Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Sunday, April 7, 2024
I am not ready.
I've had hardware problems, software problems, a virus scare, and all other manner of interruptions.
To make things worse, the current forecast is for about 70% cloud cover at totality.
But hey, I ain't getting any younger, so I'm planning to see as much as I can if not photograph some of it. I did get some of the eclipse in 2017, but the pictures were horrible. I haven't had much luck this year, either. I get one last shot tomorrow in the hours leading up to the eclipse, which starts here at 12:23 PM. We enter totality here at 1:41 PM. I plan to get up and bracket the living daylights out of some exposures so I can try to get something decent.
Last time around I was unable to procure a proper filter for my lens. Oh, I tried, and my order got canceled. This time I ordered one back in October. Bwah.
The big software issue was getting the computer control software going. That's a tale I won't relate here, except to say that it took over 24 hours to find a copy, get it loaded, and get it working. In the meantime I tried several other pieces of software that claimed to do the job but didn't. My fault for not having the latest and greatest cameras, I guess.
I'm still not terribly optimistic about getting good pictures tomorrow, but I won't know if I don't try, right? And yes, we do have proper eclipse glasses.
More tomorrow, if I get a decent picture or two.