total solar eclipse
A total solar eclipse. NASA

As the solar eclipse made its way across the continental United States on Monday millions of people stood outside, heads turned to the sky to catch a glimpse of the rare event. Others had their cameras ready to document their experience.

Some used solar eclipse glasses or viewers, others made pin-hole projectors or used household objects like colanders and some even just spotted the eclipse through the tree leaves around them. The images quickly flooded Twitter and NASA’s Flickr page designated for eclipse photos from people across the country.

Capturing a clear photo of the eclipse can be difficult and sometimes puts the camera and the person on the other side of it at risk. Using the viewfinders on a camera can magnify the sun’s intensity and cause more damage than usual, so photographers had to be careful when capturing the event. Photographers taking photos of the eclipse directly also needed filters so they didn’t damage their cameras. Nonetheless some people got incredible photos of the eclipse.

A viewer in Waco, Texas, named Mike Davis posted photos of the sun looking red with an apparent chunk missing.

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This photo from NASA shows the eclipse from Ross Lake in Washington.

2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Many other users took their photos and videos of the eclipse to Twitter and Instagram to share. Including NASA that posted a photo of the International Space Station, the moon and sun spots all in front of the sun at once.

Only six people got to see the eclipse from outer space including the shadow of the moon, also called the umbra, cast on Earth from above.

A Twitter users who's profile says they're based in Portland, Oregon, posted a series of photos of the eclipse Monday.

This video taken at Clemson University in South Carolina shows the full eclipse occurring while people cheer in the background.

In Stanley, Idaho, the eclipse was beautiful and Twitter user @RogerCraigSmith captured some photos that did it justice.

The eclipse could also be viewed by looking at the shadows of the eclipse coming through the leaves on trees. One photo out of Portland, Oregon shows the sun with a big hunk of it blocked out.

Even places that didn't see totality got a view of the oddly-shaped shadows from the eclipse.

Colanders were also a popular substitute for glasses, filters or pin-hole projectors. Their circles showed the blocked light. This photo out of Blythewood, South Carolina, shows the shadow of the moon super clearly.

It was visible through a colander in West Virginia as well.

A number of celebrities viewed the eclipse as well. Actress Sarah Jessica Parker posted a number of videos of herself in South Carolina viewing the eclipse from a boat, "This is the most spectacular unimaginably perfect beautiful..." she trails off in the video that shows her surroundings as well as the blurry sun.

Actress and model Olivia Munn posted a photo of herself and her dog viewing the eclipse, both glasses clad to protect their eyes from the sun.

The President and his family got out to watch the eclipse as well, but it seems he didn't get the memo about not looking straight at the sun without eye protection.

More photos will go up online in the days following the eclipse but for now it seems that from no matter where you watched in the country today you got to see something pretty spectacular.