Learn how to Photograph the Annular Eclipse | DSLR, Telephoto Lens, Star Tracker Tutorial

The next Annular Eclipse will take place on the morning of October 14th, 2023. It will mainly be visible from the Southwestern United States (as well as Central and South America). If you'd like to photograph this unique event, you'll need a few important components.

My preferred setup includes a DSLR, telephoto lens, and star tracker. This will simplify the shooting process and keep things portable for the long journey to the totality zone.

Regardless of the gear you are using, you will need a legit solar filter to safely view the eclipse. After spending ~$300 on a variety of filters, I can now recommend the products from Thousand Oaks Optical. They have two options in particular that will work well. First is the Threaded Filter, which will securely attach to your telephoto lens. You can find them here:

https://thousandoaksoptical.com/shop/...

If you'll be using a telescope, or just don't want to deal with threaded filters, then Thousand Oaks also makes a SolarLite filter. This is my favorite option, as it will fit over the end of your telescope / lens securely, but is also easy to remove when needed. You can find those filters here:

https://thousandoaksoptical.com/shop/...

You'll also need to protect your eyes with a proper pair of eclipse glasses. I recommend the Eclipser HD glasses, they are much more comfortable than the standard cardboard glasses, and will last multiple eclipse events.

With your gear and eyes protected, we can now talk about camera settings. Pretty simple here, start on Manual Mode, ISO 100, f/8, 1/100s. This should get you in the ballpark. However, depending on the filter you purchase you may need to adjust your Shutter Speed. For example, when I was using the cheap filters my Shutter Speed was around 1/500s. When I swapped to the Threaded Filter though, my Shutter Speed dropped to 1/40s! Since this was a bit too slow for 600mm, and risked image blur, I increase my ISO a few stops. This allowed me to have a properly exposed image around 1/320s, which should be fast enough to negate any motion blur from shooting at 600mm.

Finally, if you want to make the entire process easier, consider using a Star Tracker. This will keep the sun centered in your field of view for the duration of the eclipse (assuming you did a good polar alignment). Without a star tracker you'll be readjusting your ballhead every 2-5 minutes to re-center the sun.

00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Solar Eclipse Glasses
01:49 - Solar Filters
02:12 - Cardboard Filters
03:12 - Threaded Filters
04:31 - SolarLite Filters
05:46 - Camera Settings
09:52 - Photograph the Eclipse
12:53 - Star Trackers
13:55 - Daytime Polar Alignment
16:47 - Photograph Eclipse with Star Tracker
19:08 - Outro