If you have a cell phone with a good camera, a solar eclipse is not difficult to photograph because it is a totally visible natural phenomenon. You won’t have to deal with darkness or small, fast targets, like if you were trying to immortalize the Perseids in summer or shooting stars, for example.
With a solar eclipse approaching, the US space agency NASA has released valuable tips that will allow people to take clear photos of an eclipse. The process to capture a good image requires some preparation, but don’t worry, we explain everything below.
How to take photos of a lunar eclipse
-Use a tripod or stabilizer. The first thing NASA recommends is to buy a tripod to have a support that allows you to take stable photos. You can also use a support for your phone, placing it on some books or a wall, but you have to think about something really stable.
A capture with good stability ensures that the camera lens captures the Sun’s outer atmosphere, which is known as the “Corona.” This layer is visible during an eclipse and when exposed in an image it looks impressive.
-Use a timer. Likewise, a timer will be helpful to time the image captures and, above all, to take the photo from a distance without having to manipulate the smartphone or the camera. With the remote button, you can take the image automatically. Remember that you can use another mobile phone as a remote trigger from the other one with which you will take the photograph.
-Set up the exhibition. On the other hand, you have to set the correct exposure so that the image is detailed. If you are using a DSLR camera, NASA recommends locking the exposure from F8 to F16, while the shutter speed can vary between 1/1000 and 1/4. This configuration makes it easier to capture better lighting.
If it is a total eclipse, NASA says that it is best to leave the exposure locked and the shutter speed to be below one second. As for mobile phones, the settings are practically the same, NASA suggests a fixed aperture to experiment with shutter speed.
-Indirect capture. An important tip is that, if the telephoto lens on your mobile phone is not good and produces a lot of noise in the photo, NASA recommends capturing the shadows cast by the “Corona” of the Sun on the ground, since the lighting produced during a eclipse is something unique.
Additionally, a wide angle can be used to capture how the eclipse lighting changes your perception of the environment around you. Finally, it is recommended that the photo format be RAW to guarantee maximum fidelity when editing the images on the computer.
