I've always been fascinated by celestial things happening up way in the sky, but the Scottish weather tends to make it harder than it should be.
Wednesday's eclipse sparked an interest that I last felt 26 years ago chasing the 1999 eclipse when we were camping in a tent in Cornwall.
Back then, it was sunny with blue skies for the two days beforehand and then it was 100% cloudy on the big day itself.
I wasn't into photography back then, but although we were disappointed in not seeing first hand, I still remember the ethereal light and the sense of community as we watched the cloudy skies darken and the camp fires glowing so brightly.
I wasn't setting any expectations this time round, as I drove down to the west side of Galloway to try and get a peek through the clouds.
It was raining as I drove through Glasgow and cloudy all the way down past Ayrshire, but as I headed towards the Isle of Whithorn in Galloway, I could see some blue skies over the Solway Firth and my hopes picked up.
I found a quiet spot in a bay looking west towards the Mull of Galloway.
After a hurried chicken curry and rice noodles, I got the camera gear out and waited. It was only me and a chap called John who was setting up some of his telescope gear next to his campervan.
John was setting up an electronic telescope, but he couldn't check what was happening in real time as he didn't have any solar glasses.
His face lit up as I pulled out a spare pair of eclipse glasses and let him use one of them to watch it in real time.
It was 99% cloudy, so I didn't expend much effort trying to get a cool shot on the camera gear.
I mostly watched it through the eclipse glasses, which gives you more of a connected feeling than looking at a small LCD screen at the end of a long camera lens. I got that shared sense of watching something cool, with someone else at the same time, but it still left me wondering what it would be like seeing totality with clear skies above.
So I am hoping it's going to be third time lucky and I have booked somewhere special to watch the next decent eclipse in August 2027, so stay tuned for better luck on my third look at it
