25/08/2026
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE AT SEA
I've had some time back home to digest what we saw two weeks ago and work on the images captured.
This is a wider view, taking in the seascape and the phases of the solar eclipse, totality, and the still partially eclipsed sun disappearing below the horizon, looking like a sail or a fin as it did so.
This collage uses an image of totality during its mid-point, the shadow cast by the moon roughly evenly spaced either side of it. I've overlaid multiple frames of the partial eclipse captured with my other camera and lens combination, equipped with a solar filter.
What is obvious to me is how few clouds there were, even distant haze was fairly minimal - a testament to how well Captain Gavin Pears did finding the best place to observe the eclipse
🗓️ Aug 12 2026
🧭 40 nautical miles off the coast of Palma de Mallorca
🛳️ Enchanted Princess Princess Cruises
Creating this image has been like the Avengers Assemble of photography - all my gear, and many major manufacturers have a hand in this somehow. This was my setup for this particular shot.
Camera 1:
Sony A7IV Sony UK
Sigma 150-600mm
Benro Mach 3 tripod
Celestron EclipSmart universal solar filter for all images except during totality, plus Celestron solar filter glasses for optical viewing Celestron
Camera 2:
Sony A7III
Tamron 28-75mm
KF Concept tripod K&F CONCEPT
Nisi ND filters NiSi Filters UK
The image:
I've selected the best, sharpest frames from my Lightroom catalogue and assembled these as a collage using Adobe Photoshop. No generative AI has been used in the making of this image - this is a faithful representation of how the eclipse really looked, getting redder as sunset and totality approached. The position and angle of the descending sun and moon are as accurate as I could make them although I have taken some artistic license with the crescent phases nearest totality, which I spaced out more so each phase is evenly spaced in this image.
