This picture was taken at about 12:55 pm on December 14, 2001 in Auburn, CA. A solar eclipse was at its maximum at the time of the exposure, though at my location the Sun was barely covered. In Costa Rica it was seen as an annular eclipse, with a very thin ring of sun surrounding a dark circle.



In order to get this shot, I had a 2X neutral density (grey) filter installed, as well as two polarizing filters oriented for minimum light transmission (causing the blue color). My 200mm lens was stopped down as far as it would go (f/22), I had a 2X teleconverter installed (cutting the brightness in half while doubly magnifying the image) and I had the shutter speed at its maximum of 1/1000 second. This combination was everything I could do to minimize the amount of light striking the film (Fuji Super HQ 200), and it just happened to work perfectly!

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