2026/05/11 – Do I Plan My Summer Vacation Around 90 Seconds of Darkness?

[Alex Baker]

Alex Baker

May 11, 2026 at 8:55 am #319522

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Here’s this week’s letter and question:

This morning, I found myself precariously balanced on the top step of a ladder, trying to solo-lift an IKEA Kallax unit onto the top of my wardrobe. Arms shaking, and at the limits of my weight-lifting capacity, I had a rare moment of clarity:

I actually don’t want to die today or end up as a flat-packed piece of furniture myself.

So I climbed down, admitted defeat, and made a coffee instead, which felt like a significantly lower-risk activity for a Monday morning. But it did get me thinking about how often photographers wildly overestimate what is a sensible thing to do in pursuit of an idea.

I’m remembering the time I climbed down a near-vertical cliff face in the Basque region of Spain to photograph the waves crashing over the beach. Despite there being an old rope, I very nearly didn’t make it back up, and to make matters worse, the photos ended up being mediocre at best.

Which brings me to the main thing I’ve been mulling over this week: do I plan my entire summer travel around a 90-second solar eclipse?

So, in case you’re not aware, Spain on August 12th 2026, will see a total solar eclipse, and it will be coming almost to my doorstep. But if you’ve ever been in the Valencia region in August, you’ll know that there’s a reason why most locals leave town that month.

A couple of years ago, I stayed, and after experiencing a crazy 47 °C couple of days, I swore I wouldn’t do it again. Then there’s going to be crowds of people, and likely having to wait in the hot sun all afternoon to get the right set-up, plus having to put my ten-year-old son through that, and I’m wondering if it’s worth it. I’m not, after all, a dedicated landscape or astro photographer.

But then I get inspired by photographers like Liron Gertsman, who spent a year planning his epic photograph of a bird flying across a solar eclipse, and I get a serious case of advanced FOMO.

This year’s Milky Way Photographer of the Year winners are once again making me want to spend an entire night standing in a remote dark field photographing stars. Again, not something you can do on a wing and a prayer and hope to get something good out of it.

I always swore that I wouldn’t be that photographer who plans their family vacation around moon phases or updates the weather app continually. However, with photography, there just isn’t really a middle ground. Instead of getting an idea and acting on it immediately (results be damned), the better option, and one that smart, successful photographers choose, is to plan photo ideas extensively. The crazier the idea, the more planning is needed.

So that means no spur-of-the-moment eclipse decisions and dragging my son into heat-stroke territory, no climbing down cliffs without first looking up tide times, and also perhaps asking for help first with furniture (OK, the last one isn’t really about photography, more of a life goal 😉).

Have you ever planned your life around a weather forecast or astronomical event? And more importantly: should I chase this eclipse or not?

Let me know your thoughts!

Have a great week,

Alex and the DIYP Team

[Author]

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