Annular Solar Eclipse

Yesterday my friends & I got together to have dinner and watch the Solar Eclipse from downtown Los Angeles. We didn't have anything fancy, just some paper to reflect the image on and some cameras. Luckily my friend had a couple ND filters to use so we could attempt to protect our cameras. You're also not supposed to shoot without a solar filter, but we took a gamble & made due with what we had. Even though you're not supposed to look at the sun, I wound up doing it several times unintentionally. Maybe my subconscious is taking over! I wish we had proper viewing equipment to be able to look at it directly.

An Annular Solar Eclipse happens when the moon passes between the Earth & the Sun, causing most of the sun to be blocked from sight, but leaving a ring of sunshine around the outside at its peak. The last time this happened I was a Junior in High School. I remember everyone gathering outside to view it, but I don't remember actually getting to see anything. I don't think the school organized it, so I don't think I had anything to view it with.

Here are my results - In the first 3, the eclipse is visible by a light flare, and the last 3 are with the ND filters in front of the lens to see the actual sun & moon. All shots taken btwn 6:30 & 7pm. The pictures may look dark but don't be fooled. It was super bright out the entire time! In fact, I'll include a picture I took of downtown just 3 minutes after I took the last shot, which was behind me to the left when facing the sun.