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April 8th, 2024, is a date that we at Sinaloa 360 will remember with deep emotion. We had the opportunity to photograph a spectacular astronomical phenomenon in the port of Mazatlán: a Total Solar Eclipse.

TimeLapse

The images that we captured that day are unique and unrepeatable. We often enjoy the beautiful sunsets that have made the port of Mazatlán famous. This time, it was in the middle of the morning when the sky darkened for 4 minutes and 18 seconds.

Images Before and During the Eclipse.

From 11:07:17 AM to 11:11:35 AM, the sky darkened, the temperature dropped, and hundreds of birds flew back to the trees as if it were night.

At various points in the city, hundreds of families, national and international tourists, NASA scientists and several universities and institutions gathered in different locations, mainly along the famous boardwalk, which was closed to vehicular traffic.

Eleven AM with nine minutes

Eclipse Total Solar. Mazatlán 2024
Fotografía: Miguel Angel Victoria

We decided to capture images with our drone of some of the most iconic points of interest in the port: the Mazatlán Cathedral, Plaza República (the town square), the City Hall, Cerro de la Nevería, and the Three Islands.

Planning of the Photography Project

Planning the project is essential for achieving good results. Three weeks prior, we conducted tests with the drone in different flight modes, accurately checked the timings for each stage of the eclipse, and perfectly located the chosen site.

Photopills

The Photopills app provides us with information on when, where, and at what time the eclipse will occur. In the Planner, we activate the eclipse layer and select the eclipse of April 8th. We return to the map, and in the top panel, the phases are displayed along with their start and end times.

Google Earth

Google Earth allowed us to find the site we wanted for our framing. This tool provides us with 3D images and gives us information about height and distance.

Google Earth
Google Earth

Mavic 3 Classic Drone

At 10:50, we elevated the Mavic 3 Classic drone to a height of 80 meters and a distance of 85 meters from Plaza República.

After achieving the selected framing in Google Earth and setting the drone to Hyperlapse Free Mode, at 10:55, it began shooting every two seconds, capturing the 750 images needed to create a 30-second TimeLapse.

At 11:25, the Mavic 3 Classic landed with the RAW images stored in its memory.

Mavic 3 Classic
Fotografía: Miguel Angel Victoria

The processing of the 750 RAW photographs was done with Lightroom Classic. Using the Holy Grail method from LRTimelapse 6, we edited the TimeLapse and the video with Final Cut Pro

Use our photos

Our photos have “Creative Commons“ license. This license allows you to use our photos, without needing permission, legally. When using the photos, the only requirement is that you provide credit as follows: 

“Photography: Miguel Angel Victoria / Sinaloa 360”

English translation made by César Enrique Martínez Ojeda, student at PrepaTec Campus Sinaloa. Tecnológico de Monterrey.

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