Photographing the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024 in Canada

Take this moment home - view prints here

Considering the rarity of this event, I feel incredibly fortunate to have been just a 30-minute drive from the path of totality on Monday, April 8. While a solar eclipse is visible from somewhere on Earth's surface every 18 months or so, the frequency of its occurrence at any one particular location is far more rare - not to mention the prerequisite of clear skies. The last solar eclipse visible from eastern Canada was over 50 years ago, and the next one won't occur until 2106!

In preparation for this day, I got some solar glasses and a 16.5 stop ND filter for my Nikon camera. The weather leading up to the day had been mixed, so it wasn't until late Monday morning that we were confident we'd have clear skies. When it was finally time, we jumped into the car and drove until we were in the totality path (apparently, even 99.5% coverage doesn't give the full experience) and found a convenient and cozy spot to watch.

With solar glasses on, we took a first look up at the midday sun. It was glowing orange with a "bite" taken out of it as the moon had already positioned itself partly over the burning sun disk. Over the next hour or so, we watched as more and more of the sun got covered up, until nothing but a tiny sliver of light remained - like a crescent moon at nighttime.

That's when day turned to twilight. The surrounding fields and forest lit up with golden-hour hues, the sky turning orange-yellow above the horizon, and the chirping of birds fading away - as if the sun was setting in the middle of the day. Then, suddenly, it was dark. Totality brought an eerie and exhilarating stillness - the world went dim and quiet, even a little chilly, for a few brief moments. The sounds of nature faded away completely, save for the sounds of a light breeze. The world was asleep.

When totality arrived, I removed by glasses to observe the surrounding stillness and look up at the black disk in the sky, with faint white light beaming from behind it. It was no more than a minute or two before bright rays began emerging at one corner of the dark moon, and soon the sun came out again, bringing the surrounding landscape back to life.

What a phenomenal experience!

Capturing this on camera was both thrilling and nerve-wracking - knowing I could easily burn the sensor without the right equipment and settings.

To be safe, I screwed on my 16.5 ND filter before leaving home. Once the camera was set up on the tripod, I brought the ISO down to 64, adjusted the shutter speed until the exposure was about right, and manually focused on the sun. With bracketing on, I was taking 3 shots at every phase with a +/-0.7 EV difference, to give myself the flexibility of choosing the most ideal exposure later. In total, I shot around 200 images, from which I selected 7 to create the sequence in the first image.

For the brief few moments of totality, once I was confident the sun was completely hidden, I quickly removed the ND filter and (after adjusting the shutter speed to suit the new lighting conditions) captured several images in quick succession, bracketing the exposure as before. By stacking 3 images later in post-processing I was able to keep the detail of the red plasma visible in several places around the sun, while maintaining the brightness of the surrounding white glow! As soon as there was a hint of light beaming past the black disk of the moon, I put the filter back on and continued with the sequence of the partially eclipsed sun.

Experiencing the total eclipse live was unforgettable - no photographs out there, including my own, do it justice. It'll probably be a while, but I hope to witness this rare phenomenon again someday.

For my first attempt at photographing a solar eclipse, I couldn't be happier with the results!

BLOG | HOME  | VIEW PRINTS