2024 11 04

Remember that eclipse? Vincennes, Indiana. April, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

It turns out I got a couple decent shots of the eclipse afterall! Yeah, that thing that happened way back in April, which feels like a lifetime ago. I wrote about feeling frustrated after the experience (see: 2024 04 11) in that I hedged and neither fully enjoyed the moment nor committed to making a nice image of it. That said, it was an incredible experience nonetheless and I’m so grateful that we made the effort to be there in person for it.

A nice little bonus was that months later, when I finally got my film developed, there were a few nice exposures on it that I had completely written off as not likely to be worthwhile. This frame above I’m quite sure I made through the highly filtered solar glasses, which helps give it a darker appearance, while the on-camera flash illuminates the tree. It was all happening so fast that instincts took over and most of what I remember is the feeling of frantic and chaotic awe.

Fittingly, my plan today was to post a quote. When researching the below quote (so many famous quotes are inaccurately attributed), I was pleased to learn this was indeed said by Einstein in an interview about his theory of relativity, which was proven correct through measurements taken during a total solar eclipse.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

— Einstein

-Clayton