SUMMARY
The author details his experiences photographing solar eclipses, including an annular "Ring of Fire" eclipse in Mexico using a Leica R3 SLR and a Celestron C-90 telescope. He contrasts this with a later cruise ship experience for a Caribbean eclipse, where ship movement and limited shutter speeds made photography difficult, despite successful cloud avoidance. He also shares a tip about using a straw hat's holes as pinhole lenses for partial phases.
TAKEAWAYS
Annular eclipses create a "Ring of Fire" when the Moon is too far to fully cover the Sun.
Photographing eclipses from a moving cruise ship presented stability challenges, resulting in blurry images.
A straw hat's holes can function as pinhole lenses to project images of the partial eclipse phases.
The author emphasizes the importance of experiencing the eclipse visually over perfect photography.