How to Photograph an Eclipse (Video)

You might want to use your smartphone or digital camera to photograph the next eclipse. Before you do, you need to prepare yourself to keep your eyes and your camera safe.

How to safely photograph an eclipse

The most important safety tip to remember is to never look directly at the sun. Viewing the sun directly, even for brief periods, can cause permanent damage to the retina and result in blindness. Your eyes need specially designed solar eclipse glasses, and your camera needs a specially designed solar filter.

“Before pointing your camera at the sun, you need to get a special-purpose solar filter and put it over the camera lens,” said Russell N. Van Gelder, MD, PhD, a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. “Never look at the sun through an unfiltered camera, telescope, binoculars, or other optical device. The concentrated solar rays will damage the filter, and injure your eyes. Also, do not use solar eclipse glasses to look through a camera, binoculars or a telescope. The sun can melt the filter and damage your eyes.” 

Tips for capturing the eclipse with your camera

Ralph Chou, OD, MSc, FAAO, a professor emeritus of optometry and vision science at the University of Waterloo, has spent a lifetime eclipse chasing. In this video, he offers tips for getting a good image.

Dr. Chou connects his DSLR camera directly to a telescope so that the sun fills the entire frame. No matter what kind of camera you own, one or more of the following techniques can be used to shoot a solar eclipse: 

• Buy a solar filter or modify your eclipse glasses . Cut your glasses in half and tape one eyepiece over your smartphone camera lens.
• Take the filter off during totality. Totality is when the moon entirely blocks the sun’s bright face. Unless you're in the path of totality, keep your solar eclipse glasses on throughout the eclipse.
• Use a tripod to keep your camera stable.
• Use a remote trigger. With a remote, you can adjust settings and shoot the photo while keeping your camera stable.
• Practice. Take photos just after sunset during twilight to get an idea of what the light levels will be like during totality.
• Shoot photos of the moon to learn how to manually adjust the focus on your camera. Tap the screen and hold your finger on the image of the moon to lock the focus. Then slide your finger up or down to darken or lighten the exposure.
• A telephoto lens system is a must-have for eclipse photography with a smartphone. There are zoom lenses for smartphones designed solely to provide magnification without resorting to digital zoom.
• Try the pinhole effect. This eclipse effect is easily captured with point-and-shoot cameras. Use a straw hat or a kitchen sieve and allow the sun’s shadow to fall on a piece of white cardboard placed several feet away. The small holes act like pinhole cameras and each one projects its own image of the eclipsed sun.