Witnessing a solar eclipse...

The moon's penumbra fell over Hong Kong during this morning's solar eclipse, so we were able to see a partial obstruction of the sun! Well, "see" is perhaps an exaggeration. Looking directly at an eclipse can burn out your retinas, so we certainly didn't do that. We also discovered that the sun is so bright that partial eclipses can be completely blotted out to the point of imperceptibility. For example, this photo was taken at the peak of Hong Kong's view of the eclipse...

Doesn't look very eclipsed, does it? The sun's light just floods right around the moon and, by the time the camera sees it, it's as if the moon wasn't even there.

In an attempt to combat this effect, I dialed down the amount of light allowed to enter the camera (by increasing the shutter speed to its maximum, closing the apature to its minimum, and reducing the ISO to its minimum). This resulted in some very interesting sky photography...

...but still no sign of the moon. Just as I was about to give up, a wispy cloud passed infront of the sun and, for only a few seconds, dropped the amount of light enough for the eclipse to be visible. In that time, I was able to snap two shots...


Once the clouds passed, they never came back before the eclipse ended, so those were my last shots. I feel very fortunate to have captured what I did!