Total Solar Eclipse 1976 October 23

My first total solar eclipse was viewed from an ideal location, the back garden of my home in Melbourne, Australia! It's not often that an eclipse path passes over a large city (over 2 million people), but it happened one afternoon in October 1976. I was totally (no pun intended) unprepared for it and spent a lot of time fiddling about trying to get images of the partial phases on black and white film! I enjoyed seeing totality with my eyes through a break in the clouds and the memories will last forever. I took a couple of black and white shots during totality using a 200mm lens hand held, but they are not suitable for display here.

Other observers were better prepared and I was able to purchase some images afterwards for posterity.