Eclipsed

"I've been waiting for this moment my entire life."

I don't know why the television commercial for the Bank of Montreal (BMO) eclipse Visa Infinite card bothers me as much as it does, but it does all the same. I mean, there's this guy and his friend who go to a park to watch a solar eclipse for what appears to be the guy's first time. He's clearly excited to catch this celestial phenomenon.

And out of nowhere, there's a banker behind a desk (played by the funny and talented Lamorne Morris, from New Girl) who tries to interest the couple in a credit card that goes by the name, eclipse (with a lowercase E). And while he distracts them with his sales pitch, the couple miss the solar eclipse.

"You saw the only eclipse you need," is what the banker says, not sorry for depriving the poor man of an event he had been waiting his whole life to see.

Anyway, the ad bugs me. Why can't the banker simply wait for the solar eclipse to pass, and then plug his card?

I wasn't expecting to get up to photograph yesterday's solar eclipse. It was coinciding with the moonrise, which was also happening just before sunrise, in Ottawa, at 5:15. At that hour, I was expecting to be in bed, sound asleep.

I wasn't waiting my whole life for this event. After all, I had captured the last partial eclipse, a few years ago, and while the event was interesting to watch, I wasn't overly impressed with my photos, which show a black sky with a hazy crescent sun.

But when one of my colleagues asked me about it, I thought that at the very least, I should go out and capture a sunrise—something I haven't done since May of last year.

I searched for a spot close to home so that I wouldn't have to get up before 4:30, and I thought of the Vimy Memorial Bridge, which is less than 10 minutes from me. But when I used the Photographer's Ephemeris app to check where the sun would be rising, I didn't think I had the best vantage if I wanted to include the arches of the bridge.

I then thought of somewhere on the Ottawa River, close to downtown, and I considered setting up at the Chaudière Falls, but I was worried that the safety barriers that protect visitors could be a hinderance. I also knew that there has been ongoing construction in the area and wasn't sure if I could safely park my car there.

Next, I considered going to Green Island, between the Rideau Falls, and using the Commonwealth Air Force Memorial statue as a backdrop. But I worried that the trees, which are behind the memorial, might be too close and that by the time the sun cleared them, the maximum point of the eclipse would have been reached.

I went to bed, that night, thinking that I would give Green Island a try, anyway, and see if I could get some good shots. But my doubts kept me awake, and it wasn't until about 1:30 that I thought of the perfect spot: the Portage Bridge.

I awoke at 4:00 and quickly dressed. My camera gear was packed and waiting by the front door. All had looked like I had made it out of the house without waking anyone, until I sat in the car and inadvertently set off the alarm (my sincerest of apologies to any neighbour that I woke up).

When I reached the middle of the bridge, between Victoria Island and the Québec shores, I set up my Nikon D750 on a tripod, with my 24–70mm lens, and composed a view that included Parliament Hill, the National Gallery, and Notre Dame Cathedral, with the Ottawa River below.

Next, I set up my Insta360 One R on a monopod and started recording the whole scene in Time Lapse mode. It would continue to record while I captured stills.

Finally, I had my D7200 with a 70–300 lens, set to a high enough ISO so that I could shoot without a tripod.

I was set up by 4:45, which gave me a half an hour to capture pre-sunrise shots and make any changes to my setup, with plenty of time to kill.

I was glad that I arrived when I did. Clouds hung low in the east and cast a myriad of colours as the sun approached from behind the horizon. For me, this sky eclipsed the main event.

I hadn't waited my whole life for this moment, but I was glad I didn't miss it. I'll share more about the actual eclipse, next week.

Happy Friday!