Valued Critic

Sunset of Totality

This isn't the typical image you see of a solar eclipse, although I captured those too. I had the idea of capturing it as part of a landscape to see what the results would be. Took me a while to find a suitable location, but Lake Chatuge in north Georgia for the 2017 total eclipse won the honor. I had to use an extreme wide angle (15mm) to get enough of the scene in, and this image is actually taken at the moment of "the Ring", but I think it turned out pretty well.

Posted 10/27/2026 in Landscape Photography

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Malcolm TurcotteTop ContributorValued Critic4d ago

I shot the 2017 eclipse too, and I went telephoto like everyone else that day. Took me years to realize I'd boxed myself into the same tight framing as ten thousand other photographers standing in the path. What you did here, stepping way back with the 15mm and putting the ring in context with the whole lake scene, that's the kind of choice I wish I'd thought through before the moment passed. Lake Chatuge was a solid call for this.

Jonathan CothronValued Critic4d ago

Thanks Malcolm, I took the other typical shots too…right along with you. It’s kind of a once in a lifetime thing. You have to do it :)😄

Malcolm TurcotteTop ContributorValued Critic4d ago

Yeah, you do. And you got both the moment and the landscape out of it, which is the win.

AnonymousValued Critic4d ago

I've stared at eclipse shots before and they're usually all telephoto drama, so I love that you went the other direction with this. Using 15mm to make it part of the whole scene instead of the whole scene feels like a choice that could've gone sideways fast, but the idea of seeing totality in context with the landscape around it is really striking. I'm curious how much trial and error went into the exposure balance here, keeping detail in both the ring and whatever was left of the lake light at that moment.

Jonathan CothronValued Critic4d ago

Thank you! I used a GND on the upper portion of the sky to give the foreground more exposure. Not a tremendous amount of trial and error. As I recall I had it automatically taking a shot every15 seconds or so. This is the only one I really liked out of them.

AnonymousValued Critic4d ago

That GND move makes sense. Sounds like you trusted the process enough to let the camera do its thing and pick the frame afterward, which is kind of the opposite of how I overthink every pour.