Total Eclipse Captured By Pleasanton Man In Indiana

PLEASANTON, CA — Even though Pleasanton saw a great eclipse Monday, the city only saw a 35% coverage. Some enterprising locals like Sanjay Vazirani traveled to the middle of the country, where the sky turned completely dark for a total eclipse. Above, enjoy some incredible photos taken from Bloomington, Indiana.

Vazirini shared his experience preparing to take these incredible photos:

“After months of planning all the details of my trip to the midwest to photograph the solar eclipse in its totality, I was confident I had it all figured out. And then just before I flew to Indiana, I looked at the weather forecast and my heart sank, it was going to be cloudy all day. I decided to go ahead with the trip, telling myself that even with the clouds, I will hopefully get some shots. Luckily, the sky cleared up an hour or so before the eclipse.

The eclipse began with the moon taking a tiny bite out of the sun. With every passing minute, more of the sun disappeared behind the moon. And then came totality. For a few brief minutes, only the sun’s pearly white corona, red prominences, and chromosphere were visible. And the temperature suddenly dropped by as much as 20 degrees. Just when you thought you had experienced the highlight of the eclipse, the diamond ring effect appeared as the moon made its final move over the sun.

I love photographing eclipses, and smile when people compliment me on the photos but I can honestly say that none of the photographs convey how amazing nature is. I have heard people say that watching a total solar eclipse is a life changing experience. That might be a bit of hyperbole but after watching the August 2017 eclipse in Oregon and the 2024 eclipse in Indiana, I would say it is not very far from a life changing experience.”

Thank you, Sanjay! If you’d like to share photos of life in Pleasanton, celestial or terrestrial, email michael.wittner@patch.com.