lakeforklady

In anticipation of the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse, I practiced with the October, 2023 solar eclipse. My location for the 2023 eclipse was about an 80% coverage. In 2024, I will be in totality with 4 minutes, 18 seconds of totality. I can't wait!
But, I need to know what I am doing wrong to get only b/w images. I set the camera (Canon 5D mark iv) on Aperture Priority (f11) and let the camera worry about the shutter speed. I have a 10,000 filter on a Canon 100-400 lens set at 400.
I would appreciate any advise on the color issue.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

What you're seeing is the extremes - white and black. The white is so bright it's probably blown highlight. Even if it has a pronounced yellow colour, the closer it gets to being a blown highlight, the whiter it gets. That's true of any colour.

PoppieJ Loc: North Georgia

this is what you should see. different filters will either make the sun white or yellow. you are a little fuzzy so I would assume out of focus. You do not have to wait until an eclipse to practice so you can shoot the sun anytime with that filter on so that you can figure out correct exposure time and focus. less exposure equals more detail and I would suggest shooting in manual. the one thing that you will not be able to practice is what happens during totality, but with no filter on it is pretty easy to figure it out. One really important thing to remember is to take time while you are shooting to just look around and observe what is going on around you. Eclipse viewing/photography is awesome just don't take chances with your eyes

lakeforklady

Based on what I think you are saying ("it's the filter, stupid"), I did a test with my NIK filter Color Efex 4. Selected Infrared film Color 4 and played with the sliders. This brought out the yellow/orange color of the sun. I have over 250 "practice" shots from last October. I will continue to practice on sunny days. I am wearing my $2 Walmart special Solar Eclipse paper sunglasses (NASA approved), so safety first!
I am now relieved that I can get the "money shot" in April. I shot the lunar eclipse in January, 2019. Fabulous shots from my patio. This time will be from the fishing pier with no obstructions. I will also practice with bracketing. I haven't used that feature in quite some time.
Thanks for the quick replies and great analysis.

Machinedoc Loc: Yorktown Heights, NY

The visible portion of the solar disk is over exposed. Shoot in manual, set the metering mode to "spot" and aim the camera so that the metering spot is centered on the visible portion of the solar disk.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Since the sun emits a full spectrum of wavelengths, wouldn’t it appear white when there is no atmospheric filtering happening - like suspended dust or other pollutants?

Stan

JBRIII

The sun actually does look white because it is so bright. What you get with filters depends on the filter used. Baader film gives a white sun. Thousand oaks film (at least one of theirs) gives an orange sun which some like. The images you see with flares (proms) taken on any day (not an eclipse) are red/orange because they are taken using a H-alpha solar filter which allows a very narrow band (.3-1 angstrom) in the red region to be seen. There are similar filters in the near-UV which produce a blue sun. During a total eclipse you see red flares because you see the outer solar atmosphere where H-alpha is strong and all the light from the rest of the sun is blocked out by the moon. Also you get to see the solar corona which is white.

I believe the center wavelength for the sun is in the green, but all that light results in a white sun except at sunset or when there is a lot of dust in the air, etc. Sunspots look dark only because they are cooler relative to the rest of the sun. So what we see for the sun is different than how things appear at room temperature. Light scattering, the filter used what part of the sun you see, etc. all come into play. The biggest problem, my view, with shooting total solar eclipses is that they occur so rarely it is difficult to really practice.

Finally, to show you how strange things can get. I have a portable, basically automated scope which came with a solar filter. Using the filter the sun is very orange with good detail. Using a Baader film filter which gives a white sun on all my Canon's gives a greenish sun on the scope. The scope has built in processing and somehow it yields a green sun. I can easily solve the issue by processing, but I was quite surprised by the effect.

lakeforklady

Just tried a practice shot full sun (a little cloudy and very cold). Shot in RAW and JPEG. Spot Metering Manual setting. Focal length 400mm, Exposure 1/1000, f/18, ISO 100. Hue was BLUE. I was able to change the hue in Photoshop Elements Color/Hue.

I can go from this to bracketing to make more adjustments as needed.

Thanks a lot everyone.

Pray for full sunshine on April 8 at Lake Fork, TX (and everywhere else along the path...

lakeforklady

I am using an ICE Optical Glass Filter ND100000. Interesting that different filter brands yield different colors of the sun. Since these filters are so expensive, and I won't see another Solar eclipse in my lifetime, I'll stick with this one and make the appropriate adjustments in Photoshop Elements.....I read recently that there will not be another totality solar eclipse IN THIS EXACT PATH for 1,000 years!

ralfstinson Loc: SF Bay Area

The sun color is white. When viewed through the atmosphere some of the blue light is scattered giving us a blue sky and a yellow sun. Most astronomical photography has extreme brightness variations that our great eyes can somewhat take care of, but not the camera. So go manual and lots of test/practice shots before the DAY. Distance is usually infinity. Don't trust the infinity mark on your lens. Use a near full moon, focus on that. Take note of the distance setting. On the DAY, use gaffer's tape and lock in your infinity setting (make sure the focus is in manual).

If the sun is visible, you must use a solar filter! Buy one like a lens filter, or make your own from a solar filter designed to protect your eyes, and tape it to a filter. During totality (moon fully covers the sun), you need to take off the filter to get the corona (white), and hopefully some solar flares and Baily Beads. As the sun disappears behind the moon, and reappears you get the diamond ring effect. Be careful about exposing your camera and more important your eyes to the sun. Practice! The telephoto lens concentrates the sunlight making it very dangerous.

BurghByrd Loc: Pittsburgh

I concur with R.G. The moon,your subject here, comprises a very small part of the overall frame so the camera's exposure routine is increasing overall exposure attempting to achieve an average neutral gray resulting in over-exposed moon. At these extreems the color is lost. By the way, do not use auto anyting; it will just be another route to hit neutral gray. Stick with manual settings of ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Here's Nikon's advice on exposure for moon photography.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/how-to-photograph-the-moon.html

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

While these discussions focus primarily on filters, the real objective is to take pictures during totality. When that occurs, you need no filters. But you need a filter that you can remove quickly because when totality occurs, it's like someone threw a switch. One second, the sun is too bright to look at without a filter, and the next instant, it's lights out with the jet-black moon covering the solar corona. With your 400 mm lens, you may get images of solar prominences (pink to red) arching up from the surface of the sun. I didn't see mine until I was processing in post. If you have a second camera or a cell phone, take pictures of the horizon. While the sun and it's environment immediately around the sun is black, the farther you move away from the sun, the lighter it gets. At the horizon, beyond the shadow of the moon, it looks like a 360 degree sunset. I didn't take pictures of that because I thought everything would be dark.

Practice now taking pictures of sunspots, to get your technique down for the partial eclipse leading to totality.

Good luck with your photograph and the weather.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Your right about staying in manual. But don't rule out focus. Auto focus works well for images made either using a filter before totality and during totality without a filter.

ralfstinson Loc: SF Bay Area

You might be surprised, but the Sun and Moon are at infinity. Learn Critical Focus on Infinity, put focus in manual and tape your lens (gaffer's tape). Note: The infinity mark on a zoom lens is not always at focus on infinity. For a zoom lens, do critical focus at the zoom setting you plan on using. In some situations, auto focus does not work. While doing eclipse photography, that is not the time to have an Auto Focus problem. Solve it in advance, then tape the lens.