Just upgraded to a 7D and already having a blast with it. The autofocus alone is so much more precise and way quicker than the 450D's, and there are many other great things to discover! Processing speed of longtime exposures also is waaaaay faster!
Thanks. I didn't end up using an ND filter because there were so few periods where there no clouds obscuring the sun. I did have my variable ND (up to 8 stops worth) ready to use if it had been a clearer day though. I also kept the eclipse obscured from the camera when I wasn't shooting pictures or video, just to reduce the risk of sensor damage.
I went to a "mud run" event yesterday (I didn't even know it was on until Saturday night, but a nice touch of serendipity popped up). I haven't finished editing the full gallery yet, but one sequence of images stood out to me. I was sitting on the course and getting some shots of people who were mostly gingerly walking through this big puddle slowly and attempting (and in some cases failing...) to make it through without falling. However, these 2 guys came up and the first one just jumped straight in and belly-flopped into the muddy water. Sadly for me I didn't shoot that because I had been looking in the opposite direction and just caught the end of it. I shouted something like "You should have told me you were going to do that!" and the second guy, without hesitation, shouted back "I'll do it!". The following sequence is his dive:
Thanks a lot. Your pictures of this event are great as well and quite atmospheric!