- You can take photos of the eclipse with your phone, but take care of your eyes.
- You'll need to use filters to control the light and use the manual exposure settings on your phone.
- Also think about other types of photos you can take during the event.
If you want to take some great photos during Monday's rare total solar eclipse, this is the best way to do it.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, the Moon's shadow will completely block the Sun, and this total solar eclipse will pass from Mexico in the southwest, across North America, to Canada in the northeast. If you're on a narrow path, you have to check it out, and you might want to take some eclipse photos here. The good news is, you already have everything you need to take great photos - just be careful not to strain your eyes while taking them.
"The most important thing when taking photos of a solar eclipse is to prioritize your safety and protect your eyes and camera equipment. Never look directly into the sun without appropriate eye protection, and use a sun filter on your camera lens or Eclipse glasses to prevent damage," professional travel photographer Kevin Mercier told Lifewire via email.
Photography is all about light and composition, both of which can be tricky when you're taking photos of a solar eclipse.
From a lighting perspective, your phone's automatic exposure control will be fooled by the dark sky and may try to make it brighter. This, in turn, brightens the solar halo around the moon until it becomes a fuzzy, charred mass.
The first task, then, is to control the light. You can do this by reducing the light using special filters, sunglasses, or anything that blocks the light.
"Don't have eclipse goggles or welding glass? Use sunglasses or even tinted car windows," the developers of smartphone camera app Halide wrote in a Mastodon thread offering eclipse photography tips.
This step is essential. Without protection, you're essentially pointing your camera directly at the sun, which is sure to overwhelm it and possibly even cause damage (for example, with a film camera, the focused light could burn a hole in the cloth shutter).
As light levels decrease, you now need to manually control the exposure. You can usually do this by swiping down on the screen of your phone's camera app, but it may automatically jump back up at a critical moment. It's better to use a third-party camera app that allows manual control, such as Halide, which I use and love.
The next challenge is composition. You can take a classic photo of a halo eclipse, but on your phone it will end up as a small circle in the middle of the frame. You can zoom in, but unless your phone has a truly super telephoto lens, all you're doing is cropping out the outside of the frame and zooming in on the rest, which results in a noisy, pixelated mess.
So if you have a mirrorless or DSLR camera with a long lens, now is the time to get it out. If not, consider getting an accessory lens for your phone, like this one from Moment.
"My favorite trick when taking solar eclipse photos with your smartphone is to use a telephoto lens attachment or optical zoom feature if you have one. This allows you to get closer to the eclipse and capture more detail in your photos," Mercier said.
Using a telephoto lens will also amplify the tremor in your hands, so you need to be aware of that as well. Modern phone cameras do a pretty good job of mitigating camera shake through image stabilization software, but they're not really designed to handle telephoto lenses. You have to exercise.
"Use a mini tripod or place your phone on a beanbag or railing to prevent shaking. You can also try voice commands or a Bluetooth remote shutter release to eliminate hand shake," destination expert Anne Sutherland told Lifewire via email.
No matter which solution you choose, be sure to practice first so you don't miss your Monday moment.
Don’t forget about the other photo opportunities a total solar eclipse provides. If you've never experienced it, here's what you can look forward to. The sky and world will begin to darken, but faster than sunset, and without the long shadows and golden glow. The birds will stop singing and everything will become spooky when everyone leaves.
You might consider capturing this aspect on video or taking some photos in odd lighting.
Finally, don’t forget this experience. A total solar eclipse is a very strange thing, and there are tons of amazing photos that pop up online immediately afterwards. You might want to switch off and try to understand the incredible journey that brings the sun, moon and earth into perfect alignment with you right in the middle.
