How to Take a Picture of a Solar Eclipse

Whether you are an experienced astrophotographer or just happen to have a camera handy, you can obtain interesting and beautiful photographic memories of a total solar eclipse. The key is to be prepared and to have a basic plan. This reference is intended to help you prepare and plan to photograph an eclipse while enjoying the experience at the same time.

UPDATE: For the latest tips and advice on seeing the May 20 solar eclipse, see: Annular Solar Eclipse of May 20: Complete Coverage On Sunday, May 20, the western half of the United States will be treated to a spectacular annular eclipse as the sun sets in the western sky.

The article explains the techniques and safety precautions necessary to photograph a solar eclipse.

The biggest challenge with photographing a solar eclipse is that this is the sun itself that you're looking at. As we've all been told since we were little, looking directly at the sun is a bad idea. Not only can doing so permanently damage your eyes, it can also damage your camera's image sensor.

WARNING: Never stare directly at the sun without a proper, safe filter. Failure to do so can result in serious eye injury or permanent blindness. No. 14 welder's glass filter is acceptable, but ordinary sunglasses and polarizing or neutral-density filters used in regular photography are not safe and...

To get steady shots, use a sturdy tripod or mount to support your camera setup. Don't try to hand-hold it.

Don't forget to use a large-capacity memory card and set the camera to its highest resolution so you can capture as much detail and color information as possible. Consult your camera manual on how to change the settings.

Remember to focus carefully to get sharp images. Use your camera's Live View feature, if it has one, to achieve accurate focus. You can pre-focus the camera (without the solar filter) before the eclipse using Mars or Jupiter or a bright star. Otherwise, you can focus on distant ships or clouds along...

To minimize vibrations that can blur your images, use your camera's mirror lock-up feature before each shot. You should also operate the shutter with an electronic cable release to eliminate camera shake. Keep your exposures very short by using a high ISO setting (400 or higher).

Make sure your camera battery is fully charged, and keep a spare one handy, just in case. You don't want to get that flashing low-battery icon at the critical time.

Use the "bracketing" technique for your exposures - that is, taking a series of shots at various shutter speeds and/or apertures. This will

Be sure to test your camera setup before the eclipse. If possible, take some trial shots of the sun to give you an idea on what exposure settings to use with your particular telescope/filter combination

When composing your shot, try to include some interesting elements in your foreground, such as a lighthouse or sailboat silhouetted against the horizon, or people strolling on the beach

After the eclipse, be sure to download your images to your computer and back-up all your files right away. Keep the originals in a separate folder or drive and process only copies of the images. Use editing software such as Adobe Photoshop to enhance the images' brightness, contrast, sharpness and c...

Even if you don't have fancy equipment you can create memorable photos of a solar eclipse. Powered by RebelMouse

Even if you don't have fancy equipment you can create memorable photos of a solar eclipse.

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If you are on the verge of buying a new camera to assist you in your solar astrophotography pursuits then you need to consider what is the best adapted camera for this purpose. Taking photos of a solar eclipse or the solar system could be very harmful to your eyes and also the equipment you use.