Friday 27 February 2015

Filming A Solar Eclipse Tips and Techniques

Trying to capture a Solar Eclipse can be costly due to the nature of the lens and other factors.. but i am going to provide you with a simple and easy method to capture it with any form of modern'ish camera ;)

Cheapest method to do this is not to film it directly..
but to film its reflection, then just flip the video afterwards  ;)

Here's how..
You need a cheap kids (argos/wallmart) paddling pool and a ROLL of black bin liners..
(don't fluff up the bags so they fill with air)
You need unroll and caurfully rip the bags off the roll and lay them flat in the pool, hence you cant let air into them...  weight them down with some small stones...

Fill the pool around 70%, don't fill it to the top in case the wind makes the water move...

Its best to test it 1 day before, and also maybe the day before that too, so you have a rough idea of a location that's not to windy and that wont be blocked by buildings or trees at that specific time of day.

You've have not seen an Eclipse until you've seen it like this...
A canal or lake with murky water will also work, but chances are the water wont be still..

I first witnessed an Eclipse this way in August 1999... and it was truly an epic sight
while most people stood round looking through folded black bin bags and barely seeing anything...

With the water reflection method you get to see every single detail on the moon, truly is a sight to see.




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