How to take a cool eclipse photo with your smartphone

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

August is rich in eclipses - solar and lunar. A life hacker will tell you how to capture them without a professional camera.

The total solar eclipse on August 21 can be observed only while in North America, while in Russia the private (incomplete) one will be seen by the residents of the Far North and Chukotka. On the evening of August 7, a lunar eclipse will occur, which, on the contrary, will be noticeable to residents of the entire territory of Russia, except for regions with a solar eclipse at the end of the month. The nearest total solar eclipse in Russia will happen on August 12, 2026. A total lunar eclipse, which can be observed throughout the country, except for the western and southwestern regions, will occur earlier - on January 31, 2018.

Such phenomena do not happen often and, of course, attract the attention of photography enthusiasts. Chances are, your Instagram feed will be filled with shots of eclipses. To take a good photo, you have to prepare.

Of course, it is better to use a digital SLR camera with special lenses, but you can get a good picture on a smartphone. Keep in mind that phone cameras are not designed for capturing astronomical phenomena and the result will not be as impressive as you might like. On the way to a total solar eclipse, there will definitely be enough light to take a photo with a smartphone. The lunar eclipse on the night of August 8 will be visible to the naked eye, so you can try to capture it as well.

To increase the chances of a good photo, it is better to acquire additional equipment for your smartphone: it can be Olloclip, Moment lenses or others. They will increase the focal length and allow you not to use digital zoom, which degrades the quality of images.

With the help of a special light filter, which you can buy in professional photo equipment stores, you can take photos of partial eclipses that are not as well visible as full ones. You can also place eclipse goggles in front of the camera. Filters will be needed so as not to spoil the eyes and the camera during a solar eclipse. To avoid noise in high-exposure shots, you will need a tripod.

It makes sense to practice, for example, filming an ordinary night moon. This will help you determine which exposure to use. Autofocus and autoexposure may be sufficient, but manual adjustments will probably have to be done to improve your shots.

It is recommended to take photos in RAW format, as details are less visible in JPEG and overall quality decreases. To do this, download dedicated apps such as Halide or ProCam for iOS and Manual Camera or Camera FV-5 for Android.

Do not forget about precautions: looking at a solar eclipse, even incomplete, with the naked eye is extremely harmful. It can also damage the camera. A lunar eclipse is safe for health and equipment.