Euphoria After the Total Eclipse

It is just several minutes after the total eclipse end. The tension, which had weighed down all of the members of our team, suddenly lifted. The expedition which I had planned for so long and which, at the time when we were leaving Brno, seemed more than likely to fail, due to the weather in Europe, was a success. While even 20 minutes before the beginning of totality it was uncertain whether any of the clouds would make observation impossible the euphoria that each member of the expedition succumbed to afterwards was immense. None of us had witnessed a total eclipse of the Sun with our own eyes before and none of us had anticipated just what a deep impression this rarely seen natural phenomenon would make on us.

The pictures were lit by still very weak sunlight as the Sun was more than 90% covered by the Moon. The landscape took on a cold, steely blue color as the light from the blue sky was still strong. This gave a very special illumination to the pictures. Exposure times were still very long, although we used the highly sensitive Agfacolor HDC 400 Plus film. As a result, the photos of expedition members jumping for joy are a little blurred. (Click on the pictures to see them enlarged.)

Victory û the complete Fujicolor Superia 800 film had been exposed and it was just at the moment that I believed nothing had gone wrong. (Click to see it enlarged.)