There’s a total solar eclipse in the continental United States on August 21st, for the first time in nearly 40 years. The moon will block out the sun for almost three minutes for the regions that are in the direct path of totality, making things as dark as nighttime during the day. Even those who aren’t in regions where the eclipse is in full force, partial eclipses are uniquely awesome and will be viewable across the entire country, too.
With uniquely awesome things comes a desire to photograph them, so here are five tips from NASA (and us) for photographing a solar eclipse:
The only thing you absolutely cannot go without during a solar eclipse is a solar filter, which you’ll need to cover your camera lens (including if you're using your phone) in the moments where the sunlight is blinding, and it should be mentioned that that does not include regular sunglasses. Look for ISO-Certified sun-viewing glasses or lenses, and keep in mind that without them, you could break your camera.
That said, when the Moon completely blocks the sun, you should remove the filter so you can see the Sun’s outer atmosphere.
When you’re pointing your camera at the sun, it will likely automatically reduce the exposure to take the photo, which won’t harm your lens. However, pointing your camera at the sun means your eyes might get a glimpse of the full-on solar disk, which could be seriously harmful to you. Taking a photo of the solar disk is likely going to result in the ‘blooming’ effect anyway, and NASA recommends you do not do this on purpose.
So, as a general rule: remember that your eyes are sensitive, and you’re only safe to look at an eclipse during the period of totality (when everything is mostly dark), which is about 2.5 minutes. If you're in an area that only has a partial eclipse, you'll need to wear solar lenses the entire time - here's a full list of safety tips from NASA.
Because the sun disk is going to be very small during the eclipse, and there won’t be a whole lot of light, there’s a lot of opportunity for your photos to turn out blurry. Try setting up your smartphone or camera on a tripod on a wrap-around mounting so you can fix the angle of the shot before the eclipse starts.
Find apps that let you adjust your exposure.
Most cameras, including phone cameras, have adjustable exposures, and some even have ‘twilight’ photography settings. It’ll be helpful to test out the capabilities of your camera before Eclipse Day, and to make sure you’re accustomed with adjusting exposure and manual focus during the periods of unusual lighting. There are apps for certain phones that let you manually adjust your camera settings, so you might want to try finding the one that’s compatible with your model of phone.
For a DSLR camera it’s helpful to test settings before the event. Practicing taking photos just after sunset will give you a good grasp of what the eclipse is going to be like, and what exposure settings you might need.
Taking photos of the moon will give you a good idea of the size the Eclipse is going to be and of how much detail your camera can get at a distance. If you’re not happy with the results, you might want to consider buying a zoom lens attachment to get more detail. If you already own a binoculars or a telescope, one simple trick is to hold the camera lens over the eyepiece to “achieve greater magnification”. Plenty of astrophotographers have used this trick, and a tripod is almost a necessity for it - the more you zoom in, the more exaggerated any instability in the camera gets. You’ll also need to put a solar filter over the top of the attachment, not just on the camera itself. If you put the filter on your phone rather than on the telephoto lens, it could melt to your phone, so be warned.
Using the digital zoom on your camera won’t help with image quality, but some smartphones, such as the iPhone 7Plus, can give you 2x optical zoom (which is what you actually need). The Galaxy S4 Zoom has 10x optical zoom, but most smartphones have a fixed focal length - look into the details of whatever type of camera you have before you head out.
Aside from that, one of NASA's main recommendations seems to be to just enjoy yourself and the people around you. Lame.
To find out exactly what you'll see of the eclipse where you live, check out this awesome interactive map from Vox.
Alanah Pearce is an Editor at IGN and her life-long dream is to go to the International Space Station. That's probably not going to happen. Please send her pictures of puppies to show your sympathy on Twitter @Charalanahzard.
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