Photographing the Total Solar Eclipse

A guest post by Steve Ornberg

If you live in the United States, you are probably aware of the total solar eclipse on April 8^th, 2024. The eclipse was visible in various degrees in the entire United States, as the official 2024 eclipse map shows. However, only those within the Totality Zone will see 100% totality, where the moon completely covers the Sun. This zone is 122 miles wide, stretching from Mazatlan, Mexico, to Maine. Millions of people were within 2 hours of the eclipse Totality Zone.

I missed the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse even though I was only a few hours from the totality zone. This 2024 eclipse would be the last time a total solar eclipse passed through the United States until 2044. So, this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime event for me, and I was determined to photograph and experience totality for the first (and last time).

Preparation

I planned months ahead of time. After researching several areas, I decided to go to Salem, Illinois. A friend who would join me has a relative who lives in Salem and offered their backyard for our eclipse viewing. This was preferred since it was less than 2 hours from St. Louis, where I would be driving from, and because most locations in southern Illinois had weekend-long events, packed camping sites, and thousands of eclipse watchers. Estimates predicted over 500,000 people would descend on southern Illinois, so traffic, especially going north towards Chicago after the eclipse, was forecasted to be heavy.

I researched how to photograph the eclipse. The best advice I found was from Steven Trainor, the developer of “The Photographers Ephemeris,” a website and mobile phone app for predicting the path of the Sun and moon used primarily for landscape photography. Trainor modified the app specifically to include eclipse data and timing. Information in his YouTube videos “Photographing the April 8 Solar Eclipse” and “Photographer’s Countdown to the April 8 Total Eclipse” were extremely helpful. I learned about the phases of the eclipse, the timing, and suggested camera settings. Rehearsing the steps of changing settings for each phase and when to remove the solar filter (necessary whenever the Sun is visible) would be necessary. The conditions will change rapidly when totality nears, your heart rate increasing with the oncoming darkness. Prior practice will help me focus at the time of greatest emotional and visual impact.

Fortunately, Trainor included a rehearsal mode in the app update with a countdown and notifications for each eclipse phase. (Note the times for C1 (First contact), C2, Max Totality, C3, C4). The app sends notifications 60 seconds and 30 seconds before and after each phase. This was beneficial for changing exposures and removing/adding solar filters.

The Day Arrives

I left St. Louis early in the morning to avoid commuter and eclipse traffic. The first phase would begin at 12:44 pm in Salem. I drove east about 90 miles and arrived in Salem mid-morning, thankfully not delayed by traffic. The Sun seemed brighter than normal, with only wispy high-level clouds. It was as if it, too, was getting ready for the epic event.

My friend and I set our equipment up in the backyard and took some test shots to confirm our base settings. The base settings were impacted by the solar filter, the effect of clouds, and local haze. I used ISO 100, f/8, and 1/400 seconds with my 200-600mm lens at 500mm.  I needed to have enough space in the viewfinder to capture the Sun’s corona during totality, which was expected to be several diameters wider than the Sun.

I chose a nine-bracket sequence. Every time I pressed the shutter, I would capture nine images: one at my base setting, four each one speed faster than the base, and the final four each one speed slower than the base. I stored these settings for the eclipse phase C1 as custom Mode 1, adjusted the base for phases C2 and C3 and assigned it to custom Mode 2, and finally adjusted the base for maximum totality when the filter would be removed and assigned it to custom Mode 3. This would allow rapid changing of the exposure based on the phases without having to fiddle with multiple dials.

We then sat back and waited anxiously for 12:44 pm to arrive. We discussed our settings, techniques, and processes, knowing that after phase C1, time would move quickly even with three minutes and 30 seconds of totality at our location. This sounds like a long time, but would it be? Since I have not photographed a total solar eclipse, I did not really know.

It Begins

At 12:43 pm, my app notified me one minute to C1, first contact. My heart rate went up a little. I clutched my remote trigger tighter. At 12:44:44.6 pm, I pressed my remote button and fired off a nine-bracket sequence. I quickly checked the screen to see if the exposure was correct. It looked pretty good, even with a slight haze in the sky. I proceeded to shoot every five minutes for the next hour and fifteen minutes. I had to reposition the Sun on the camera screen as it moved across the screen from top left to bottom right every five to seven minutes. The twenty-minute sequences are shown below. We remarked on how the Sun resembled a Pac-man icon.

Every person in the United States could observe some level of this partial eclipse. As the eclipse progressed from C1 to C2, the backyard grew darker and darker. I put on my solar glasses in between shots to see what the Sun looked like, but I had a better view on my camera screen. I could look at that safely without solar glasses since the camera is mirrorless.

Totality is Imminent

The app pinged “one minute to C2.” My heart rate sped up. I got ready to remove the solar filter. Twenty seconds before C2, I removed the filter, switched from custom Mode 1 to 2, and fired off a few nine-bracket sequences. And WOW! The view on the back of the camera was amazing!

The “Diamond Ring” – when one bright spot of sunlight remains resembling a giant diamond in the sky, with the Sun’s atmosphere forming the ring’s band. Seeing the Diamond Ring is a sign that totality is imminent. This one was a little hazy due to high-level wisps of clouds.

Here, you can see solar prominences. Prominences are anchored to the Sun’s surface in the photosphere and extend outwards into the corona. A solar prominence is a large plasma and magnetic field structure extending outward from the Sun’s surface. Baily’s Beads, named after British astronomer Francis Baily who discovered the eclipse phenomenon, appear as beads of light poking out around the Moon’s shadow. This light passes through valleys in the moon’s rugged terrain just before totality. 

Total Eclipse

Max totality is here! I switched the exposure to custom Mode 3, fired off a few sequences of bracketed shots to ensure I captured it, and then looked skyward toward the Sun—or where the Sun usually would be. I saw a black hole with bright light surrounding the sun/moon like a crown.

It was a stunning scene, and all I can say is WOW! Stunning! Oh My Gosh! At this time, about ten people surrounded us, expressing their amazement. One started singing. We could only imagine what our ancestors thought about this event. Did the cave dwellers think that the world was ending? I could understand why early humans worshipped the Sun.

The backyard was dark. Lights at nearby buildings and streetlights automatically came on. It was hard to see the others in the yard. I snapped a few iPhone photos of the sun/moon and of the backyard. It was darker than what these photos show.

The Sun Returns

And before you knew it, my app began notifying me of one minute to C3. That came too fast, I complained. I did not want totality to end. I began looking for my solar filter, but it was so dark that I could not find where I put it. I had to grab my iPhone and use its light to look for my filter. I could not see the camera dials to return the exposure to Mode 2. Using the iPhone again, I finally found the camera dial, switched back to Mode 2, put the filter back on, and fired off a bracketed sequence again at twenty seconds after C3. It was frenetic, and all the rehearsing did not really prepare me for how fast I must react.

I missed getting the second diamond ring as C3 began, but I got a few photos of Baily’s beads. At C3, I switched back to Mode 1 and got ready for the partial eclipse again as the moon started exiting from in front of the Sun. It seemed to exit faster than when it first started, and I shot about every three minutes.

So, after two hours and almost thirty minutes, it was all over, and the backyard was again basking in full sunlight. Everyone felt a little drained from all the excitement of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. A three-year-old child was present, so perhaps when she is in her 20s, she will experience it again.

After sitting in the sunshine for almost four hours, we sat back and had some snacks and drinks. I slowly packed up my car and began thinking about the drive back to St. Louis, dreading the predicted backups as half a million people returned home. I said thank you and goodbye to my hosts and turned my car towards St. Louis. Thankfully, there were only a few slowdowns as I headed west, but every northbound road was bumper-to-bumper. I felt grateful for the entire experience – one I will never forget.

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