57 replies to this topic

[my-spot]

Location: I would not have changed a thing! Dickinson Park on the northeast corner of Ocean Lake in the middle of Wyoming hit the sweet spot for a nice number of people, facilities, clear sky, etc. The DNR(?) officers on site where helpful and friendly. I stayed with friends in Cody, Wy and drove down in the morning and arrived about 2 hours before 1st contact. Had a nice relaxed setup. There was a bit of a traffic jam heading back to Cody but it only added an hour or two.

Preparation: With some craziness at work, My retired parents moving into my home and then into their home after a cross country move in July and August, I simply did not have time to prepare as well as I would have liked. I would have spent more time gathering and testing equipment, researching exposures, mounts, and automating the whole thing, etc. Instead I did the best I could with the gear and time I had to prepare and then convinced myself to be content with the results. In that respect I had total success! One minor mistake on site was I failed to recenter the ETX just before totality and (maybe) focus could have been slightly better.

Equipment: I would have used a better mount and mounted all optics to it. The old ETX90RA I used was just a bit flimsy and had some mirror-slap issues with my old DSLR. I would have purchased 1 or 2 mirror-less cameras (maybe Sony a6000's?). I wish I could have had time to automate the whole photo taking portion, I hand held my DSLR with 300mm f/4 lens, which worked well, but I would have preferred to just watch. The GoPro I brought did a really good job of capturing the color and ambiance but I also wish I had borrowed and extra GoPro to video out over the landscape. The Solar Eclipse Timer app was dead on for timing. Also wish I had brought my binoculars.

 

Still, I have very little in the way of eclipse regrets...

[woolbrig]

1. Try not to fret about the weather so much (pipe dream)
2. Use a speaker so I can hear prompts to remove the solar filter.
3. Double check that the sun is centered (was of center about 1/2 a sun)
4. Use a focal reducer on my ED80.  600mm was really to much.
5. Instead of piggybacking my Lunt, use a ST80 at 400mm and perhaps leave the ED80 at 600mm.
6. Make sure AC in the travel trailer works before we leave!

[vickiestar]

A few things I would do the same/differently:

 

Same:
Camping - This is a great way to spend the night almost anywhere you want to be on the day (or days) prior to the eclipse.

Bike riding  - Also a great way to travel somewhere (from campsite to viewing site) if you want to be somewhere specific during the eclipse. Just make sure you have a good gear bag or backpack that you can carry while riding. Mine was near overloaded with DSLR, tripod, GoPro, accesories, snacks, and water.

 

Different:

Real-time vs Time-lapse - I tried making a time-lapse with my GoPro. I got a few interesting frames, but I think a "3 minute" real-time video would have been better than a time-lapse. A real time video can be much more interesting, especially in capturing people's reactions and all the screaming and yelling (if within a crowd).

Shadow bands - Maybe try to capture some shadow bands with another video camera (recording on its own while viewing eclipse/ using other primary camera).

[REC]

Oh, some silly things, like checking on the hieght of my chair and table! I was set up to view the partial phase with my PST Ha solar scope, like at home, but really never looked at the sun before when it was that high in the sky, 62* in SC. The chair I had would not go low enough to to look through the eyepiece. Had to fiddle around and ended up sitting on the ground, which was not comfortable at all!

 

Not really using my eclipse glasses! Yup, that's right. I was planing on doing most of the eclipse in the solar scope and felt I didn't need to use the shades. I should have used them a little more, caught a glimpse through them about 2 min. before totality as a signal to switch to binoculars.

 

Not seeing either Diamond Ring! Missed the first getting ready for bino view and when I got the sun in view, the corona had already been formed. On the back end, pulled away from the bino a second too early, but got a nice view of the pink coronasphere!

 

Forgetting to set up the camcorder. I was going to place it in front of the crowd to record the moment. The heat was very bad where I was and it affected my brain cells! Luckily, our TV staion in NC covered the event from our location at the hotel and documented the last 30 minutes of the event! They did a much better coverage than my camcorder would have done. It's available to see on their website anytime I want to look at it.

[vickiestar]

One more thing:

In capturing people's reactions to the eclipse, have an unobtrusive camera pointed toward the crowd, and with a good microphone. Get people's faces in the frame, not a view from the back. Some of the best videos I've seen of this eclipse aren't great because of the eclipse itself, but of how crowds went crazy. People were yelling, screaming, and applauding in fascination.

 

One example is this video (not mine). It has more then 1.5M views. Check the crowd reaction at around 4:00 in the video.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=G10m2ZZRH4U

 

After the eclipse, you will then hopefully have some editing work to do - splicing clear pictures of the eclipse itself, combined with people's reactions from the ground. And maybe even a short view of the shadow bands that take place. 

[REC]

One more thing:

In capturing people's reactions to the eclipse, have an unobtrusive camera pointed toward the crowd, and with a good microphone. Get people's faces in the frame, not a view from the back. Some of the best videos I've seen of this eclipse aren't great because of the eclipse itself, but of how crowds went crazy. People were yelling, screaming, and applauding in fascination.

 

One example is this video (not mine). It has more then 1.5M views. Check the crowd reaction at around 4:00 in the video.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=G10m2ZZRH4U

 

After the eclipse, you will then hopefully have some editing work to do - splicing clear pictures of the eclipse itself, combined with people's reactions from the ground. And maybe even a short view of the shadow bands that take place.

Great video and crowd reaction! Nice being up on a hill to get a 360* view of the sky. I missed the horizon from my location, but had nice clear views of the eclipse, Venus and Jupiter.

[vickiestar]

 

...In capturing people's reactions to the eclipse, have an unobtrusive camera pointed toward the crowd, and with a good microphone. Get people's faces in the frame, not a view from the back. Some of the best videos I've seen of this eclipse aren't great because of the eclipse itself, but of how crowds went crazy...One example is this video (not mine). It has more then 1.5M views. Check the crowd reaction at around 4:00 in the video.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=G10m2ZZRH4U

...

Great video and crowd reaction! Nice being up on a hill to get a 360* view of the sky. I missed the horizon from my location, but had nice clear views of the eclipse, Venus and Jupiter.

 

That's a good point. A horizon in the images can help a lot, since it is one of the few places in the sky that has light (like a sunset all-around).

The crowd reaction is also something that videographers should attempt to capture - there's many things that can be seen in the sky, but not many which draw a big applause from so many people all at the same time. Seeing an eclipse without the audience reaction would be in baseball like watching a game-winning home run with no sound.

[pfile]

man where do i begin.

 

1) try harder to find lodging in jackson during the eclipse. by the time the kids' school schedule was set in january, most hotels did not have anything. but once we got there i could see that there were just zillions of condos and other "home" type vacation rentals. corollary - who gives a *@@$ about the school schedule... this is a total solar eclipse, by god.

 

2) think harder about trying to drive even just 100 miles between cheyenne and glendo. decided to leave cheyenne so early in the morning that by the time the eclipse came i was half asleep.

 

3) don't go where everyone else went - it took 8.5 hours to go back to cheyenne, including 3 hours stuck in traffic inside glendo state park. i thought about detouring to guernsey and that might have been the better option despite a slightly shorter eclipse.

 

4) try to be more present in the moment. totality came and went pretty quickly and i was super excited, not really taking everything in properly.

 

5) not be too chicken to use my binoculars during totality. i left them in the car - i was afraid of one of my kids picking up the binoculars and trying to view the sun with no filters, so i decided discretion was the better part of valor.

 

fortunately everything went well with my camera. i practiced a lot at home and in my hotel room, including getting the camera pointing (fixed tripod) approximately correct the night before and understanding the geometry between my body and the tripod height, etc. still i did almost miss - the sun was quite low in the frame by the time totality ended.

 

rob

Edited by pfile, 05 September 2017 - 07:38 PM.

[SKYGZR]

Utilized my .8 FR on the AT72 to achieve a bit wider field. Remembered to rotate the cam to the left a bit so the main streamers were width wise on the sensor. Distractions and anticipation overcame.

[APshooter]

We set up 5 cameras and all of them worked. I would have liked to have had another camera looking over my shoulder shooting the eclipse in time lapse as well as a video camera atop the 5 inch recording out live.

[rainycityastro]

Very few things to complain about this eclipse. Nearly everything was perfect, including the weather. Just one major nit.

 

Things that went well:

• Deciding to bring 4 cameras instead of just going visual. How else are you going to remember the event of a lifetime? Ignored the bad advice on not photographing an eclipse from lots of sources. 
• Deciding to do a gopro of the entire eclipse in addition to a time lapse on a tripod and two telescopes running SEM scripts.
• Deciding to camp instead of staying in a hotel. Gave us a lot of flexibility. Good thing my wife is a great sport!
• Rehearsed the SEM scripts like a million times before the actual event. With the exact same setup I had. It felt almost mechanical taking the filters off and putting them back on.
• Set up the previous day and rehearsed a few times AGAIN just to be sure. Also focused the previous day at approximately the same temperature.
• Refocused about 10 mins before totality
• Brought multiple computers, USB hubs, cables, powerpoles etc. Definitely treated it as a once in a lifetime event. (which it was). I dont think I will ever image an eclipse with SO much equipment. If we go to Chile in 2019, it will be with a tiny telescope and a small mount.
• Brought enough food and a cooler and solar panels to keep the food cool. I didnt realize how awesome solar panels were.
• Enjoyed totality completely: saw all parts of it since photography was on autopilot. What an event!
• Event was at 6000 feet with near perfect skies. 
• Rented camera equipment instead of buying-- saved unnecessary expenses and selling later.
• Great polar alignment and rock solid alignment of images across entire totality. Good thing I brought an Astrophysics mount.

Things that could have gone better:

 

• Messed up camera angle. I should have rotated the camera around 70-90 degrees to capture more of the corona and for a more pleasing composition. This was the biggest mistake.
• Should have shot fewer frames at 4 secs and higher. The sky was much brighter and the corona much fainter than I thought it would be. 
• Should have brought a couple of reclining chairs. I enjoyed the eclipse standing up but would have preferred it to be on a reclining chair!

[REC]

 

Very few things to complain about this eclipse. Nearly everything was perfect, including the weather. Just one major nit.

 

Things that went well:

• Deciding to bring 4 cameras instead of just going visual. How else are you going to remember the event of a lifetime? Ignored the bad advice on not photographing an eclipse from lots of sources. 
• Deciding to do a gopro of the entire eclipse in addition to a time lapse on a tripod and two telescopes running SEM scripts.
• Deciding to camp instead of staying in a hotel. Gave us a lot of flexibility. Good thing my wife is a great sport!
• Rehearsed the SEM scripts like a million times before the actual event. With the exact same setup I had. It felt almost mechanical taking the filters off and putting them back on.
• Set up the previous day and rehearsed a few times AGAIN just to be sure. Also focused the previous day at approximately the same temperature.
• Refocused about 10 mins before totality
• Brought multiple computers, USB hubs, cables, powerpoles etc. Definitely treated it as a once in a lifetime event. (which it was). I dont think I will ever image an eclipse with SO much equipment. If we go to Chile in 2019, it will be with a tiny telescope and a small mount.
• Brought enough food and a cooler and solar panels to keep the food cool. I didnt realize how awesome solar panels were.
• Enjoyed totality completely: saw all parts of it since photography was on autopilot. What an event!
• Event was at 6000 feet with near perfect skies. 
• Rented camera equipment instead of buying-- saved unnecessary expenses and selling later.
• Great polar alignment and rock solid alignment of images across entire totality. Good thing I brought an Astrophysics mount.

Things that could have gone better:

 

• Messed up camera angle. I should have rotated the camera around 70-90 degrees to capture more of the corona and for a more pleasing composition. This was the biggest mistake.
• Should have shot fewer frames at 4 secs and higher. The sky was much brighter and the corona much fainter than I thought it would be. 
• Should have brought a couple of reclining chairs. I enjoyed the eclipse standing up but would have preferred it to be on a reclining chair!

 

Soooooo, let's see some of your pictures and video's

[hm insulators]

Try to find a rental car with an easier-to-operate radio!

[rainycityastro]

 

 

Very few things to complain about this eclipse. Nearly everything was perfect, including the weather. Just one major nit.

 

Things that went well:

• Deciding to bring 4 cameras instead of just going visual. How else are you going to remember the event of a lifetime? Ignored the bad advice on not photographing an eclipse from lots of sources. 
• Deciding to do a gopro of the entire eclipse in addition to a time lapse on a tripod and two telescopes running SEM scripts.
• Deciding to camp instead of staying in a hotel. Gave us a lot of flexibility. Good thing my wife is a great sport!
• Rehearsed the SEM scripts like a million times before the actual event. With the exact same setup I had. It felt almost mechanical taking the filters off and putting them back on.
• Set up the previous day and rehearsed a few times AGAIN just to be sure. Also focused the previous day at approximately the same temperature.
• Refocused about 10 mins before totality
• Brought multiple computers, USB hubs, cables, powerpoles etc. Definitely treated it as a once in a lifetime event. (which it was). I dont think I will ever image an eclipse with SO much equipment. If we go to Chile in 2019, it will be with a tiny telescope and a small mount.
• Brought enough food and a cooler and solar panels to keep the food cool. I didnt realize how awesome solar panels were.
• Enjoyed totality completely: saw all parts of it since photography was on autopilot. What an event!
• Event was at 6000 feet with near perfect skies. 
• Rented camera equipment instead of buying-- saved unnecessary expenses and selling later.
• Great polar alignment and rock solid alignment of images across entire totality. Good thing I brought an Astrophysics mount.

Things that could have gone better:

 

• Messed up camera angle. I should have rotated the camera around 70-90 degrees to capture more of the corona and for a more pleasing composition. This was the biggest mistake.
• Should have shot fewer frames at 4 secs and higher. The sky was much brighter and the corona much fainter than I thought it would be. 
• Should have brought a couple of reclining chairs. I enjoyed the eclipse standing up but would have preferred it to be on a reclining chair!

 

Soooooo, let's see some of your pictures and video's

 

I posted a few photos and a rather crappy video here. 

 

https://www.flickr.c...57685533653283/

 

https://www.flickr.c...57685533653283/

 

https://www.flickr.c...57685533653283/

 

Still working on another image. I dont yet like it

[MarcKyle1964]

1) Sleep more the night before the eclipse. Between the semi-trucks jake braking every twenty minutes and the parking lot lights shining into my car, I didn't sleep at all. 

2) Stay there during the day and drive home after the traffic ends. What takes an hour normally took three. (yes, totality was an hour's drive from home)

3) Get a good equatorial mount with a tracking motor and a proper glass solar filter, not those $30 rings that don't fit snugly with a sheet of pop-tart wrapper glued to the inside

4) Sunshield for my scope

5) Scour eBay for a cheap Coronado with the prominence enhancing filter

6) Don't fret about the weather, the skies were perfect

7) Volunteer with my local astronomy society again!

8) Remember to use my binos to look at the corona - I was totally 'wow' and 'cool' during the whole 1:54 and 'hey, that's Venus!' while pointing straight up and didn't remember them until a half hour later.

 

See you guys in 2024!!

[JHollJr]

Location just east of Helen, GA with 1min 25 seconds of totality. It was good to sacrifice some time for convenience. Drove 600 miles to arrive on Saturday for the Monday event. This was great. Left on Wednesday.

 

Equipment: Questar 3.5 standard with 40mm off-axis solar filter, mounted on a Tristand with Powerguide III tracking, eclipse glasses, Celestron SolarSafe 10x25 binoculars, Leica 10x50 Ultravid binoculars, Starbound observing chair, iPhone camera. Since I didn't intend to image this equipment was about perfect. Gave good different kinds of views and kept me busy for the long partial part of the eclipse.

 

 

What went wrong? During totality I grabbed the 10x50's and couldn't figure out why I couldn't see anything. It took me several seconds to realize that I hadn't taken the covers off the object lenses. Too bad. The views through the binoculars are most memorable moments, seeing the corona and Regulus in the field.

 

In 2024 I will do pretty much the same, but will try to video the people and the general atmosphere around me. Get to the site two days early and stay two days after. This was the best idea. We rented a cabin in the area in the woods with basically no view of the sky. Big mistake, though we planned to view the eclipse from a winery less than a mile away. Got to the winery two hours early. My wife and 81 year old mother in law enjoyed the wine. I enjoyed fiddling with equipment and no wine.

 

Immediately after totality my wife's response was "When is the next one"? 

[REC]

1) Sleep more the night before the eclipse. Between the semi-trucks jake braking every twenty minutes and the parking lot lights shining into my car, I didn't sleep at all. 

2) Stay there during the day and drive home after the traffic ends. What takes an hour normally took three. (yes, totality was an hour's drive from home)

3) Get a good equatorial mount with a tracking motor and a proper glass solar filter, not those $30 rings that don't fit snugly with a sheet of pop-tart wrapper glued to the inside

4) Sunshield for my scope

5) Scour eBay for a cheap Coronado with the prominence enhancing filter

6) Don't fret about the weather, the skies were perfect

7) Volunteer with my local astronomy society again!

8) Remember to use my binos to look at the corona - I was totally 'wow' and 'cool' during the whole 1:54 and 'hey, that's Venus!' while pointing straight up and didn't remember them until a half hour later.

 

See you guys in 2024!!

Oh no, no bino's? They where the perfect instrument! Just talked to a friend who was in TN for it and he forgot his too and he knows better! Make sure next time!

[REC]

Location just east of Helen, GA with 1min 25 seconds of totality. It was good to sacrifice some time for convenience. Drove 600 miles to arrive on Saturday for the Monday event. This was great. Left on Wednesday.

 

Equipment: Questar 3.5 standard with 40mm off-axis solar filter, mounted on a Tristand with Powerguide III tracking, eclipse glasses, Celestron SolarSafe 10x25 binoculars, Leica 10x50 Ultravid binoculars, Starbound observing chair, iPhone camera. Since I didn't intend to image this equipment was about perfect. Gave good different kinds of views and kept me busy for the long partial part of the eclipse.

 

 

 

What went wrong? During totality I grabbed the 10x50's and couldn't figure out why I couldn't see anything. It took me several seconds to realize that I hadn't taken the covers off the object lenses. Too bad. The views through the binoculars are most memorable moments, seeing the corona and Regulus in the field.

 

In 2024 I will do pretty much the same, but will try to video the people and the general atmosphere around me. Get to the site two days early and stay two days after. This was the best idea. We rented a cabin in the area in the woods with basically no view of the sky. Big mistake, though we planned to view the eclipse from a winery less than a mile away. Got to the winery two hours early. My wife and 81 year old mother in law enjoyed the wine. I enjoyed fiddling with equipment and no wine.

 

Immediately after totality my wife's response was "When is the next one"? 

You have some pretty impressive gear there, a Questar, Leica bino's, Starbound chair, ect. I have the chair, but forgot it in my rush to leave. Had to borrow a chair from the hotel. Leaving the lens cap on....go figure? Lot's of Murphy's law went on during the eclipse. By biggest issue that I had a real problem was the heat! We had a heat index o 101* and I don't do well in heat. It screws up my thinking.

 

Super that your 81 year ols mother was there! Looks like a nice site you picked out:)

[JHollJr]

I bought the Questar new in 1980, the Leica's in 2006. Use both almost every clear night.

[WebFoot]

If you could have a do over, what would you do differently?

 

I would get a tracking mount. The sun was so high in East Tennessee it was useless trying to use a normal tripod. 

 

This would mean I would have used Solar Eclipse Maestro to get my images.

 

I would remember to remove the Solarite filter (on camera lens) prior to totality and replace just after totality instead of inside totality. Oops.

 

Setup a video camera to record everyone.

 

Taken the 5 minutes to setup my temp/humidity/dew point sensor throughout the day.

 

You?

Two things, principally:

Take a longer exposure (like 2 seconds), to capture the reflected earth shine, and take some very fast exposures (1/1000 - 1/2000 sec) to capture the prominences).

If I had been confident that I would have a good patch of ground to set up on, I would have brought a tracking GEM.  But I didn't, and it was ok, since the sun wasn't too high in Oregon.

[REC]

I bought the Questar new in 1980, the Leica's in 2006. Use both almost every clear night.

When I was in college in 1968, our professor had one out at a star party one night. I had seen the ads for them in S&T, but never had the chance to see one up close! What workmanship I remember. I brought my RV-6 scope to the event...lol. I worked for Meade in 1998 and they had just come out with their version, the ETX-90 and used it to photograph the 1998 solar eclipse in Aruba. My buddy next to me had the Questar, so I was in good company:)

 

A friend of mine worked for Leica in the 80's and a had one of his 7x35 Trinovid's on "lone" for a while. Had to give them back when he quit the company, first class optics I remember.

[Exeligmos]

This thread title could also be "What would you do differently for 2024."

 

1. Do not take my gaze away from the eclipsed sun until the 3rd-contact diamond ring. (I.e., I missed it).

 

2. Have a properly mounted telescope (or binoculars if the sun is at a lower angle). My 7x50s, which are normally dependable, were nearly useless due to the excitement-induced hand shaking.

 

3. Speaking of binoculars.... Focus them on Venus before totality. For some reason, I had trouble focusing them on the eclipse.

 

4. Find a site with largely unobstructed horizons. This is not a deal breaker, but the approaching shadow really is a big part of the show.

 

5. Not worry as much about the crowds. This was not an issue at all. After the event, there was a little waiting on the highway, but nothing extraordinary.

 

6. Weather.... no change. For me, it is imperative to obsess about the weather. Eventually, you get a really good feel of what the weather will be in areas across the region, and will be able to act on very short notice as soon as things get iffy. This probably saved the day as I drove just beyond the area of cloudiness in southern IL / northern KY.

 

7. Make an effort to take at least a mediocre cell phone photo of totality. I didn't bother with photography. I heeded the advice to not take photos. But still, the phone cam would have taken a couple seconds....

[JHollJr]

I think the cellphone photo is a good idea. I took one and with some processing it looks pretty decent. It makes me feel good that it is mine. My wife took a cell phone video through the whole totality, and it is really fun to see and hear the people around me, and she even got me looking up for a second or two. So I agree with your point number 7.

[REC]

This thread title could also be "What would you do differently for 2024."
 
1. Do not take my gaze away from the eclipsed sun until the 3rd-contact diamond ring. (I.e., I missed it).
 
2. Have a properly mounted telescope (or binoculars if the sun is at a lower angle). My 7x50s, which are normally dependable, were nearly useless due to the excitement-induced hand shaking.
 
3. Speaking of binoculars.... Focus them on Venus before totality. For some reason, I had trouble focusing them on the eclipse.
 
4. Find a site with largely unobstructed horizons. This is not a deal breaker, but the approaching shadow really is a big part of the show.
 
5. Not worry as much about the crowds. This was not an issue at all. After the event, there was a little waiting on the highway, but nothing extraordinary.
 
6. Weather.... no change. For me, it is imperative to obsess about the weather. Eventually, you get a really good feel of what the weather will be in areas across the region, and will be able to act on very short notice as soon as things get iffy. This probably saved the day as I drove just beyond the area of cloudiness in southern IL / northern KY.
 
Focusing on Venus would have been a great idea. I even forgot to look for it in the first place until someone mentioned it. It was slightly behind a small tree from where I was sitting. I was using Regulas to get best focus. Glad I had my bino's mounted from what you described.

7. Make an effort to take at least a mediocre cell phone photo of totality. I didn't bother with photography. I heeded the advice to not take photos. But still, the phone cam would have taken a couple seconds....

[REC]

I'd remember to tune my PST barrel to find the prominences during the early partial. I was tuned too far the other way and missed them.

Hmmm, maybe me too but....I was having a hard time pointing the PST so high up, that it was getting frustrating, on top of being in direct sun at 95* out! On top of that, the chair and table I had set up for the PST was too high and I had to kneel on the ground to find the sun! Then I saw a guy not far from me that hat a shade on his Lunt to block the sun. I told him good idea and he gave me a sheet of cardboard to use for mine.....now I'm set, right? Nope, I cut a whole in the board, placed the tube through the hole and put some tape on it to secure it. Ok, now let's go find the sun.....where is it, can't find the sun on the top viewer??? What's going on, I'm pointing right at it? Then it hit me...the cardboard is blocking the little hole in the scope and that's why I can't see it in the finder.....dummy! So off goes the cardboard and there is not much time left. I said, screw this, I'll just go over the guy with the Lunt and see the prominence's in his scope and besides, he is shaded from the direct sunlight.
 
You know what, I made lemonade at of a lemon situation. His view of that big prom was much better than in my PST. Very clear, sharp views of it. Now I have to find a way to get the tape residue off the barrel.

Had the same issue, I had a shade for PST that I had never used it before, I kept trying to get the sun on the viewfinder of the PST but it would not work, I would get some weird reflections of light, after fiddling with it for about 15-20 mins I realized the shade was blocking the hole on the scope. Took the shade out but my tripod's ball head kept falling over due to the weight, luckily I had another shorter ball head which worked okay. PST became a hit after the totality when the small sliver of sun was visible, we were able to see the prominences.

Glad to hear I was not the only one to do that! Looking back at the height problem, I should have thought about mounting the PST on the adjustable tripod I had sitting right next to me! I was going to take pictures on it, but gave up on the idea of fiddling with a camera, glad I did.