I've been thinking about this for a couple of years now. I already had
the NASA sites bookmarked.
I looked at the Nikon & MrEclipse sites Igor suggested, but neither of
them answer my question about what *focal length* will give me the best
results, which in turn determines which lens I'm going to want to use.
That's important because lens choice determines the diameter of the
filters I'm going to have to buy. I don't want to be fumbling around
changing lenses when the time comes and I only have three really good,
sturdy tripods.
Right now I'm thinking the K1 + 300 f/2.8 on the sturdiest; K20D +
80-200 f/2.8 on the second sturdiest; K10D + ??? on the third and the K3
+ ??? handheld for the moon's shadow sweeping towards me. But I don't
KNOW if those are the best choices ... and that's the point of starting
a discussion now.
Darren's point about terrain is a good one.
My first choice for a viewing point is Beech Gap on the Cherohala Skyway
at the North Carolina/Tennessee state line between Robbinsville &
Tellico Plains. That's close to the crest (couple hundred feet either
way) and it's dead center in the Path of the Totality.
35.343889, -84.032817 (put those numbers in to Google Maps search)
But I'm still looking at long range weather predictions, because I don't
want to get there only to find overcast skies.
That happened the last time a good eclipse came that was within my range
of travel ... 30 May 1984 0.9980 Annular eclipse that the path crossed
U.S. 17 within 20 miles or so of where I was at Camp A.P. Hill, Virginia.
It was pouring down rain in Virginia that day.
I understand Greensboro, NC got a good look; clouds broke open for a few
minutes right as the eclipse reached its maximum.
This time I have a much greater range & no real constraint on how far I
can drive if I have to in order to reach clear skies.
On 4/6/2017 12:53, Darren Addy wrote:
I don't have any previous experience photographing a solar ECLIPSE,
but I'm about to get into serious planning mode for the upcoming one
in August. The center line (maximum time in totality) literally
crosses 1 mile north of my workplace. I plan on taking the day off and
being somewhere with more interesting terrain, however, even if it
means giving up some time in totality.
The reason why I am interested in the terrain is that I am not just
interested in photographing the sun itself, but also the moon's shadow
as it races over the earth and then envelops my location. If I can
pull it off, I'd like to photograph this with several different
cameras.I will have my longest focal length on my Vixen Polarie,
probably taking time-lapse shots of the sun through a solar filter.
I'd suggest making a solar filter and trying to take some solar photos
now, prior to the eclipse (there are some good sunspots to try to nail
your focus on, right now).
Darren Addy
Kearney, Nebraska
On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 7:44 AM, Igor PDML-StR <pdml...@komkon.org> wrote:
John,
First of all, thank you for bringing attention to this event.
Even though we will get only a partial one, it is a great experience for the
kids. I just marked the calendar.
I would assume you want to use a long telephoto lens (for the moon).
But if you google for e.g. "photographing solar eclipse", you will find
plenty of pages discussing this in great detail.
Nikon-USA did a good job, I think:
http://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/how-to-photograph-a-solar-eclipse.html
including the link to the exposure guide at the end:
http://www.mreclipse.com/SEphoto/image/SE-Exposure1w.GIF
There are other pages with various degree of hype and large red letters in
your face for emphasis.
I would point out one very useful resource for figuring out the time of the
different stages of the event:
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html
If you click on the map and make a marker for where you live, - it will show
you information for the eclipse for your place. Don't get it mixed up: the
time is in UTC, so you'd have to subtract the difference according to your
time zone.
Cheers,
Igor
On Apr 5, 2017, at 11:04 PM, John Sessoms wrote:
The Great Solar Eclipse is coming to the U.S. in August. Does anyone on
the list have prior experience photographing eclipses?
I'm planning to use my K-1 & K-3, but I'm wondering which lenses would
be my best choices?
The pool of lenses I can choose from (full frame):
D FA 15-30 f/2.8
Sigma 24-70 f/2.8
FA 77 f/1.8 Ltd
SMCP-A 100 f/2.8 Macro
Tokina ATX Pro 80-200 f/2.8
Sigma 300 f/2.8
Additionally, I have the SMC Pentax-DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL &
SMC Pentax-DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL WR APS-C kit lenses.
I need to figure it out now so I can go ahead and order the appropriate
solar filters for whatever lenses I'm going to use.
I have a viewing spot south of Great Smokey Mountains National Park
picked out, but I'll be looking for other options as the date draws
nearer based on weather forecasts. If anyone knows long term weather
trends & where I will find the highest probability of clear skies, chime
in as well.
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