The Great American Solar Eclipse - from Sedro Woolley, WA

Up until this morning I wasn't into all the hype over the "Great American Solar Eclipse." But a friend gave me some of her extra viewing glasses so I gave it a shot!

So what did I do? NASA recommends getting special filters for your camera, but given my short time frame and a bit of googling, I decided to take apart one of my pairs of viewing glasses and taped the lens over the lens of my Canon camera. I set up the tripod and my remote shutter in the best viewing spot in my yard and hung out there. I kept my children inside because at 5 and 3 I couldn't entirely trust them that their glasses would stay on or that they'd be able to tell me if they didn't fit properly.  I wore a billed hat to shade over the tops of my eyes and alternated between looking at the sun through the viewing glasses and also putting my regular glasses over top so that I can see the images a little more clearly.

Taped the lens of a solar eclipse viewing glasses over the camera lens and using a remote shutter. Works really well! Can't wait to post pictures. We will have 81% totality in my zip code. #solareclipse #skagitmom #skagit #greatamericaneclipse #pnw #pnwphotographer #canon

A post shared by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Aug 21, 2017 at 10:06am PDT

Solar selfie! Who would have thought that people would be losing their minds over this (me included) #solareclipse #greatamericaneclipse #pnw

A post shared by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Aug 21, 2017 at 10:09am PDT

Here's what I got!

And there ya have it! While I didn't notice a difference in light, it definitely got markedly cooler. I went from feeling very warm and comfortable in my tank top to feeling like a light jacket would be nice.

The next Great American Solar Eclipse is April 24, 2024 but it'll be going across the Eastern US.

The next one close to Washington State will be viewable in Montana on Aug 23, 2044. I'll be 58!