I was nine years old during my first total solar eclipse, in 1999. I only have a few very vague memories of it. So, 27 years later, there was no way I was going to miss this one. Off to the Bardenas Reales Desert, with a 600mm lens and everything I needed to try and capture a few shots of the eclipse.

And even knowing what was about to happen, I wasn’t really prepared for what it feels like to experience a total solar eclipse. As the Moon gradually covers the Sun, the light starts to feel strange. Then, all of a sudden, you can feel the temperature drop. The desert darkens around you, and everything becomes almost surreal.

And then come the final seconds before the climax. The last rays of sunlight disappear, the solar corona emerges, and for a brief moment, only a single point of light remains: the diamond ring. It’s hard to describe what that moment feels like.

I tried to switch back and forth as much as possible between taking photos and watching the spectacle unfold with my eclipse glasses. I obviously wanted to capture the eclipse, but not at the cost of experiencing it only through my viewfinder.

And then, going through the photos afterwards, another mind-blowing moment. At 600mm, you can make out the sunspots, the prominences extending beyond the Sun’s edge, and the corona.