FORT WORTH, TEXAS (AP) — Photographer Mat Otero has been working at the AP in the Dallas bureau for nearly 30 years. In that time, he’s covered an annular and partial solar eclipse, so he was prepared for the challenge of making a photo of the only total solar eclipse on this scale he will likely cover in his career (the next coast-to-coast eclipse in the U.S. is expected in 21 years). This is what he said about making this extraordinary image.

Why this photo

My job is to create and curate eye catching images that will draw a viewer in, communicating from my lens to their eyes and brain. That’s part of the magic of AP — our work makes a truly massive journey every day, from the field to viewers around the world.

With millions interested in such a historic and widely photographed event as this eclipse, I knew that anything I produced would need to grab attention immediately and be dispatched ASAP after the moment. We joke at AP that every millisecond is our deadline.