Solar Eclipse for the One Show
Today's shift started at 04:30. In my book, that's kind of anti-social, especially when you're crawling out of bed in Glasgow rather than out of a tent on a mountain somewhere. Then again, it's not every day that you've a chance of seeing a solar eclipse, and rarer yet that you've been asked to take some photographs as part of a feature on BBC's One Show. Four photographers from around the UK were to be sent out to see who could get the most evocative photograph of the events of the day, and I was chosen to represent Scotland… No pressure then!
Not sure I like this end of the camera...
The weather forecast was looking pretty sketchy, but it's not like you can put off the eclipse until the next day when it's clearer, so we set off for Edinburgh, where the met office said there was a slim chance of catching a glimpse of the eclipse if we were lucky. We figured that worst case, we could get some good shots of the other folks that were bound to be out on the off-chance too: it was all about catching people enjoying the moment rather than trying to photograph the sun (heck, I can't compete with the big telescopes! Sometimes size does matter).
Calton Hill seemed like a good spot, and we were there early enough to get a prime spot with a cracking view out over the city… Sure enough, by 09:00 the place was packed! People were viewing the eclipse in progress through everything from proper viewing glasses, to collanders and home-made pinholes. For once the Scottish weather came good for us, and we had pretty much ideal viewing conditions.
We had a bit of a scout around to make sure we had the best shot we were going to get, and then recruited a young family to pose for our photo. Young Samuel and his mum were absolutely brilliant in front of the camera, and I reckon we went away with a pretty good shot - it was exactly what I'd hoped for. Ok, so the Welsh team's photograph of the Meerkats won the competition on the night, but I had a cracking day out, saw something truly incredible and went home with a good photograph in the bag: that's a win in my book!
