An Eclipse over Hartford

The sunrise clouds conspired to block most of the solar eclipse this morning, but I was able to catch a momentary glimpse as, a few minutes before it ended, the sun peeked through the cloud cover. Despite the eclipse itself being a bit disappointing to view from here, it was still an incredible sunrise over the Connecticut River Valley.

It was also a reminder of the cold winter weather that is just around the corner, and got me in the mindset to update my Winter Photography in New York presentation, which I’ll be delivering at the Charter Oak Photographic Society next week.

That presentation also includes a section on how digital tools increase our ability to both scout and execute while shooting. Fitting, since this I found this location using Google Maps, The Photographer’s Ephemeris, and Panaramio. Then pre-visualized the images using field-of-view calculations, distances using Google Maps’ rule tool, and comparables from other Hartford skyline images from a different location. As a result, I knew roughly the frame I would see and then had some ideas for the images I was going to make before ever seeing or stepping foot at the location. See the thumbnails in the image to the right for full geekery. Note the building are roughly the same size in the frame as the final shot above.