The shadows created by the reappearing sun, after the solar eclipse, were a delightful surprise.
Watching the eclipse was an amazing experience. But the show wasn’t over. If you had looked down during the few minutes after the sun started to reappear, you would have seen remarkable patterns on the ground created by the dappled sunlight through the trees. I read that the small openings between the leaves acted like pinhole cameras, which projected enlarged images of the sun on the ground.
More Fun with Shadows
Here, you can still see the little crescent shapes caused by the pinhole camera effect, but I’ve included a dab of color to offset the mostly monochromatic scene. In addition, the red leaf shows that this photo is in focus and that the blurriness of the shadows was part of the eclipse effect.
In this scene, I asked my friend, Margy, to step in so I could add her crisp shadow to the scene, again showing that the photo is in focus, but the leaf shadows look blurry.
Don’t Miss the Marvels of Side Shows
This is a great lesson in being aware of what’s around you. As a photographer, I’ve seen the best images by looking behind me, or looking down or up. You never know, there may be something beautiful or alluring beyond the main event. 
Another good example of this was looking back at the people around me watching the eclipse. At times, it was almost as captivating as the event itself.
As a speaker, sometimes a comment made as an aside can have a big impact. I think comedians use them all the time. They often get the biggest laugh from a line that sounds like an after thought. You might think about using this an idea in your next presentation. See what happens.
