Eclipse Outlaw Chase
Documentary Feature Film, 46 minutes 2 seconds, Rio Grande Valley Premiere
Synopsis:
On April 8th 2024, darkness struck Texas at 1:34pm, the moon blocking 100% of sunlight during 4-minutes and 23-seconds of Totality. Eclipse Outlaw Chase features award-winning photographer Noah David Wetzel and his 250-hour project to capture a singular image: a western outlaw chase scene, complete with five horseback riders equipped with pistols and rifles riding full-gallop beneath the Total Solar Eclipse – the first to grace Texas' Hill Country since July 29th 1878.
An intimate portrait of an artist driven by vision, Eclipse Outlaw Chase showcases Wetzel’s journey to create the most powerful and surreal image of the Total Solar Eclipse – an ode to a bygone era of outlaws, cowboys, and the settling of the West. Within was born a world-class adventure: from conceptualizing the final idea, finding five committed horseback riders in Texas, to multiple days of testing, until the final moment of Totality that allowed for just three single-frame attempts.
Witness this incredible journey to create art; a story of perseverance filled with humor and suspense, all to capture an ethereal moment - the last Total Solar Eclipse in America until 2044.
Noah David Wetzel
Bio:
Based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah, Noah David Wetzel is an award-winning fine art photographer whose work blends landscape, action sports, and cinematic storytelling. Known for creating technically ambitious imagery in challenging environments, Wetzel produces artwork that reveals extraordinary moments through scale, light, timing, and perspective.
His work has been published and exhibited internationally, earning more than 100 magazine covers and numerous prestigious photography awards, including winning the RAW category at the 2019 Red Bull Illume from over 60,000 images submitted worldwide.
From remote wilderness expeditions to large-scale productions featuring some of the world's top athletes, Wetzel’s imagery spans both pure landscape and human-centered compositions. Whether subtle or central to the photograph, the human presence serves as a bridge between viewer and landscape, bringing scale, emotion, and narrative to each frame. Guided by both technical mastery and artistic vision, his work transforms fleeting moments into timeless works of art that invite viewers to experience the world in a new way.
follow: @noahwetzelphoto
subscribe: Photo Newsletter