Photographing the 2026 Total Solar Eclipse in Spain: A Race Against the Clouds

It was 1pm, and I’d just made the call to change locations.

On August 12, 2026, I was leading a photography group in northern Spain to photograph the total solar eclipse. We had planned to watch totality near Cudillero, Asturias.

Our group had just finished our catered lunch on eclipse day, and it was the latest possible moment to answer a simple question. Would we have clear skies or not. 

Up until sunrise, all the forecasts had pointed to clear skies in Cudillero. But the Bay of Biscay had other ideas, and low lying clouds spawned above the northern coast. By the early afternoon, it was clear the sun wouldn’t burn them away. We’d have to move.

I checked the backup locations and found the closest possible spot with a route that would have us avoid traffic. My group packed up tripods and cameras, filled the car with water and snacks, and checked for a full tank of gas. We didn’t know when we’d be back. 

Chasing Clear Skies Across Northern Spain

An hour south, convective clouds were starting to form in the scorching summer sun. The first backup location had layered clouds on the western horizon for totality that’d peak an hour before sunset. No good, we’d have to keep going south to another backup location. Too many clouds there too. Now we were off-script, and I checked a satellite map for a promising patch of land that had no houses on it.

Private property. I pulled off to the side of the road with a shade map, satellite imagery, and Photographer’s Ephemeris to try and triangulate a place better than the first backup location on nothing more than the weak cell signal I had. 5 minutes up the road, something looked possible. It was 5pm, and if this spot didn’t work out, we’d have to take our chances back at my original backup plan an hour away and hope for a break in the clouds.

We crested the hilltop village of Valbueno, and found an open patch with some fellow eclipse chasers already parked. I hopped out of the van and looked at the path of sunset. It’d be above the mountains. We had enough distance from the clouds that only the tops seemed to flirt with totality. 

I told my group this was probably the best chance I could give them, and we rapidly set up gear and tripods. First contact came faster than we all anticipated. I told my photographers to try not to stress out too much. We’d given up our practice runs in the afternoon for the opportunity to see totality. If we got it with our eyes, that’d be a win.

First Contact: Preparing to Photograph Totality

Once 1st contact hit, excitement started to build. More people showed up. Things got darker, and shadows got weird. A half hour from totality, I noticed there was a particularly tall cloud on a collision course with the path of the sun. I kept watching the two converge, and I knew there was a strong chance this cloud would ruin totality.

10 minutes out, cloud or not, and it was go time. I called out instructions to my group. At 5 minutes before second contact, they took their last shot of the partial eclipse for their composites and dialed in their settings for totality. They positioned the sun in frame so they wouldn’t need to readjust as it moved for the next 10 minutes. No one would move from their tripod until third contact.

Two Minutes of Totality

Just before 2nd contact, the sun emerged from the right side of a U-shaped clearing in the top of the cloud. The shooting began. The first shot appeared on my viewfinder and I could see just the right exposure for an early diamond ring shot. As more of the sun was covered, it would dim and give all of us a range of gemstone sized beads of light to choose from. “Keep shooting! Keep shooting!” I yelled, and then the sun’s disc was fully covered.

A diamond flower appeared in the sky. Totality.

“Glasses off and look at THAT!” I yelled, and the entire crowd on the hilltop gasped and cheered.

The next two minutes felt like ten seconds as we shot photo after photo at different brightnesses to capture the full spectrum of the sun’s corona. I called out the settings for the 2nd diamond ring as the end fast approached. As that bead of sunlight grew and grew while the sun re-emerged, clouds  on the left side of that U-shaped clearing encroached on the sun.

“Filters on” I cried after 30 seconds, and the cloud completely swallowed the sun, blocking it out.

Two minutes later, and we’d have completely missed it.

Creating the Total Solar Eclipse Composite

This composite captures what the sun looks like during a partial eclipse, the diamond ring phase, Baily's Beads, totality, and then everything in reverse, with an incredibly red sun at the end because it was so close to the horizon.

So, so lucky to get these. I'd take clear skies any day, but I love the atmosphere they add.

Come on my 2027 total solar eclipse guided tour in Spain