This is when the planning started. And, oh boy, was there a lot of it. Everything from the timing and positioning to the overall composition and organization of the models had to be meticulously planned to a T:

“The distance and elevation were driven by two separate things,” elaborated Cripps. “The 6.15 degree angle was dictated simply by the sun and moon position at the time of eclipse. From where I was standing when the eclipse was at maximum totality, it would be 6.15 degrees into the sky—the information I got from the PhotoPills app.”

“For the shooting distance, that was dictated entirely by my vision of the shot,” he continued. “I knew I wanted the eclipse to encircle the man and the camel. A man and a camel standing next to each other are a little less than 3 meters across. So I needed the sun to appear to be about 3 meters wide in the photo.”