The big eclipse is coming up and I thought I’d give you some not-so-common tips for photographing it. I’m not going to give you settings, gear, etc… because there are thousands of places on the internet with that info. So my tips will be more from a practical and creative standpoint.
And of course, it goes without saying… safety first… protect your eyes, and make sure your protect your camera with the correct types of filters. Now, on to the tips:
NOTE: Don’t forget to check out my editing video too (Click Here)
Practice
If the first time you shoot upwards toward the sun, using the settings and gear, etc.. is the day of the eclipse, then you’re pretty much done before you started and chances are you won’t get the photos you want. You have to practice. Get out and shoot the sun, the moon, etc… use the filters and gear and settings ahead of time as best as you can.
Mistakes – Learn From Last Time
If you photographed the eclipse back in 2017 and didn’t get photos you were happy with, then now is the time to go back and look through and figure out why. What went wrong? From looking at over 800 photos of the last eclipse that people submitted to me, I can share some of the big mistakes I noticed.
Mistake 1: Nail the focus
This is non-negotiable. No matter how good of a photo you take, if it’s not in focus, there is nothing you can do to sharpen it. Out of the 800+ photos I looked at, I’d say half were not in focus, and unusable at any size larger than a small social media post. Figure this out ahead of time, but I can’t stress the importance.
Mistake 2: Raw or JPG
Don’t shoot in JPG. Shoot raw because you WILL NEED as much editing leeway as possible with your bright and dark areas.
Mistake 3: Bracketing
Exposure bracketing can be your friend to help nail the exposure. But don’t overdo it. There is no reason for 7 different exposures of every shot. Again, this goes back to practice.
Mistake 4: Avoid Overexposed Photos
Over-exposed – If you have overexposed the whites and they flare too much, and glow so much that no details can be seen or too much flare is around, you’re done. There will be nothing you can do with these photos. While exposing to the right (ETTR) is a good and valid exposure game plan for most photography, it is not for eclipses unless you consider yourself highly advanced. If in doubt, shoot darker not brighter.
Mistake 5: Don’t go too Wide Unless You Have Compelling Foreground
If you’re just photographing the sun, then you need a zoom lens. You won’t be able to crop in with a wide angle lens. If you shoot with a wide angle lens and this is your photo, it’s going to be difficult to do anything with these photos.
Mistake 6: Watch Your ISO
ISO was too high. While there are various reasons to raise your ISO, there is no reason to shoot with an ISO of 12,800 or even close to it. Remember, noise is not an issue in bright areas of your photos for the most part. Noise is most prevalent in dark shadowy areas and if the bulk of your photo is black sky or dark shadows, high ISOs will ruin the shot (I don’t care how much noise reduction you do).
Mistake 7: Don’t Change Focal Length Halfway Through
If you’re shooting a composite, don’t move the camera and don’t zoom in or out during the key photos. Your camera placement and focal length needs to be dialed in before the event happens. If you’re not sure, then practice ahead of time best as you can.
Already Shot the Eclipse Before?
If you already shot the eclipse once successfully, try not to shoot the same exact thing again. Now, I realize many of you tried back in 2017 and didn’t get good photos. By all means, go for it again. But if you took good photos back in 2017 that look like every other eclipse photo out there, maybe try to shoot something different this time so you don’t end up with the same exact photo again.
Foreground
Include something else. I have to tell ya’…. For me eclipses are extremely boring photos. They’ve indeed very technically interesting. But it’s the one situation that we can all tell you what your photo will look like before you’ve even taken it – just like everyone else’s. So when you scroll through social media you see the same photo over and over again.
I don’t say that to be negative – it’s just the truth. But if you’ve never done it before, of course it’s fun to go out and give it a try. Just because your photo looks like everyone else’s, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an enjoyable experience. And the photo is YOURS which is important to a lot of us. So I totally understand the process.
But I do like it when people include something else to show some of the environment in the photo. It takes time to seek out the right location and to figure out where the sun will be, but it could be worth it. And this goes back to the previous tip… if you’ve already photographed the normal photo that everyone else will, maybe try to do something else this time.
Final Thoughts
I hope this helped out and maybe gave you some last minute things to think about while photographing the eclipse. As I mentioned earlier, keep your eyes and camera safe (in that order please). And have fun with it. Of course it’s great to nail a great photo of the eclipse, but at the same time try to practice enough ahead of time so that you can also soak it in and enjoy the experience. Take care!
NOTE: Don’t forget to check out my editing video too (Click Here)
what color is the sun supposed to be???
Hi. In short the sun is white. But it appears various colors… it would be a lot to type. Some really good info if you type “What color is the sun” in to google.
https://www.google.com/search?q=what+color+is+the+sun&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS980US980&oq=&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgAEEUYOxjCAzIJCAAQRRg7GMIDMgkIARBFGDsYwgMyCQgCEEUYOxjCAzIJCAMQRRg7GMIDMgkIBBBFGDsYwgMyCQgFEEUYOxjCAzIJCAYQRRg7GMIDMgkIBxBFGDsYwgPSAQoxMjc0NTdqMGo3qAIIsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
To use auto focus or manual focus?
Great common sense tips!
Thank you for your suggestions, valued tips and for the editing tutorial Matt. Superb as always. I will followup on the PS tutorial once I have reviewed the photos.
For others reading and following, there is an excellent site at “Mr Eclipse” with shooting data and procedures to capture the eclipse and totality.
http://mreclipse.com/SEphoto/SEphoto.html
A group of amateur astronomers in Quebec created an app titled My Eclipse available at the Apple Android app stores. It allows you to enlarge a Google Map where you will be shooting, then tap your location to view how long the total eclipse will last from start to finish, and the duration of Totality. For my destination in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, the total time from start to finish is about 10 minutes with totality lasting 3 min 27 seconds. Right now the forecast os for clear skies. It has an excellent simulation to give you an idea of what will happen. I’m hoping the weather holds for Monday 🙂
Happy shooting to my fellow togs. Enjoy nature’s show!
Cheers
Frederic in Montréal
In prepping for this, fairly early on I read a recommendation to put a light colored cloth over your camera between shots and thought, that’s a bit OCD for me. And then I looked at some exif data …. I took a few test shots this noon time, had the camera out in the sun about 10 minutes and the exif data showed an ambient temp of 66.2°, a camera temp of 78.8° and a battery temp of 87°. Given the propensity of some cameras to shut themselves off if they get too warm, maybe not so OCD after all …
Also remember – you’ll best be on a good tripod/ball head because you will have to track the arc of the sun as it moves through the sky – even as you shoot if you want the early phases. My shots in 2017 captured full sun replete with sun spots and each phase of the big show in North Georgia.
Best advice:try not to shoot the same exact thing again. I got great shots in 2017, so this time will be way different – besides, I’m not in totality this time, so got to get creative.
I’ve kind of decided to not even attempt to shoot it (even though we are right in the park here in Rochester NY). I think I’ll allow myself to simply enjoy the event, and not be stressed about equipment, etc. I also decided to not invest in the filter, so I’d only be shooting totality anyway. (Time will tell if I stick to that…)
Good luck everyone. Fingers crossed for clear skies!
Pretty much the same. I will have everything set up for totality, but I’m not stressing about it. If I don’t take a single picture I will still be there, still have seen it, and still go have a beer at the steakhouse down the street to celebrate. As much as I love and obsess over photography, being present for an event that I will only ever see once is most important.
Field report: the weather was awful. Super cloudy. It was still amazing. The way the corona danced in the clouds; the way everything was colder and quiet. Walked down the street after and got a steak and a beer; exactly to plan!
I got some decent sun pics yesterday with my homemade / baader sun filter. Found out my cadioptric is s little more beat up than I thought it was. Success all around!
You may be right, I got great shots in 2017. Don’t let cost stop you, though, I got my filter on Amazon – it had a cardboard surround that folded into a circular tube that fit OVER my 300 mm lens (Olympus = 600). Worked perfectly.
Good strategy, Cindy. I picked the centerline in 2017, but this time I’m either going to stay closer to the edge to get the diamond ring and beads, or just stand there with my mouth open. Good luck.
And have fun!
Need to advise that setting your lens on manual focus and infinity…is not always infinity…do a live view and 50% of the time infinity mark is not dead center
I shot the eclipse in 2017 and used a 150-600 zoom at 600m with a tripod. The tips you have added are right on and were used in 2017. I set the focus at infinity and put a piece of gaffing tape on the lens to make sure it didn’t move focus by accident.
Am curious if you have any info about shooting the eclipse even if the clouds come in? Thank you
So, Matt, Agree 100 percent on Nail the Focus. Any tips on best technique to do that when using a big telephoto aiming at the sun…only Manual focus, or use AF on edge of sun and then flip to Manual. I tried on Manual and it was difficult to tell when in exact focus?
My hint would be don’t use automatic focus and don’t use an exposure metering of any kind. Do set manual focus to infinity and leave it there. Do set ISO at the camera’s base ISO. Set aperture at your lens’s sweet shop which for a prime lens is near wide open if you have to guess maybe one stop down. For a zoom guess two stops down. Again don’t let the camera change the aperture. Now set the shutter speed at the proper exposure with your solar filter. Leaving one stop of “headroom” is better than blowing out the highlights because the highlights are what you want. I would during practice be sure to see zero to the right of the histogram. It seems to be the normal advise is to remove the solar filter during totality. I don’t understand this because the brightness of the subject is not reduced during totality.
Jack, removing the solar filter allows you to capture the corona. You won’t see this with the solar filter on the lens. I photographed the 2017 eclipse in Oregon and got really good shots, both with the filter on and off during totality. Even captured the “Diamond Ring” which I don’t think I would have gotten with the filter on. But timing is critical; too soon (or too late after totality) and eyes and camera could be damaged.
Matt thanks for the tips. First time eclipse shooter, but long time customer of yours and have referred many people to you as you are an excellent teacher. If I may ask a question, I have been practicing however, every course I have attended either online or in person and every book and article says keep the iso native. I can’t achieve a decent exposure at a reasonable shutter speed using any of my solar filters (thousand oaks, Solarguy and Spectrum glass) I have to bump the iso to perhaps 3200-6400. I am using an RF 100-500 with an R5 using full manual mode, manual focus. I have processed a few photos and noise is not an issue and I have topaz photo ai anyway. Am I doing something wrong?
I bet you are being fooled by camera metering that is trying to making a large area of black look gray.True that the dynamic range is negligible so noise is never an issue.
Great information. What kinds of filters would you suggest? Can I take any shots without filters by simply reducing the exposure a few stops? I have filters for my eyes but not too much for the camera. Suggestions?
You need a solar filter. Mine is 16.6 stops
What about a time lapse of just the sun and moon zoomed in fairly close?
Remember that the sun/moon appear to move 15 degrees per hour, so with a 300 mm lens, and without a tracker, you only have a couple of minutes before and after totality before they move out of the field of view.