On April 8, 2024, the “Great American Eclipse” passed right over the heart of the Adirondacks. I have been coming to the ADK for the past 6+ years and have quickly fallen in love with everything about this region. I could not think of a better place see and photograph the Eclipse. As luck would have it, one of the stasticially most cloudy places in April had some of the best chances at viewing this Eclipse. Everything was beginning to take shape for a fantastic experience.

Unfortuneately just a few weeks prior to the Eclipse, I had a small accident on a mountain bike while out on a ride with my friends. I ended up breaking my wrist on a rock roll about a few miles from the trailhead. Fortunately I was with 3 strong and supportive good friends of mine, and thanks to them I got out quickly and safely. I was also lucky enough to only walk away from the accident with a broken wrist. All things considered I got off easy, especially because I had at first thought there would be no way I would even make it to the Eclipse, especially once I heard I needed surgery and hospitalization.

Because one of my other friends also suffered a minor injury, we were trying to come up with a location at the last minute that was easy to access, had good views, and wasn’t crowded—keep dreaming, right? I also had an insanely ridiculous amount of gear, and with one working arm I had to rely on my friends to help me lug it around. Well, as it turns out we hit another stroke of luck. Upon driving back from a popular trailhead in the ADK, we stumbled upon a group of private homes situated with a perfect view of the Great Range. My friends and I jokingly said, “what if we ask these guys to use their backyard” and well, that’s kind of what happened. Naturally my friends chose me to do the talking since the sling on my arm kind of looked convincing.

Somehow it worked, and we got to experience a Total Solar Eclipse in the Adirondacks with 2 new friends and an entire place to ourselves.

Somehow we got our wish, and I could not be happier with how it turned out. On top of that, we witnessed Totality just as it passed over Cascade and Porter, while the Great Range lit up in the distance. For that reason, I have chosen to name this piece “The Great Eclipse.”

The entire Eclipse sequence was captured from start to finish. 3 cameras were used and over 100 images were stacked and combined for this final result to be as detailed as possible.