photographing 2017 solar eclipse

WILL WORK FOR FILM · Jun 6, 2017

I am located in Boise Idaho, a short distance from the prime location of the anticipated solar eclipse in august. We will see an "almost" full eclipse and I can be in a "full eclipse" location within an hour.

I am wondering how one might photograph this phenomenon in B@W in either scenario. Would I need a solar filter to shoot a full eclipse? Or could I do it using typical color contrast filters at small apperature and high shutter speeds?

Cholentpot · Jun 6, 2017

I have a chunk of welders glass that I'm going to rubberband to my M645 and do multi exposures over the length of the eclipse.

tomfrh · Jun 6, 2017

It's safe to view a total eclipse with naked eyes, so fine without solar filter on the camera.

Next nearby solar eclipse I will be there with some velvia and TMAX for sure, but only if it's total. Partial eclipses are very boring compared to the real thing.

Jim Jones · Jun 6, 2017

The opportunity to photograph a total Solar eclipse is so rare that purchasing an appropriate filter to do as Cholentpot suggests is worthwhile. Once photographers have such a filter, they should find other uses for it. It's best to order direct viewing and camera filters well ahead of the event.

shutterfinger · Jun 6, 2017

tomfrh said:
It's safe to view a total eclipse with naked eyes, so fine without solar filter on the camera

Only if you want to damage your eyes.

http://www.astro-physics.com/index.htm?products/accessories/solar_acc/astrosolar
I have a 4x5 sheet of metalized mylar.
Another good read http://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-an...niques/how-to-photograph-a-solar-eclipse.html

tomfrh · Jun 6, 2017

shutterfinger said:
Only if you want to damage your eyes.

I was referring to totality.

NedL · Jun 6, 2017

I do have the correct Baader solar filters, but I'm mostly planning to watch with my own eyes and with a big pair of solar-filter binoculars. I have a solar telescope that will be tracking the sun and making d191Ta1 video.... The one thing I want to remember to photograph is the eclipse shaped images under a leafy tree, in the hour or so before and after totality... I forgot to look for that during the annular eclipse a couple years ago. I want to experience the stars coming out during the day, and I don't want to be fussing with a camera at all during totality. My 2 cnts.

tomfrh · Jun 6, 2017

NedL said:
The one thing I want to remember to photograph is the eclipse shaped images under a leafy tree, in the hour or so before and after totality.

Yeah that's good fun! Natural pinhole camera...

NedL said:
I want to experience the stars coming out during the day, and I don't want to be fussing with a camera at all during totality. My 2 cnts.

Yes it's somewhat of a dilemma. I've seen one total eclipse (Ceduna 2002). it was the best thing I've ever seen. They're all too brief; and it's a real trade off between looking at it, and trying to photograph it.

cooltouch · Jun 6, 2017

While it is possible to view a total solar eclipse with the naked eye, retinal damage can occur if even the smallest sliver of the sun remains exposed as the moon moves toward or away from totality. I recommend following the safety guidelines found here:

https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety2.html

I also recommend that you do purchase a solar filter so you can take pics of the sun as totality is approached and moved away from. Even during totality a solar filter might still work because the coronasphere is very bright -- just not nearely as bright as the sun's disk. And of course, it would be easy enough to remove the filter during totality, far as that goes, then put it back on once totality is finished. That's what I'd do, at least.

I experienced an almost total solar eclipse when I lived in SoCal back in the early 90s -- probably 1991 or so is when it was. I used a solar filter I taped to a small telescope objective for viewing and showing the neighborhood kids.

Something I discovered during this event is something you might want to look for. When the sun has almost reached totality, the light from the sun develops sort of a pinhole camera-like quality to it. I noticed that the sunlight that was shining between the leaves in a tree above me cast hundreds of images of the eclipse on the ground below instead of just patches of light and shadow. The solar images were most distinct where the spaces between the leaves were the smallest. Suddenly there were hundreds of tiny bright crescents all over the ground around me.

Cholentpot · Jun 6, 2017

Jim Jones said:
The opportunity to photograph a total Solar eclipse is so rare that purchasing an appropriate filter to do as Cholentpot suggests is worthwhile. Once photographers have such a filter, they should find other uses for it. It's best to order direct viewing and camera filters well ahead of the event.

Wait, am I doing something right for once?

tedr1 · Jun 7, 2017

You are fortunate with your location

There are several challenges with photographing a solar eclipse, one of them is adjusting the exposure. Kodak published a guide many years ago and which I have a copy of, I have attached the page that gives some exposure recommendations. Note that the column "ASA" is the film speed which is now known as ISO, the number values are the same.

Note that there is a recommendation to bracket the exposures by three stops on both sides of the nominal exposure.

The internet has a number of useful websites devoted to this subject.

Harry Stevens · Jun 7, 2017

tomfrh said:
I was referring to totality.

Dont care what you where referring to your advice was wrong and stupid.

tedr1 · Jun 7, 2017

See also this thread on the same subject

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Jim Noel · Jun 7, 2017

tomfrh said:
It's safe to view a total eclipse with naked eyes, so fine without solar filter on the camera.

Next nearby solar eclipse I will be there with some velvia and TMAX for sure, but only if it's total. Partial eclipses are very boring compared to the real thing.

This is a dangerous statement. It is true once the sun is in total eclipse which in most locations is no more than about a minute. But it will be tempting to watch totality approach, and how will one know when it is in totality w/o looking?
By all means get a safe pair of filtered glasses from a reliable astronomy group.

wiltw · Jun 7, 2017

tomfrh said:
It's safe to view a total eclipse with naked eyes, so fine without solar filter on the camera.

Next nearby solar eclipse I will be there with some velvia and TMAX for sure, but only if it's total. Partial eclipses are very boring compared to the real thing.

Take the above statement with a very big grain of salt. The only time that the Sun can be viewed safely with the naked eye is during a total eclipse, when the Moon completely covers the disk of the Sun.
It is never safe to look at a partial or annular eclipse, or the partial phases of a total solar eclipse, without the proper equipment and techniques.

So unless you ONLY look EXACTLY that the right time of the TOTALITY of eclipse (assuming you are in the location at which the TOTALITY perfectly occudes the sun -- both perfect timing, and perfect location), it is foolish to even attempt it.

You need a solar filter over your lens. They can be found on the web at not horrible prices.

bsdunek · Jun 7, 2017

Cholentpot said:
I have a chunk of welders glass that I'm going to rubberband to my M645 and do multi exposures over the length of the eclipse.

I've taken several eclipses using welders glass. Just be sure it is for arc welding, not gas welding. I use the darker of the arc welding glass just for safety. Probably the filter mentioned above is the right thing - I've never tried one. Whatever is used, I would suggest minimizing looking at the sun. No use risking eye damage.

WILL WORK FOR FILM · Jun 7, 2017

Thank you all for the useful advice. Looks like I would be smart to obtain some sort of solar filter material to be safe.

Wallendo · Jun 7, 2017

WILL WORK FOR FILM said:
Thank you all for the useful advice. Looks like I would be smart to obtain some sort of solar filter material to be safe.

You will also need to think about how you will aim your camera.
If you use an SLR, then a solar filter on the lens should be adequate. If using a rangefinder or TLR, you will need to develop an alternative plan. Probably you can just focus at infinity and then hold a card or paper behind the camera and look at the card to center the sun in the image.

tomfrh · Jun 7, 2017

wiltw said:
It is never safe to look at a partial or annular eclipse, or the partial phases of a total solar eclipse, without the proper equipment and techniques.

I didn't say it's safe to look at a partial eclipse, I said a total eclipse, ie when the sun is completely obscured. Obviously you don't stare at the suns surface with a naked eye or camera.

dmr · Jun 7, 2017

I got a very dark solar ND filters for one of the {d-word} cameras and plan to use that for the cliche multiple-crescent print.

I'll use a couple of hand-held cameras to (hopefully) capture some of the other phenomena, such as crescents projected through greenery.

That's assuming clear weather! I live very close to the darkest of the dark, and can drive either west or south to the darkest part. I've already blocked off the day on the calendar.

tomfrh · Jun 7, 2017

Weather is everything. You need to be mobile and be able to dash to a clear line of sight as need be.

MartinCrabtree · Jun 7, 2017

How would images turn out with 820nm IR film and a 720nm filter? I live in an area where we'll see totality but the weather is typically 70% chance of clouds in August. But a little south and we're better than 50/50 clear skies.

Jim Jones · Jun 8, 2017

Martin, please don't try to directly photograph the sun with improvised filters. Your combination of film and filter might be good for typical scenes, but the Sun is much more potent. To get a realistic photograph of it, you need to block all but a tiny bit of its light. Then there is the heat to consider, which can damage cameras. A total eclipse is too rare an event to photograph with untried material and technique.

Leigh B · Jun 8, 2017

Please understand that solar photography is not something to be taken lightly.

Screwing around with home-made filters can blind you PERMANENTLY.

Buy filters from folks who do this professionally:
http://www.thousandoaksoptical.com
Dead Link Removed

I'm not an astrophotographer nor an eclipse chaser. My wife is.
She's attended every eclipse on the planet over the last 50 years except 2, and photographed many.

Here's the exposure guide from Fred Espenak's website:
http://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/image/SE-Exposure1w.GIF

Fred is the leading expert on solar eclipses.

Here's NASA's guide (same exposure info), including field of view for different focal lengths:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/reference/SEphoto-table.pdf

- Leigh

wiltw · Jun 8, 2017

tomfrh said:
I didn't say it's safe to look at a partial eclipse, I said a total eclipse, ie when the sun is completely obscured. Obviously you don't stare at the suns surface with a naked eye or camera.

Keep in mind that what you DON'T SAY is often inferred by people, and often wrongly so.
I was making it clear to someone naive that unless location and timing are perfect, one is really dealing with a PARTIAL eclipse (not yet fully occluded) which is just as damaging as the normal sun.

photographing 2017 solar eclipse

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