Two years of planning for 103 seconds: The photographer behind Europe’s striking solar eclipse image

Personally I found yesterday’s solar eclipse a little underwhelming in north London. The sky didn’t go that dark and the birds didn’t stop singing as in 1999. But perhaps if I’d put the preparation in that Nikon ambassador and astrophotographer Angel Fux did, then things could have been different. 

Fux, whose work has previously appeared in NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day and The Guardian, captured the rare phenomenon from a carefully scouted location in Spain. For Fux, the window to secure the shot was incredibly narrow too. She had just 103 seconds of totality to capture the perfect frame before daylight returned.

The final image, which documents one of Europe’s rarest astronomical events, combines high-level technical precision with Fux’s artistic style. To achieve this, Fux utilized two Nikon Z8 cameras equipped with NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S and NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S lenses.

According to Fux, the image was the culmination of months of location scouting and intensive rehearsals with specialist equipment. The preparation went beyond simple camera settings, requiring split-second decision-making once the Moon finally passed in front of the Sun.

Beyond the still photography, Fux has documented the entire endeavour for an upcoming short film. The documentary aims to shift the focus away from the fleeting 103 seconds of totality, instead highlighting the human element of the project, including the months of travel, the uncertainty of weather conditions and the emotion of chasing one of nature’s rarest spectacles.