FarrPhotos

Here's an example of how strange the results sometimes were when experimenting with odd lens choices and placements during the eclipse. In this case, I only partially covered the lens (and thus the sensor) with the solar filter. And it just went wild!

You may notice an altered version of this as my current page header background.

I knew a lot of people would take a lot of really good photos of the eclipse and that that would make it hard to do something that stood out. So I decided to experiment.

For instance, I unscrewed the filter and screwed around with its placement. Sometimes I held it several inches or maybe a foot away from the lens. Sometimes I placed it on the lens, but slid over a bit to partially expose the sensor (I know, I know).

The effects were sometimes subtle...ish, like this one.

My wife, my son, and I travelled to Austin to view the eclipse. We'd been looking forward to it for months. But as the day approached, the weather began to look like it would play the spoiler. In fact, as the Moon began to move across the Sun, we saw only a thick cloud cover.

So, I looked at the radar map on my weather app to see if the clouds were breaking up anywhere nearby and found that just a bit northwest the cloud cover looked much thinner. So I packed up my camera gear and we all dashed out to the car.

Driving toward a town we'd chosen as a likely best destination, it still looked hopeless. Nothing but thick clouds. Laurie suggested we pull into a parking lot and at least experience the approaching darkness while outside.

A lot of other people had the same idea. As we commiserated, a little bit of blue light caught my eye to the left.

"Oh, Oh! OH! We may just get lucky!"

Sure enough, a break in the clouds was moving straight toward the bright(ish) spot in the sky! It was turning into the exact scene I'd been hoping for. The eclipse was becoming intermittently visible with the sky not TOO clear. This is what I'd wanted. Enough visibility to see the event and some clouds to add extra interest and mood. Just wonderful!

This little critter had me worried. It just laid like this for maybe ten minutes. And just when I'd begun wondering if it was still alive, it reacted to my lens getting up in its face and flew away.

I guess it had just been, er, taking a nap in the sun?

NOTE: To see all the detail of said face, blow this up on a big screen!

My favorite bee (bumblebees rarely sting) on my favorite flower (I mean, just look at it)!

Laughing with friends at the brunch and fashion show

From my first family photo shoot. They were really nice and a lot of fun to photograph!

Someone's peeking!

Sharing a silly moment. Such a fun shoot!

These two were absolute naturals!

Another one from the brunch and fashion show. A close-up of a Francis Valentine bracelet. I really like items with unusual, lively textures!