A total solar eclipse is a rare event, and there will be one that will make its way across North America today, April 8th. I happen to live directly in the path of totality, which means I will see the sun completely blocked by the moon for a few minutes just by leaving my house. I am very excited about this; the last solar eclipse in my area was only partial and it was still pretty cold. Whether you’re in the path of totality or getting a partial view, it’s still something you’ll probably want to document. I’m not a photography expert, but I took an online iPhone photography course to improve my shutter release skills.
Yes, you can just point your iPhone at the sun and maybe get something interesting, but if you prepare ahead of time you’ll probably get better pictures and protect your eyes and your iPhone. Map out what you’re going to do, maybe even do a few test shoots in the days leading up to the eclipse. You might even want to choose something other than the sun itself to focus on to get more unique images for your experience. Here are some tips to get the most out of the eclipse experience with your iPhone.
Get ready to set the perfect shot
Protect your eyes and lenses
First of all, you must wear eclipse glasses to prevent vision loss. Even high-end sunglasses are not enough protection. Surprisingly, even your iPhone’s optics are at risk if you point the camera directly at the sun. You can buy solar filters for your iPhone’s camera lenses or put a pair of spare eclipse glasses over them.
Many libraries provide free eclipse glasses. They are available for online purchase at Amazon and other places. You can also pick them up for a buck or two at many opticians, toy stores, and other local stores in your area.
Study your location
Choose a place that has a good view of the sky where the sun will be at that time. Look for minimal obstacles and as little light pollution as possible. You might also consider finding a location that has eye-catching elements in the foreground to add more visual interest to your photos.
A tripod is ideal
If possible, you should choose a tripod for iPhone to ensure the best photos. Whenever you shoot in low light, the images can become blurry if your iPhone moves even the slightest. If you don’t have a tripod, you should find a place to prop your iPhone so you can get steady shots. At the very least, support your shooting hand against a wall or your body to steady yourself. This is especially important if you are recording video as the experience of watching a jerky video will be unpleasant.
Remote control
You can also consider getting an iPhone camera remote, which actually comes with a lot of tripods. If you have an Apple Watch, you’re in luck: the Camera Remote app does the trick.
- Open it Camera app on your iPhone
- Open it Camera Remote app on your Apple Watch
- Touch … button to set the remote control exactly the way you want it
Disable flash
The flash casts light just a few meters in front of you. This will not improve your photos of the distant sun at all, it will actually make them worse. Not to mention you’ll ruin the eclipse experience for everyone around you. So make sure your flash is disabled before you get ready to shoot the eclipse.
- Open your iPhone Camera app
- Touch Flash icon in the upper left corner of the screen within the Camera application
- Make sure there is a line through it
Optical versus digital zoom
Optical zoom or digital zoom? Optical zoom is what you want here. The best iPhone, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a zoom lens of 5X, while other models have a maximum of 2X or 3X. Use what you have to get the closest, sharpest image you can. You can even consider adding a third-party telephoto lens. However, don’t bother using your digital zoom. This essentially just pre-crops your image and often results in grainy or blurry images. It’s better to just take a photo without any digital zoom and then crop it afterwards.
- Open your iPhone Camera app
- choose 2X, 3X or 5X from the selection at the bottom of the viewfinder
Experiment with camera modes
Depending on where you are in the eclipse path, you can get more interesting photos using different camera modes. Try using a wide-angle lens (.5 in your zoom options) to capture the entire landscape, or Portrait mode to capture an interesting foreground.
Manual focus and exposure if desired
In challenging lighting situations, your iPhone may struggle to find something to focus on. Additionally, the lighting will be constantly changing during the eclipse. If you want to control focus and exposure, you can adjust them manually instead of letting iPhone choose for you.
- Open it Camera app
- Press and hold the desired one place on the screen
- Move slider up or down as needed
Simple hack: shoot in Burst mode
One way to make sure you capture that perfect split-second view of the eclipse is to shoot in bursts. Simply drag the shutter button to the left and hold your finger there to take a quick burst of photos.
Do I need a special app to photograph the eclipse?
If you already use your favorite camera app, you can certainly use it. Otherwise, the Camera app on your iPhone will serve you just fine. Note that if you want to shoot in RAW format, popular photography apps like Halide, Afterlight, and VSCO have RAW options and can be helpful. If you have an iPhone 11 or an older iPhone model or a non-Pro phone, this is the only way to do it.
Shoot in RAW format
If you’re a Pro user, you might want to shoot your eclipse photos in RAW format. This allows iPhone to store more information from your photos. RAW photos give you more room for post-editing. You can use an app that supports RAW as mentioned above, but if you have an iPhone 12 Pro or later Pro model of iPhone, you don’t need an app for that.
- Open it Settings app on your iPhone
- Scroll down to Camera and tap it
- Touch Formats
- Choose ProRAW
If it’s an option on your model, you can simply tap the RAWMAX icon in the top-right corner of the screen in the Camera app. Keep in mind that RAW images take up a lot of storage space on your iPhone, so make sure you have enough or use a flash drive as a third-party storage solution.
Don’t lose sight of the fun factor
Be creative
All told, I doubt I’ll get anything like a professional photo of the eclipse itself. There are many other ways to capture the moment than trying to take a direct photo of the sun. For example, you can punch a hole in a piece of paper, grab a colander, or place yourself near anything that has holes. Then check out the shapes of the shadows they cast and watch them change as the moon moves in front of the sun. Bizarre shadows on the ground can make for fun photos.
Go enjoy!
If you do nothing else I’ve mentioned here, wear eclipse glasses! Don’t get too caught up in taking photos, remember to be in the moment and enjoy this rare event. Even if you don’t get fantastic photos yourself, there will be plenty of professional photos and videos to see afterwards.