Solar Eclipses
Types of Solar Eclipses
| Total | The Moon totally covers the sun. This occurs when the moon is relatively close to the earth. The moon's distance from the earth varies from 226,000 to 252,000 miles. The Sun's corona is visible only during total eclipses and is worth photographing with a long lens (rule of thumb - at least 200mm, 2000 mm would be better!). The next total eclipse at The Wave occurs on April 5, 2591. |
| Annular | The moon appears to be inside the Sun. The moon is relatively far from the earth, so it doesn't quite cover the full Sun. Typically it might cover 95% of it. The Sun appears as a bright orange ring around the moon when the eclipse reaches its maximum. The corona is not visible and cannot be successfully photographed. You should include some foreground together with the moon in your images. There was an annular eclipse at The Wave on May 20, 2012. The next annular eclipse at The Wave occurs on October 9, 2238. |
| Hybrid eclipse | In some parts of the world the eclipse will be total, and in some parts annular. Relatively rare. |
| Partial | The moon only covers part of the Sun. For example, the May 20, 2012 eclipse was a partial eclipse in Phoenix but an annular eclipse when viewed from Page. A partial solar eclipse at The Wave on October 14, 2014, covered 40% of the Sun. A very good partial eclipse will occur on October 14, 2023 when 89% will be covered. This eclipse will be an annular eclipse when viewed from Albuquerque. The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta occurs from October 7 to 15, 2023. |
Shooting Solar Eclipses
- Never look directly at the Sun, especially through binoculars or a DSLR viewfinder. Eclipse glasses can be purchased from Amazon cheaply.
- Live view is a mixed bag; using it will protect your eyes, but the camera's sensor could be damaged if the exposure is too long. If you use live view or a mirrorless viewfinder, keep the lens covered most of the time until nearly ready to compose/shoot. A strong ND or solar filter on the lens will also help.
- Use a strong neutral density filter to cut the Sun's brightness. Use at least a ten stop and preferably a 15 to 16 stop filter. ND filters do not cut all types of solar radiation, so use live view or a mirrorless camera viewfinder to compose. Do not use a DSLR's viewfinder.
- Solar filters are ideal.
- Include some foreground and shoot with as long a lens as possible. In the absence of clouds or haze, the foreground will be in silhouette. Try HDR bracketing or compositing to bring out some foreground detail.
- If possible, scout out the location in advance by being onsite at the time of the eclipse the day before. If you can't be there the day before use photopills or photoephemeris to compose your shot.
- Shoot from a tripod and bracket. I plan to test from 1/8000 sec. to 1/2 second or more! That said, keep your exposure times short, especially if using a long lens. In one second, the Sun will move about four pixels on a Nikon d800 at 300mm. Boost your ISO as needed.
- Flare will be an issue. You can reduce flare by shooting wide open or covering the Sun with your thumb. Prime lenses also help reduce flare.
The October 14,2023 Annular Eclipse
The annular part of the October 14 eclipse will race across a narrow band of the US, running from Oregon to Texas. In the rest of the US, the eclipse will be partial. Information about the eclipse for a few viewpoints is shown in the table below. For other locations use NASA's eclipse calculator. Photopills and photoephemeris can also be used to check whether the eclipse is annular at a given location.
Good eclipse viewing locations include much of the Grand Staircase, Capitol Reef National Park, Monument Valley, the Bisti Badlands, and Albuquerque, NM. Note that the eclipse will be a partial eclipse when viewed from The Wave. If you are lucky enough to have a Wave permit that day, don't let this stop you. The eclipse is nearly annular at The Wave and will be spectacular, weather permitting.
At annularity, the eclipse will be high in the sky with an altitude of 30° to 35°, and the Sun will be to the southeast. The annular portion of the eclipse occurs at roughly 9:30 AM Arizona time or 10:30 AM in Utah and New Mexico.
October 14, 2023 Eclipse