Monday, May 21, 2012

Solar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse
©JP Parmley


The solar eclipse tonight created an opportunity to capture a rare event.  Steve had spent the last week or so investigating the proper settings and filters required to get picture without harming our eyes as well as the equipment.

With a Canon 7D mounted on a tripod and connected to a 75-300 IS lens and a 1.4x multiplier (effective 672mm), we added two Vivitar adjustable ND filters that could be set from 2-8 stops.  Setting each to about 6 stops and starting with an aperture of 45 and 1/1000th we were able to get some fairly cool pics of the sun and its spots.  As the sun set and the eclipse started, we had to open the lens up and drop to about f5 to keep up with the light loss.  We lost additional light as the sun set into the clouds.

To help reduce camera shake we used the mirror lock up and a Mac Pro with the Canon Utility to remotely trigger the shutter.  This along with the IS lens greatly reduced the blur from the movement of the sun.

Special thanks to Tara Hastings of WDTN Storm Team 2 for showing the first pic on her weather segment tonight.







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