Partial Solar Eclipse

We will have a solar eclipse on August 12. It is a total eclipse only in Europe, in the Boston area, we will see a 16% eclipse, roughly what the above photo shows. An eclipse is always a nice treat and I urge you to practice photographing it.

You need one piece of special equipment for this, that is a solar filter for your lens, because the full sun is too bright for cameras, even at ISO 50 and f/22. The solar filter acts like a 17 stop neutral density filter, but it is very thin, not creating any flares or reflections (as glass filters do). You can buy this on Amazon and make it yourself, all you need is a step-down ring from whatever the thread of your long lens is (usually 95mm) to 82 mm. That gives you a 1/4" rim to glue the filter on.

There is a brief description on my Patreon and Substack channels, but you can also download the full solar eclipse tutorial from my Shopify store.

You will need: tripod, remote control, camera (mounting plate!), long lens, at least 400 mm, better 600 and the solar filter for that lens. Also bring a wide angle lens to take a few foreground photos before and/or after, into which you can compose the sequence of individual photos of the sun, at the location you actually were.

It is also good to have solar viewing glasses, so that you can look straight into the sun and enjoy it alongside your camera.

This event is weather dependent. If it is totally socked in, we won't see anything, but if it is partly cloudy or with thin clouds (as above!), we can still do it. Check the comments for updates.

Please check in with the organizer before you move someplace else and, as always, no guest photographers.