Here are five tips to help amateur photographers capture the moment of a total solar eclipse in the U.S. on April 8 and enjoy the rare cosmic event.
A total solar eclipse is expected to bring minutes of darkness to North America during the middle of the day on April 8, and it will likely be one of the most photographed events of the year.
Many Americans are already preparing to witness and capture the rare cosmic event, which some experts say won’t occur in the U.S. for another 20 years.
Since onlookers will only have a short time to capture the event, here are five tips on how to photograph the total solar eclipse.
1. Protect your eyes … and camera equipment
With the sun as the focus during the eclipse, NASA is reminding onlookers that looking directly at it is dangerous to both your eyes and your camera.
To protect your eyes, NASA suggests a pair of solar viewing glasses, also known as eclipse glasses, and using a special solar filter to protect your camera against intense sunlight and heat.
When the moon completely blocks the sun and reaches totality, photographers should remember to remove the solar filter on their cameras to catch the sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona, which the space agency says is normally hidden by the bright light of the sun’s surface.
2. Don’t be picky about your camera
Any camera can capture the eclipse, from a high-end DLSR to our smartphones, according to NASA, which says that great photos of the cosmic event will mostly be determined by the photographer’s skill.
