#totaleclipse2017

Hopkinsville, Kentucky | August 21, 2017

2017 © Kelly Cline 3 Willows

I’m so glad I experienced the Great American Eclipse in Hopkinsville, Kentucky this year. Traveling to the eclipse included a spectacular sunrise and gorgeous sunset on the way back, so it was a great day for the skies. It took about five and a half hours to get to Hopkinsville. We stopped in Elizabethtown, Kentucky the night before, so we had a two hour drive on the day of the eclipse. Having heard all the stories about how bad traffic could be, we got up super early and arrived a little after 6:30 am (luckily Hopkinsville is an hour behind where I live). We found free parking right next to an open field, close to where people paid $75 for reserved spots. We hiked to McDonalds (along with everyone else) to kill some time, and then camped out until the eclipse. It was a hot, humid, and generally sticky day, but I am so thankful we had clear skies.

I set up my D800 on a tripod with an old 70-300 lens to take still photos, and used my GoPro to do a timelapse. I meant to bring a small tripod for the GoPro, but I forgot it, so I used hair ties to attach a selfie stick to my big tripod, and viola, The GoPro was ready (as shown in a picture above). I also took several videos on my phone while using the other two cameras, so I was busy during totality! I had a filter on my D800, so during most of the eclipse I had to use Live View to focus and shoot, and I used a sweater over my head to block the glare. It wasn’t easy to see, but it worked!

I’ve decided that no matter how many amazing photos and videos and you may see of an eclipse, nothing comes close to the real thing, and I encourage everyone to experience one if possible. The totality of the eclipse lasted just about two and a half minutes, but every second was worth it! I expected it to be awesome, and it shattered my expectations. It’s day and night at the same moment, and just as suddenly as it begins, it ends, and everything goes back to normal as if nothing strange even happened. It’s weird, and it’s amazing.

There was also a festival nearby called Kelly’s Little Green Men Festival, so naturally we tried to stop there since my name is Kelly, but sadly they had finished up by the time we got there. We probably wasted an hour trying to get there thanks to the eclipse traffic.

We had stop and go traffic for over five hours, making it as far as one hour would normally take. Many of the locals watched the parade of cars from their porches. People stood on an overpass waving at everyone. We tried to find a hotel, and after multiple exits being booked solid, we finally found a place, and stayed an extra night. We made it home the next afternoon. I know it took some people 12-13 hours to get home, and probably took us at least 11, but it was well worth it.