Getting good pictures of any solar eclipse, whether it is total or annular, is tough; for one thing you can't really practice. In Cornwall in 1999 it was too cloudy for the total and in Scotland 2003 it was too misty for the annular. The annular solar eclipse last year in Moraira, Spain was great but my pictures just looked like frog spawn and the video camera couldn't cope with the exposure plus the lens proved that the "black drop" is a function of lousy optics. Hopes were high on the morning of 29/03/2006 which brought blue skies, bright sunshine and an early set up in Side. Frog spawn last time but this time, under a total solar eclipse I seem to have managed a fried egg. I can almost fool myself into believing there is a bit of Earth shine there. The solar eclipse video captures are better but look better as video, though on removing the solar filter from the Meade EXT90 I couldn't see the view screen image of the total solar eclipse to check focus or where the image was!!. Maybe next time? Thanks to Sir Patrick Moore and NASA's Fred Espenak for their inspiration.

Hope to add a couple of solar eclipse mpegs and the larger solar eclipse jpeg images soon. Try clicking a thumb.See this too. See the video on www.metacalf.com.

Why eclipses? For once you have tested totality, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have seen totality, and there you long it to return.

It is a long wait until 2 minutes of totality on 01st August 2008 in Mongolia or 4 minutes 22nd July 2009 in China and I might just buy a decent camera in time for my fourth eclipse. And how about a Coronado PST or maybe a trip to the Southern ocean in 2007?

Oh..and Turkey is really rather special. Places to go, many things to see. Swimming in the Med in March was very bracing. Good plan to check HMG for Terror Status! email.