need advise re: eclipse photgraphy

I will be in Nashville for he total eclipse is year. I do no do astro photography at all. I have a 7dmarkr ll and mark 1. Can bring a tripod. advise for relativly inexpensive solor filter also can a dark nd filter be used for less then totality? I plan on using my 70-200 with a 1.4 magnifer so effective 280 mm

Read this thread please : https://photography-on-the.net …read.php?t=1465​977&page=1

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1476644

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1468723

The Thousand Oaks Optical "77-T" is a 77mm diameter thread-on filter (just like any photographic filter). The material is a polymer (like a mylar) (it's not hard "glass" or a solid resin). It is extremely durable.

If you are in the path of totality then you can safely remove the filter about 20 seconds prior to totality (when the moon completely covers the sun). You should not remove the filter more than 50 seconds prior to totality (do not remove it too soon).

Also (VERY IMPORTANT) once you do remove the filter, DO NOT look through the viewfinder to attempt center the sun in the frame. That must be done before the filter is removed.

When totality ends (a little over 2 minutes later depending on how close you are to the center line) you should replace the filter about 20 seconds later.

Don't forget to get some solar viewers for yourself (not just your camera lens).

There's a huge change in exposure once the filter is removed. The filter is basically an ND 5.0 ... that's about 16.7 photographic stops. Also, the solar corona needs about 10-12 stops to capture the whole thing.

For this reason, eclipse photographers use software that controls the entire capture process (and changes the exposures as needed.) I'm using Solar Eclipse Maestro (Mac software) to do this.

If there are two important take-aways...

(1) think about the safety of your own eyes (If you destroy the camera you can get another camera. If you destroy your eyes, your options are a bit more limited. Make sure that when all the fun is over, you don't need to purchase a white cane and learn to read brail.)

It is NOT SAFE to look directly at the sun (and even less safe to look at the sun through the camera because the lens magnifies things even more) unless the sun is COMPLETELY eclipsed by the moon. When the moon has eclipsed even 98% of the sun... it's still not safe.

(2) Don't forget to enjoy the experience yourself. A lot of amazing things happen in the moments leading up to totality.

If you're on high ground you may see the approaching shadow of the moon.

Beginning a couple of minutes before totality, if you look at any solid "white" surface (a white car, a white tent or canopy, any piece of white fabric, etc.) you might start to see something called "shadow bands". These are ripples of light & dark that will start to appear and wobble caused by the atmosphere. They'll start out very weak and start to intensify as totality gets closer.

Around 10 seconds (give or take a few seconds) before totality, the profile of the lunar landscape at the limb will start to break up the sunlight into what appears like a string light beads. These are called "Baily's Beads". (at this point it is finally safe to view the sun directly)

Around 2 seconds before totality the last vestiges of sun will be reduced to one point... called the "Diamond Ring" effect.

You'll have likely noticed the temperature will have been dropping. It will be very dusky. Any tiny gaps of sunlight shining through leaves of trees, etc. will be "crescent" shaped (all this happens before totality).

During totality you'll see the solar corona.

The brighter stars in the night sky will be visible (Regulus -- in Leo -- will be just 1º east (left) of the Sun.)

The corona is actually HUGE but you'll likely see only a small bit of it because your eyes won't be dark-adapted. With the eclipse lasting only a couple of minutes, your eyes won't have time to dark-adapt.

So one trick is to buy an eye-patch and look like a pirate ... starting about 30 minutes before totality but at least 20 minutes before. This allows that one eye to "dark adapt" because you've protected it from the Sun. Your pupil in that eye will get much larger so it can collect more light. Whatever you do ... DO NOT CHEAT. Don't remove the eyepatch -- not even for a second -- until totality begins (this includes not looking at Baily's Beads or the Diamond Ring effect with the covered eye. Only after totality begins can you remove it. THAT eye will see far more stars and it will notice that the solar corona stretches out quite a bit farther than you can see with the non-dark-adapted eye.

When totality ends, you'll see all of this in reverse... a new "Diamond Ring" will expand into another set of "Baily's Beads"... if you're on high-ground you can look for the shadow of the moon racing away from you.

If your head is buried in your camera trying to work out all the exposures... you'll probably miss most of this.

I think for this one it will be better to experience it instead of capture images. I can see getting so lost in the technical details I do not experience the event

It's really not all that hard . Some just make it seem hard . If your lucky enough to find a proper solar filter you can get images . Only thing is with a Baadar solar filter you'll only see white and black and you will not see or capture any solar flares , sorry . But if you get a proper filter that allows solar flares to be seen you can capture flares in an image however those filters are very expensive . If your just going to view enjoy with the proper filter . Just don't look through a camera lens or a scope or you could get irreversible eye damage in one second . Think of a magnifying glass how you hold it and burn a piece of paper or tree leaf . Think of your eye as that leaf or paper . Damage done , too late .