Solar Eclipse Day Today

Gateway Arch, St. Louis Missouri (click to enlarge)
Nikon D800E, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm; 1/160th sec. @ f/16; ISO 100

Today a total solar eclipse is scheduled to occur across the entire span of the United States.  Am I going to photograph it?  No.  Why not?

First, where I live will only result in about an 85-88% coverage of the sun.  So, it won't be a total solar eclipse for me, which makes the event less than exciting.  Second, I'm not fully convinced that using 16-18 stops of neutral density filters that I own will protect the sensors on my mirrorless cameras from damage.  It is not the visible light which worries me, but the UV and IR light that might harm my sensors.  I don't have a special solar filter and didn't see a real reason to purchase one, again, since the eclipse won't be total in my area. I don't want to unnecessarily incur a potential several hundred dollar sensor replacement cost.  Finally, there will be literally millions of images of this eclipse made today.  If I want to look at any number of them, I'm sure that thousands will be posted to the Internet; all sorts of time lapse and sequential images, many of the total eclipse showing only the sun's corona, Bailey's Beads, etc.  Also, the event will be broadcast live on several television network and cable channels so I can view the total solar eclipse live. Additionally, NASA will also have a live Internet broadcast.

On July 20, 1963, I can clearly remember being in our driveway with my dad, a doctor, who set up a small table with a piece of white cardboard on it.  He brought out his binoculars, turned them toward the sun and, with his admonishment to not look up at the sun, we watched the shadow of the moon move across the sun as it fell upon that white cardboard.  Nice memory.  That, too, was about 85% coverage.

For all of you who are out there photographing the eclipse today, I wish you good luck.  I hope you have fully prepared, either for directly looking at the sun with the appropriate safety eye wear or have practiced and worked out your photographic method, resulting in success.

UPDATE:  At my home in southeastern Virginia, at its maximum (2:46-2:48 p.m.), we lost 3.3 EVs (stops) of light.  That is about a 90% reduction in light intensity, which makes sense, since coverage of the sun was 85-88%.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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