PORTLAND, Maine — When Dave Dostie rolled into Greenville on Sunday, the town was oddly quiet. He camped in his vehicle in a parking lot owned by a client, and when he got up Monday morning, was struck by the tranquility and lack of crowds.
The calm didn’t last long. By late morning, he said "it was [as] if someone flipped a switch." People were pouring in and staking out the places where they’d watch the eclipse.
Dostie, who had photographed partial eclipses but never a total one, had been preparing for the shoot for months, experimenting with filters and lenses, trying to improve his chances of capturing memorable images.
But he also had no intention of missing out on the social aspect of the day. "I always want the human element in my photos," he told 207.
Looking out over Moosehead Lake from Blair Hill, Dostie got a grand view as the moon slipped across the surface of the sun for a fleeting three minutes.
He also got the human stories he wanted, including one from some folks whose commitment is impressive by a standard.
For the sole purpose of seeing the eclipse, the group had traveled from Munich, Germany, to Texas. When the weather forecast there looked unfavorable, they pivoted and booked a flight to Boston. Then they drove about six hours to Greenville to experience totality.
In the end, as cloudless blue skies turned dark and a dusky light settled across the snowy landscape around Moosehead, these folks, like Dostie, got what they’d come for—a day to remember.