograph often, and it is a bit boring. Especially back then when the sun was not active, it was at what is called solar minimum and there were hardly any sun spots on the sun. So photos back then in 2017 where you had a few sun spots around 100 days of the year. Compare that to today, where the sun is active, and there are many sunspots on the sun every single day. Some are several times larger than Earth.
Okay, to be honest there was not much more planning after that. lol. But I was ready. I did manage to capture a partial solar eclipse during sunrise one morning back in June 2021.
Starting in 2020 is when I started thinking about the eclipse again. During that time while talking to my father, he mentioned that Tupper Lake, NY was in the path totality. This was all I needed to know. I knew it was up in the Adirondacks, but I did not realize that totality went through Tupper Lake, NY.
This was huge for me. Tupper Lake is a place that I have been visiting since 1983. It goes back even further than for my family, but for me, its been since 1983. So, let us recap, a total solar eclipse, which I have never seen before. Totality of this total solar eclipse is in Tupper Lake, NY. A place that I call my happy place. This is where I go to unwind, relax, and get away from everything. Did I also mention April 8th, is my birthday? Yes, I swear, I am not lying. A total solar eclipse on my birthday, in a place that I love.
So, since 1983 I have been staying at the same motel every time I go to visit. Back in 2021 there were a new set of owners, and in 2021 I asked to make a reservation for the weekend of April 8th, 2024. They said it was too far out, I explained to them that I have been coming here since 1983, and this weekend in 2024 you are going to be very busy. They did not book me then, but I talked to them enough that they had my name written down for when they started to book that weekend.
2023, time to start planning the actual solar eclipse. Where am I going to go in the Adirondacks? What kind of foreground am I going to try and aim for? Do I want to hike to the top of a mountain (not that I am in any type of shape for that lol)? Lots of thinking over the next few months. I saw some pretty awesome photos of th 2017 eclipse and it gave me a lot of ideas.
April 2023, the town of Tupper Lake, NY started prompting the eclipse like crazy! Every where, every day, all over the place. Tupper Lake, NY is home to the only observatory in the ADK and NASA had them on their list of one of the 12 locations to live stream the eclipse, if needed. This was getting much bigger that I had anticipated. A population of about 3300, was preparing to have close to 10k people come through.
January 2024, a little over 100 days away from my birthday, err the total solar eclipse. I knew who was coming with me to photograph the eclipse, and that was my buddy Niles. Early April if it is not snowing up there, it is generally mud season. So hiking to the top of a mountain was out of the question ( not that I would have been in the shape to do it anyway lol). 10k people coming to visit or drive through for the eclipse, I had a prime spot. I arrived on Saturday April 6th, and right off the back of the motel on beach, I had a perfect spot to view the eclipse. I did not have to leave that spot on eclipse day.
April 8th, 2024, Happy Birthday to me! Me, my friend Niles, and my friend Newt (local photographer in Tupper Lake for many years) all met up at 1 am to go photograph the Milky Way for a few hours. New moon, ADK dark skies, you have to go do it. Niles and I scouted out spots earlier in the day, so we knew exactly where we wanted to go. We arrive by about 1:20 am, setup, and start shooting the Milky Way for the next several hours. Now to clarify, Tupper Lake is tiny little town, in the middle of the Adirondacks, pretty much in the middle of no where. So, now, we are on a backroad of a tiny little town in the middle of no where. About an hour later a pickup truck pulls up and parks in front of my car. A guy pops out, red light on his head, he is one of us. A photographer looking to photograph the Milky Way. He was from CT, he came up to get some Milky Way photos and then shoot the eclipse later that day. Another hour later, a Tesla pulls up and there are two women inside, asking what we were taking pics of, I told them, the Milky Way. They pulled up in front of the pickup truck, pulled out there tripods and cameras and started shooting the Milky Way with us.
Many times in the last few years throughout NYC, I have showed up to a location to shoot moonrise or moonset and either there are a few people already there or show up after I do. This is normal, in NYC. this is not normal in the middle of literally no where! lol. It made for an absolute amazing start to the day. I took a few steps back to take this all in, watching 6 people sit/stand and take pics of the Milky Way. Something I am not used to seeing up there.
After we shot for about 3 hours, we packed up, and headed back to the motel to get a few hours of sleep before the big event of the day. Of course we could not sleep. By 9 am Niles and I were already out the door driving around up towards Cranberry Lake, taking pictures of everything. Wildlife, scenic spots, and more. We swing by the High School to see the setup they have there with the telescope, all the stands for things for the kids to do. We grabbed some lunch and headed back to the Sunset Park Motel. Time to get ready for the big event.
We headed back to the motel, sat outside and enjoyed a nice lunch, and then started to get ready. Moved one of the picnic tables into the spot I wanted behind the motel. Started bringing out the tripods and setting them up. My father and step mother came over, he brought his large telescope so we could all see it through there too. There were high, very thin clouds in the sky, nothing that really blocked our view. With about 30 minutes before totality there was a clearing in the sky to my right. Blue skies, not light wispy clouds of any kind, just crystal clear. This was actually going to happen. After all of the stress of possibly cloudy skies, it was clear. Totality came and we had clear skies. There was clapping, ooo’s and ohhh’s coming from everyone there watching. It was absolutely spectacular. A day I will never forget as long as I live.
There is so much more about this story that I want to write about, and I have plans for the rest of that story. Stayed tuned.
To get you own copy of this photo and others from that weekend, check out the link here.
Till the next photo.
Steve
Captured This
Photography by Steve Schaum