Total Solar Eclipse on August 21 in the USA - Plans, strategies, tips!
Hi everyone,
I'm really excited about the opportunity to see a total solar eclipse this August, the first closely accessible solar eclipse of my life thus far.
I thought I would start a thread about the eclipse, just to see what any of you are planning (if you are planning on traveling short or long distances to see it) and how you're gonna go about capturing the event.
1. Where are you planning on seeing the eclipse?
2. What lens(es) do you think you'll be shooting with?
3. What tools will you use to aid in capture? (Filters, tripods or rigs, automated anything, remote release, sunglasses, pinholes)
4. Who will you be watching the eclipse with?
5. Have you ever seen a total before?
Thanks for participating!!!
Alex
My answers:
1. I'm in Portland, OR. I could travel south on I-5 with 20,000 other people and try to find a place to see it around the Corvallis/Eugene area (and hope it's not cloudy that day), but instead, I think I'm gonna be in Idaho along Hwy 95 somewhere between Weiser and Cambridge. My parents have a place about 100 miles north of there, and I think I'll take my three boys there for the week.
2. I have a 70-200mm f4L IS that I own, on my 70D. But I'm not sure this will be long enough? I may rent a 100-400 for the week? Not really sure.
3. I'll be using my tripod of course, and I have my B&W 10-stop ND filter. However, I don't love using that filter as it has to be removed to compose a shot in focus, then placed back on, etc. Maybe I will purchase a variable ND filter?
4. Hopefully I will be watching it with my wife, three boys and my parents.
5. I've never seen a total, but I do remember seeing a partial eclipse in Boise, ID when I was 14 or 15.
Total Solar Eclipse on August 21 in the USA - Plans, strategies, tips!
You can also buy baader film and make your own filter for your camera and shield for yourself. This is what I did before the last eclipse.
As for 10 stop filters, I would NOT look at the sun through the OVF with a 10 stop filter on, but several people I know did use a 10 stop filter and the LCD to capture some images.
With a DYI baader film filter:
https://flic.kr/p/c8bke9
https://flic.kr/p/c8bkdu
https://flic.kr/p/c8bkaC
Here's a shot Erno took with a 10 stop filter. He describes his setup on Flickr.
https://flic.kr/p/c2J4UL