Photographer escapes clouds to capture total solar eclipse

Photographer Ragnar Axelsson flew above the clouds to capture the total solar eclipse, mbl.is reported. The flight was difficult as clouds built up over the Westfjords, forcing Axelsson and pilots Sölvi Axelsson, his brother, and Axel Sölvason, his nephew, to move away from them.

“I was not initially planning to fly because I knew the weather over the Westfjords was bad, but I felt a sense of duty,” Ragnar said.

Strong winds also developed during the eclipse, creating turbulence. The pilots had to keep both the aircraft and the camera steady enough to record the eclipse, which they succeeded in doing.

The video combines footage from two cameras attached to the aircraft’s wings. As the pilots circled, they raised the wings while Ragnar looked out through the aircraft window to photograph the eclipse.

“You were perhaps a little stressed,” Ragnar said. “But you do not enter the field to lose.”

A longer interview with Ragnar will be published in Morgunbladid.