for the first time in 99 years on August
21st a total solar eclipse will pass
over the United States from coast to
coast and it's going to be an amazing
sight to see and also an amazing sight
to photograph here's how I'm prepping
for the celestial event and a few things
you need to know about photographing the
Sun for starters what is an eclipse and
why is it so rare well it's a
serendipitous alignment of the earth the
Sun and the moon around every 18 months
or so the moon passes directly between
the Earth and the Sun on its orbit and
those in the direct path of the moon's
shadow called the path of totality will
see the Sun completely covered up by the
moon here in this path the eclipse will
last about three hours from when it
starts to become obscured so when it's
fully visible again don't worry even if
you're not in the path of totality the
length of the Eclipse will vary but
basically anyone in the continental US
is going to see the Sun mostly covered
now if you're going to be watching this
remember that staring at the Sun is bad
for your eyes even during an eclipse if
you'll want to get a pair of solar
filter glasses these are like your
regular sunglasses though these glasses
block over 99.99% of the sun's light so
all you'll see is either an orange or
white disc in the sky NASA and the
American Astronomical Society have lists
of approved manufacturers that sell
standard solar eclipse glasses if you
still need a parent now you're going to
want to get a picture of this and your
phone might not cut it if you're looking
to get a jaw-dropping shot you're
probably going to manually focus and if
you zoom you'll be sacrificing a lot of
quality going to risk some blur some
noise and you'll notice the Sun is still
pretty far away in the frame other than
buying specific telephoto lenses for
your phone this is likely the best
you'll be able to do so if you have a
DSLR it's definitely time to break that
out we talked to Justin star and amateur
astrophotographer about what to expect
and how to get a perfect shot we have
three key pieces which is our telescope
our camera in the solar filter correct
just like your eyes need a solar filter
so does your camera if I did not have a
solar filter on here I could really fry
the
imaging sensor on my camera justin is
using a telescope here but will be using
a 70 to 200 millimeter with a two times
converter which should get as close
enough and you'll need a solar filter to
go on top every one now you want to make
sure that your solar filter is threaded
properly for your lens basically do they
match together plus a tripod in order to
keep the camera steady and focus on the
Sun with all this equipment here's what
you need to know in any photograph there
are three things you have control over
you have your aperture you have your
exposure and you have your ISO the
aperture is the size of the opening
that's letting light in if you are using
a telescope chances are that your
aperture is fixed so to compare this to
a camera lens this would be a 400
millimeter because it's a foreign jamila
meter program so this is at f5 I have no
control over that it is what it is
I have the camera currently set at one
125th of a second exposure so that means
that the shutter is going to be open for
one 125th of a second very quick because
we don't need we don't need that much
time we're looking at the Sun even with
99.9 percent of its light being blocked
by my solar filter it's still pretty
yeah exactly
and what is is now again one way you can
describe it I think of it like gain on
an amplifier because I'm a musician and
a guitar player
you'll get more volume more signal more
brightness if you turn the gain up but
you're also going to introduce some
noise right ideally you want it to be as
low as possible once you have your
camera set up and focused on the Sun
you'll want to fire off a few test shots
to make sure your settings are as you
want them to be when the Eclipse reaches
totality be an even lunar surface causes
beads of light to pop out from behind
the moon those are called Baily's beads
and their result of the moon not being
perfectly round as this is happening
you're going to have to adjust your
camera settings to make up for the
drastic changes in life so you want to
be checking your camera and your
settings as it goes one sixtieth that's
one sixtieth of a second might be good
as it's getting really dark khaki um and
when you reach total totality you can
even take the solar filter off and
photograph the connector and ready
that's a sense atmosphere that we
usually can't see because it's way too
bright it looks like delicous threads of
light emanating from the solar disk you
will not capture the corona with the
solar filter on it's not that bright I
got to do it you got to do it yeah
that's the thing to remember if you are
in the path of the total solar eclipse
you definitely want to take your glasses
off for those two-and-a-half precious
minutes of totality it's the only time
of the Eclipse you'll be able to see
with your own two eyes this is also the
only time you can photograph the Sun
without your solar filter and get that
perfect shot of the corona as the moon
starts to reveal the Sun again you'll
want to make sure to put your glasses
back on as well as your solar filter to
get the shots that you need and remember
to adjust your settings as necessary as
things get brighter you'll want to speed
up your shutter and close your aperture
or lower your ISO again as for me I've
got my camera and my lens I'm using a
Canon 5d with a 2 x convertor and a 70
to 200 millimeter lens my solar filter
is on the way I'll be heading down to
Nashville along with the rest of the
world see if I can get an awesome shot
let's hope I don't mess it up got more
questions about the total solar eclipse
check out our explainer links in the
description below also we'll be rolling
out more covers as we get closer to the
Eclipse in the 21st so be sure to visit
the verge comm learn more about this
blessed she loved it
[Music]