coolhanduke wrote:
Sad to say, you are correct.
It’s a difficult thing to try and get your camera dialed in for the eclipse.
In doing so, don’t burn out your retna! Or your camera chip! I did testing today. With filter, on manual, at 1/1000th at f/8, I got great exposure. In Clevland.
I used bracketing, 5 shots, at 1/3rd increments.
At totality, remove your filter and go for it.
You are in one of the few possible cloud free areas. I wish you all the luck with your shooting. Out of the three I have gone to, two were an A- and a B+. The third one was clouded out one minute before totality. If you get some good chromesphere shots, be sure to put them up. Some of the other things to look for, the shadow coming towards you, the darkening of the horizon, the narrow strip of yellow/orange atmosphere on the horizon, the darkening of the sky such that the stars and planets come out (download a map of where the planets and stars will be), feel the temperature drop (especially at totality), and look for possible sunbands (shadow bands, similar to waves, on the ground). If there are animals, watch their behaviors as totality approaches. Photos to try for are Bailey's Beads (coming and going), diamond ring (coming and going), and bracketed exposures of the chromesphere. And don't forget to just take a moment from everything going on around you and look at the eclipse. Most of us that see one want to see as many more as we can. Eclipses can be addictive. And usually anything short of seeing another total eclipse is just a "ho-hum" partial eclipse. That is why I am going to check NASA's site for where the next ones are. Again, good luck tomorrow.