Cairns Total Solar Eclipse 2012

As a photographer I struggled with the coming of the solar eclipse. Do I document it properly, buying a solar filter for the camera and sticking it onto a tripod and missing the whole experience having stuck my head behind the camera, or do I savour it with my family and friends and experience it as it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch it from our beautiful beach? How can I do both without missing out?

The night before I procrastinated and looked up some safe ways to photograph a solar eclipse without appropriate filters. Went to sleep late and dreamt about missing the eclipse – 3 times!

We walked our kids down to the beach this morning – our neighbourhood was buzzing at 5am. The beach was packed and the energy was vibrant, and a bit chaotic. The kids were so excited but unfocused. So was I.

The clouds parted enough times for us to watch each phase and the rain stayed away until just after totality ended. It was almost perfect.

As darkness came over us I took some shots of our beautiful sun, but realised near the end that I’d had the wrong lens on. By the time I’d switched back the clouds have returned, and it was over. Like everything in life, happiness is fleeting and every so elusive. I don’t think pictures or videos really capture what we saw on the beach this morning anyway. The darkness that enveloped us and froze time, the beauty of the sun that is so incredibly bright that it burned your heart looking at it, the peaceful quiet (when the kids weren’t busy wow’ing and whoo’ing)…

To say it was amazing is an understatement. No words can describe the grandness of a total solar eclipse. You had to be there.