The Lighthouse Eclipse
- Albert Dros
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
I am still recovering from the adrenaline of this one. It was an extremely difficult shot and an absolutely crazy experience.
This is my favourite image of the day: the diamond ring, right on top of the Favaritx lighthouse on Menorca. A lighthouse I have a special connection with.
Watch the Teaser
If you want to feel some of that adrenaline, here is the teaser we made on the day.
Behind the scenes at Favaritx, from the boat.
It Started as a Crazy Idea
The idea was born at the last PhotoPills camp. The camp is a 'photo conference' where I teach every year and people all over the world come to learn photography and enjoy the beauty of Menorca. The camp is always held on Menorca, which is the home of PhotoPills, and Favaritx has been my favourite place on the island since I first visited it 9 years ago.
What if we could frame the eclipse right on top of the lighthouse?
The Only Way Was From the Sea
There was one problem. From land the angle does not work at all. The only place where it lines up is out on the open sea, on the east side of the island. So it would have to be from a boat.
That brought a lot of risk with it, especially the weather and the waves. It would not be easy.
This is what the plan looked like in PhotoPills. Stand 1.6 kilometres out at sea, shoot at around 460mm, and at 20:31 the sun should sit right on the tower. Note that this was planned with the new Photopills premium, which will be realsed soon!
But the idea kept nagging at me. After pushing and pushing, it became reality. And not just Favaritx. We ended up photographing several lighthouses on the island, all from boats. My friends Francesco Gola and Josh Cripps were out on the other boats, and they both came back with a beautiful shots!
The Day Itself
Fast forward a few months and we were on the water a few hours before the eclipse. The conditions looked decent. The skies were clear and there was no storm, which was the main thing.
Testing the spot and the sea.
The sea was another story. It was choppy, and it became clear very quickly that this was not going to be easy. At that distance even a small wave turns into a huge movement in the frame. The sea sickness did not exactly help either.
I can honestly say that this is one of the hardest shots I have ever had to take, technically.
We Got It
Thanks to the captain putting us in exactly the right spot, and to Germán, one of the founders of PhotoPills and a good friend who was on the boat with me, we managed to take this photo.
A drone shot from our videographer @lavidadeundron.
Here is the whole thing in four moments, from the last big crescent to the sun sinking away behind the rocks.
It Was About More Than the Photo
In the end, the photo is just the final result. This one was about the whole experience. The adrenaline, the months of planning leading up to it, and not even knowing whether we had pulled it off until we reviewed the files afterwards.
What a rollercoaster. Thanks to the entire team.
The Eclipse Tool
A lot of people have asked whether my eclipse tool would disappear now that this one is over. It will not. It stays online, and later this year I will put everything for the next one on there, including a new guide. So you can still subscribe and receive the new guide when it's ready!
And the next one is worth planning for. On 2 August 2027 the path of totality runs over southern Spain and North Africa. Over six minutes of totality in Egypt, and more than four minutes in Spain. It is the longest total eclipse over land between 1991 and 2114, which is why people are calling it the eclipse of the century.
I already have a few ideas.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at info@albertdros.com
Albert
