| A timeline of the eclipse at Sipapu Bridge. I naively thought I could capture the shape of the sun instead of a blob of overexposed light by a combination of small aperture, fast shutter, and low ISO, so I didn't get a solar filter for the wide angle lens. Although during the annular phase, a tiny “black hole” can be seen at the center of the blob. Dimensions of Sipapu bridge: height – 220 ft, span – 268 ft, width – 31 ft, thickness – 53 ft. The hike to the bridge is 0.7 miles, with an elevation loss of 436 feet.
I originally didn't plan on shooting here because the hike down was long and on our first recon we found it very strenuous even without carrying the gear I'd need to carry. The bridge span was thick, not ideal for shooting across and it would be back lit. But on the second recon, we saw another photographer (Hey Hayne!) sitting on the sun side of the bridge where a good part of the sky and the span could both be captured. Hayne told us he'd been observing the sun for the past few days at the time the eclipse would occur, and the spot was perfect to capture the entire eclipse. I was sold and he said he wouldn't mind if I set up next to him for the eclipse. As we were chatting, another couple (Hey Linda and Curtis!) joined us and soon decided to choose this spot as well (though in the end Curtis found a platform almost immediately beneath the bridge and several meters higher and shot from there. He was joined by several other photographers.) They decided to camp out the night before the eclipse so they wouldn't lose the spot. I admired their decision – overnight temperatures were only around 40 degrees, it's not a campground and there was no shelter, and the area was full of boulders you couldn't even find a large piece of flat land! All I could do was to ask for a favor for them to hold a spot for me. We came back really early the morning of the eclipse. The hike down was challenging, between two cameras/lenses/tripods, drinking water, snacks for the entire group, additional clothing to cope with the freezing temperatures once there, my wife and I must be carrying at least 20 pound each, and it was still dark so we needed to be extra careful with our footing even with the help of headlamps. We met up with them. Everyone was exhausted - us from the hike them due to lack of sleep, it was mighty cold and the wait was long, fortunately, the camaraderie helped. More people started trickling in, but it never got to the crowd we thought it might – at the peak there were probably 20 – 30 people gathered in the general area. The sky was clear and we were treated to a great show. We exchanged contact information and parted ways. The hike up was equally brutal, but we made it. 日食的整个过程，摄于斯巴布桥下。我以为通过快门，光圈，和感光度的控制，没有专门的太阳滤镜广角镜头也可以照出太阳的形状，结果照出来全是光团–环食的时候倒隐约是个圈儿，能看出中间一小黑点儿。斯巴布桥桥的尺寸：高–67米，长–82米，宽–9.5米，厚–16米。停车场下到桥要走1公里，高度落差133米。 下到这个桥距离比较远路又陡，侦查的时候没背设备都费劲儿，这个桥体又偏厚直接把它放在前景太阳会被挡住，所有开始没想在这里拍。第二次侦查的时候看到一个摄影师坐在桥的另一侧，这样桥可以在侧面作为前景，让出天空。他已经连着观察几天了，在日食发生的时间段太阳刚好不会被桥和山谷挡住。这地方一下就成了我的首选，问了一下他不介意，我决定在这里拍日食。这时又来了一对夫妇，聊了几句也选择了这里。因为怕日食当天这地方被人占，他们三个决定头天晚上就驻扎在这里。对此我只有钦佩–晚上的气温只有几度，这不是专门的露营地，没有遮挡，谷里还布满了大大小小的石头连块儿大点儿的平地都难找。很不好意思的让人家帮我们也占个地儿，许诺我们到时候尽量早到。日食当天往下走的那趟真不容易，两套设备，再加上水和我们给大家准备的早点和到地方后用的保暖衣物，我们两个一共至少背了四五十斤的东西，而且天还黑着，虽然有头灯也还是得落脚小心。找到他们发现大家都很疲惫，我们是这趟走累的，他们是没睡好。我们6点多到的地方，到日食开始要等三个小时，当时还巨冷。还好大家聊聊时间还过的稍微快点儿。后来陆续有其他人下到桥底，但远没有预计的人多，估计前前后后也就二三十人吧。天很晴，日环食很好看。和他们三个交换了联系方式大家就告别了，我们又千辛万苦的爬了上去。 |
| Aperture: 11 | Shutter: 1/8000 |
| ISO: 50 | Flash: |
| FL: 19mm | Lens: |
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