Total Eclipse 2024

Total Solar EclipseCrooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Indiana When I first began thinking about where I’d like to be for April’s total solar eclipse, “Newfoundland” popped into my head. It’s beautiful. I’ve never been there. Good combo! And since it's directly in the Path of Totality and the sun would be fairly low as it crossed the island, it seemed like a good idea. 

But when I looked into typical weather conditions for Newfoundland in early April, I chose to look elsewhere. Cool, cloudy and rainy don’t work well for eclipse photography. I had a less-than-wonderful experience In 2017, when I attempted to photograph the total solar eclipse at The Cullasaja Club, in Cashiers, North Carolina. I never saw the sun. Nothing but clouds. It got dark. And then light again. That was my 2017 eclipse experience, and I was determined to not repeat that disaster. So, a big “NO” to Newfoundland, and I began my search for a golf club along the Path of Totality.

As I looked over the clubs with which I have relationships, Crooked Stick jumped up and shouted, “ME, ME, ME!”. I have photographed this iconic course several times since 2014. I genuinely love the club and the folks who work there have always been very kind to me. So I called Tony Pancake, the GM, and he was all in for having this old guy with a camera show up to shoot the eclipse. Yippee! 

So on April 6th my wife and I drove from Atlanta to Indianapolis, had a wonderful dinner at Delicia, our favorite Indy restaurant, and got a good night’s sleep. The next day we showed up at the club to scout for the best location from which to shoot the event. I wanted a landscape of the golf course that incorporated the full eclipse cycle, so I could create a composite that included a collection of the phases of the eclipse. Three locations looked good. My favorite, from a photographic standpoint, was from behind the 18th green. But since 200 members were expected to come out to see the eclipse, and since the 18th green is adjacent to the clubhouse, I decided on a location I thought would offer some solitude, just behind the 17th green. 

It was great fun. Eclipse photography is more technical than the way I usually shoot. I’m big on gut feelings, and that’s the way I generally work. Sadly, my gut got in the way of my brain during this epic eclipse and a couple of shots I was looking forward to capturing didn’t happen. But the good news is, the next total eclipse in the Western Hemisphere will be happening in Iceland, my favorite non-USA country in the world! I don’t need much of an excuse to go to Iceland again!