by Jim Miotke
Once in a while, and in a variety of places around the globe, we are blessed with a celestial event, a partial or total solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon temporarily blocks the light from our sun. And it makes for an incredible opportunity to make lovely celestial photos.
On August 21, 2017, I joined about 2000 people on our local school campus to watch the solar eclipse. I got my safety glasses and set up my camera and tripod. Those glasses, by the way, are really important. This is not a time to be nonchalant... take special care to protect your eyes especially before and after the actual eclipse. While you can look at a lunar eclipse, you cannot look at a solar eclipse. Of course, you can look at the ground for shadow photos while you're waiting... Before the moment of totality with the solar eclipse in August 2017, I (and many others) enjoyed photographing wonderful crescent moon shadows that were created by the leaves in a nearby tree. It took about an hour from the moment of the Moon’s first contact with the Sun to the moment of "totality" (when the sun was being totally blocked). We could take our glasses off for about 2 minutes of totality. At the time, I simply composed and exposed many shots, looking for effects such as shadow bands, Bailey’s Beads, and the Diamond Ring Effect.
First of all, preparation is a must. You only have a couple minutes usually to do your work, so plan ahead. Learn as much as you can about the upcoming event before it occurs. Do test exposures and get a feel for what settings and gear you will want to use during the big event.
Second, use a tripod; that too is a must. This kind of photography requires the stability; additionally, it just makes it so much easier. You can point your camera at the subject and take lots of exposures during the event, without having to look at the sun.
Use a long lens. My lens reaches to 300mm. A longer focal length (400mm to 600mm) would be ideal but they cost a ton and I can always crop in, especially if I know that my primary output is going to be the Web (which requires less resolution than print output).
Keep it simple and use semi-automatic exposure modes. For this picture I used 1/100 with an aperture of f/22. You’ll have to experiment though.
Use a remote shutter release to keep vibration to a minimum.
Remember to look at the ground too and take pics of your fellow enthusiasts; there is a lot to photograph at a special moment like this.
Experiment, and make lots of exposures!
For this final image, I took a photo of the "Diamond Ring Effect" into Photomatix and used tone-mapping to create an other-worldly look.
There was one surprise that I will never forget. When the eclipse happened, nocturnal creatures like crickets started chirping because they thought it was nighttime. That combined with heart-felt ohhhhhs and ahhhhhhs from the literally star-struck crowd witnessing the event with me.
Next time you hear about a solar eclipse coming to your town, get ready, grab your gear (including those safety glasses), and have fun! That last point is the most important. While you are working to get the perfect photo, you may forget to actually look at this beautiful subject while the event is happening. Carpe diem! Make sure you are present and enjoy the event!
To learn more about photography, explore the photography classes offered here at BetterPhoto.