It is August 2nd. That means that the month over which I’ve been slobbering for the last 8 years is *FINALLY* here. Assuming that you aren’t living in a remote Brazilian jungle and completely and utterly isolated from news, the fact that there is an eclipse coming to the continental US should not at all be shocking at this point.

I have reserved a couple different things through borrowlenses.com: a Canon 7D mark II camera body, and a 100-400mm F4L lens. I figure that shooting on an APS-C sensor will automatically get me about a 640mm equivalent look to the pictures, which is still a tad less than I’d like, but it is what it is, and there are other eclipses coming.

One concern I have is that I haven’t ordered any filters. That’s … yah. Not an oversight. I’m actually making my own, and I really need to start dedicating my time to making sure that they’re going to work. I ordered a sheet of black polymer solar filter film from thousandoaksoptical.com through Amazon. I really should order another because I have 0 confidence that I’m not going to severely jack up this thing. I’m also considering ordering some optical glass from a warehouse, but we’ll see. I’m not doing that just yet … and at this point, probably not, but we’ll see.

I have two camera bodies that I’ll be using. I own and use (read: abuse) a Canon 6D with pretty much reckless abandon. I also have a 24-105mm F4L lens that I’ll use to track the eclipse from beginning to end. I HOPE to use it to capture the eclipse and the constellation of Orion, since it will be out to the southwest during the eclipse. That, to me, is just … wow. WOW!! I hope to get it all in one shot, but if not, I’m happy making a composite.

I’ve been going through old pics the last few weeks. It’s amazing what I’ve learned about Adobe Camera Raw over the last few years just from tinkering. I love it. I’m confident that these pictures of the eclipse are going to be … dare I say it …… *stellar*. Sorry. I couldn’t resist. I mean … sure, I could have, but I chose not to. Cope with my wit.

We’re going to Idaho Falls to stay with a friend of mine who I haven’t seen since I moved from Buffalo in 1995. She and her husband have graciously invited us to stay with them. The problem is that the sheer number of people who are traveling to the shadow’s path is *insane*. The eclipse is on a Monday. We’re leaving that Friday afternoon to beat the traffic heading north. Friday. A full 3 sleeps before the actual eclipse. We’re also bringing a ridiculous amount of food and water for the car ride because who knows what’ll happen when we go to leave … or for that matter when we can actually leave. According to some reports, we may be stuck in Idaho Falls until that Wednesday due to the traffic. THAT IS RIDICULOUS.

Speaking of ridiculous, though … ha ha. The I-15 north-bound will be lined with porta-potties. I don’t … whatever. Sure.

Less than 3 weeks … I’m stoked.