Total Solar Eclipse on August 21 in the USA - Plans, strategies, tips!

[Sean Setters]

I just created a post in the News section with a brief account of my experiences from the event. If you want, share your own stories and your favorite image in the comment section there (hoping to get the ball rolling).

[Kayaker72]

So, I figure I will consult this thread before the next eclipse. So I thought I'd write down a few things that I will want to remember:

What I liked:

• Have a plan for partial eclipse, the transition, and totality. Make sure some of the plan for totality includes just watching it and enjoying.
• Set alarm for 1 min before totality and before 3rd contact.
• Have multiple cameras going: close ups with telephoto lens, wide angle lens, and video (on gorillapod).
• 840 mm was great. Wider would have worked well too. I wouldn't do more focal length unless I had a rock solid equatorial mount.
• Remote trigger.
• Have back up lenses and filters. Binoculars with solar filters for partial eclipse.
• Pick spot where you can see totality that has a crowd (cheering was a nice benefit) but not a mob scene.
• Go for variety of shots to capture flares (1/100 to 1/1,000 at f/9, ISO 100) and corona (0.4-1/20, f/9, ISO 100).

How I would improve:

• Improve mount: Travel ballhead and support had vibration.
• 150-600S focus ring is too sensitive.
• Hold down trigger for rapid fire shots during 2nd and 3rd contact (diamond ring/bailey's beads).
• Wide angle camera needs better low EV AF or go with preset MF: M3 had problems focusing during totality.
• It would be excellent if location could have eclipse at lower angle so landscape can more easily be pulled into image.
• If using 150-600S + 1.4TC...try dropping to f/10 or f/11 to see if sharpness can be increased.

Anyone else had tips that we should remember?

[Jonathan Huyer]

That definitely nails it!

- I like the idea of an alarm, at least before 3rd contact.
- I got my variety of shots by setting up 7-exposure bracketing in manual mode, and firing bursts in high-speed mode. Then I would ramp the shutter speed up and down in addition to that, to expand the range even more.
- Taking time to watch and enjoy is crucial. I missed photographing the diamond rings completely, but I don't regret that because I got to watch them live, rather than through a lens.
- For my wide-angle camera, I just had it set on manual focus close to the hyperfocal point at f/5.0 and it did fine.
- For the telephoto camera, I used my 100-400 lens on a full-frame body, and cropped the result. I didn't lose much in terms of detail, and it gave me some latitude for movement of the sun (not having to continually adjust position as it drifted through the viewfinder). I was also able to get shots wide enough to include the bright star Regulus near the sun.
-Yes a lower-angle eclipse has some advantages, but you increase the risk of interference from haze and clouds when the sun is lower. When it does work out, it can be fantastic. I saw an annular eclipse at sunset from San Diego (in 1993, I think) and it was brilliant.
- One thing I forgot was to bring a bottle of champagne, so we could pop the cork and celebrate afterwards! Gotta put that on the list for next time