The Toronto 2017 Eclipse

We weren’t in the path of “totality” and as tempting as it was to go on a road trip to get on that path I am happy to be home for a week. So I took some photos from a school yard close to home.

It felt like a good idea so I went with it. And I’m glad I did, it was a delight to hang out with locals in a local school yard. And thanks to a CBC Metro Morning interview I learned about a telescope shop that still had certified solar glasses and more!

Last Minute Decisions

I sat of the fence about the eclipse for a long time… I couldn’t decide if I could fit it into my schedule and so I didn’t make plans. Including not getting things like protective glasses or the camera gear needed to photograph an event like this. So when I finally decided yesterday that I would like to test myself by seeing what I could capture I knew I was on my heels… (that’s the back part of my feet btw, contrary to The Donald who seems to think that’s how we get better). And then a few things fell in place and I found the tools I needed for this! All thanks to some local radio and a shop that wasn’t Amazon.

Sharing the Wealth

When I found the lens filter I knew I didn’t need glasses but I bought them anyhow thinking I would want them a little and perhaps in the future. Then I had to decide where I wanted to go and in the end I packed my camera bag and walked over to nearby Maurice Cody Public School. There were a couple of people there. One pair of binoculars to project on a paper screen and a few shoe-box pin-hole cameras. I’ll just say this: the glasses got put to good use! As the maximum coverage approached there were a few families (a dozen people or so?) enjoying all the different ways we had available to watch the eclipse the right way.

And the view of my camera screen was definitely a popular one. As were the glasses.

The Eclipse

It lasts a while and without totality the effect was significantly less. It was still very noticeable with the sky dimming (Toronto had about 75% coverage) and the temperatures dropping noticeably.

I was using my 150-600 Sigma Sport with a Canon 1.4 Extender ii on my 7D mkiii body for about 1300mm reach. All of these photos are as shot… no cropping and no adjustments of any kind as I wanted to give the equipment a good test. Let me know what you think!

So without any more words, here are a few photos I took! Look for a video to follow tomorrow…

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