I was lucky enough to experience totality for the 2024-04-08 total solar eclipse from a location in Waxahachie, Texas. The weather was troublesome in the run up to the event and the initial partial phase was seen through cloud gaps. However, as totality approached, the gaps became larger and the clouds thinner.

The initial part of totality was seen through thin, fast moving mid-layer clouds which quickly gave way to totally clear skies. The initial clouds did have a benefit in that they allowed me to record cloud shadow bands – something I’d not managed to do in previous eclipses. The clear skies for the second part of totality were ideal for attempting the exposure bracketing necessary for a high dynamic range image as seen here. A series of shots were taken at ISO 400 in a bracketed series of 1/80, 1/160 and 132s which were subsequently stacked and processed to produce results for the earthshine lit Moon, inner and middle corona features. These were combined using a layer-masking technique.

The equipment used was fairly modest for this capture; a William Optics ZS66 mounted on a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer equatorial mount along with an old Canon 60D DSLR, the articulated screen of which being very much appreciated for this high-altitude eclipse! Of the 4 minutes and 17 seconds of totality visible from Waxahachie, I would estimate that at least 3 minutes were visible through a totally cloud free sky.