By: Lynn Wood
After watching the solar eclipse this past October, you may now be interested in photographing the upcoming eclipse in April. The good news is that, with one exception, you probably have everything you need to take a good image of the event. At first it may seem like an overwhelming task, but if you consider each part of the process individually and practice a bit before the big day (April 8, 12:15PM – 3:00PM, approx.), you should end up with a picture (or pictures) to commemorate the event. So, let’s consider each part of the process:
Equipment
Almost any camera will work, but to simplify the discussion, I’ll assume you are using a digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera, but a rangefinder (or even your phone) will work. A tripod is not required but is very helpful in that you can set up the camera and then only make minor adjustments to keep the sun centered in the viewfinder. The one thing you will have to purchase is a solar filter. These are available from Amazon, photographic or astronomy vendors (I like B & H photo or Agena Astro). One important thing to note, a solar filter and a neutral density filter are not the same thing. While a neutral density filter will darken an image it will not block the UV radiation which can do damage to your eye (think severe welder’s burn). While the filter may seem a bit pricey, it is something you can’t skimp on for the sake of your eyes and your equipment.
Depending on what you want to record, the entire event or just the total eclipse, you could have your camera on for 3 hours straight. In my experience that is about the limit of most camera’s batteries, so make sure you have an AC power source, a full charge or new batteries for your camera. Nothing could be worse than running out of power at that critical moment.
Framing the Shot
First, put on the solar filter! Now, framing the Sun would seem to be simple, until you realize that to get the Sun in the frame you must look at the Sun. This is where the tripod comes in, put your camera on the tripod and look at the camera’s shadow. Move the camera (L, R, up, down) until the camera’s shadow is the smallest it can be, at that point the Sun should be in frame, and you can look through the viewfinder (you did install that solar filter…right?) to center the image. Remember that you will need to correct your centering as the eclipse progresses.
Focus
Odds are that the automatic focusing will not work, so I would just disable it. Luckily, the Sun is very far away, so just move your focus ring manually to infinity and you should be OK.
Exposure
Exposure is the other place that the automated systems in your camera will fail you. Since you have one very bright blob in the center of the frame and black all the way around it, the metering system will be fooled and overexpose the sun. You have two options, set the exposure manually (which will require some experimentation) or leave it in program mode and use the exposure compensation feature on your camera. In my case, I set the compensation at -5 for the partial (or beginning) of the eclipse and moved it to about -2 when the eclipse reached maximum. Your actual settings may vary depending on your equipment.
One other thing, some photographers suggest removing the solar filter for totality as the sun is completely blocked (if you are in the path of totality). I’m not sure if that is good advice, during the annular eclipse in McAllen, I didn’t find this to be necessary and was able to get a good image with the solar filter in place. If you do decide to try this, don’t forget to replace your solar filter as soon as the sun passes totality (if not a little before).
Some General Suggestions
First, take lots of images! Storage (the card in your camera) is cheap and you don’t want to miss the important moment. For the eclipse in McAllen I shot about 270 images for the few that are shown here. Second, you will probably need to clean-up your image a bit, so plan on downloading the picture from your camera to a computer and using the software (most likely provided your camera’s vendor or shareware like GIMP) to balance the color and tone down brightness of the sun.
If you would like more information on solar photography, there are several website out there, the one that looks good to me is from B & H Photo (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/how-to-photograph-a-solar-eclipse ).
I look forward to comparing shots with everyone in April!