Links in this article can be affiliate links to my Amazon Store which may pay me $$.
Ok, folks, we are at 10 days away and counting from the Solar Eclipse on 8 April. I’m taking a peek at the long-range weather forecast each morning and earlier this week on Monday I had my hands over my eyes peeking through my fingers. I was seeing 28 degrees and snow/rain… I was not a happy camper!
But as of today on Friday (29th), I’m seeing 55 degrees and partly cloudy, which is starting to give me hope! BUT! it is likely to change several more times for better or worse and I have my fingers crossed.
Are you sure where you are heading you will be in the path or totality? Here is a link to an interactive map (seen below) and there is a wealth of info. You just zoom in on the map to your city and state, then the town or even the park where you plan to sit and wait. You will get the timing for the eclipse for that location. Check it out!
Practicing with your settings?
I admit I have not had many clear (sunny) days to get out on the deck. but I have put together a good kit with an actual Lee solar filter for my camera and some solar glasses for me and Lisa. and even an extra pair for my cellphone (if I find time to snap a few shots of the sun with my cell phone…
Now if you are a photographer and are shooting with long glass 400-1000mm+ Then you should be practicing at least a few times. There are many websites out there to show the comparison of what the glass will give you. If you only have a 70-200mm lens you WILL be cropping in. If your lens tops out at 400 like my 100-400 Sigma telephoto then you WILL/MAY be cropping in a little. It will do the job though if that is your longest.
Up above, you can see I added a 2x Sigma tele-extender to my 100-400 and you can see here the right-hand image reads as 800mm but because I am shooting with a Canon 80D, I also have a crop factor of 1.6 which means the image on the right is closer to 1200mm.
Practice makes perfect…
We all remember our parents and teachers saying this. Practice, Practice, Practice…
While the old adage seems redundant, I will harp on it in this case. In a few “practice” sessions, I have had to clear some cobwebs and figure out some problems.
In the military, we kept practicing emergency procedures to be able to do them in our sleep. This is no different, totality, start to finish is 3 minutes and you don’t want to be looking for a piece of gear or trying to find a setting. How about remembering to lock your focus? When I put my 2X tele-extender on my lens, I lose my auto-focus…
So you want to go through all these settings ahead of time and get a sharp focus locked on the sun long before it’s close to the critical phase…
Zooming in TOO close?
in the 800mm shot above, I wouldn’t want to zoom in any closer because I may need to back off slightly during the total eclipse. With exposure bracketed shots, we may be able to see the details of the corona during totality or clearly capture the “ring of fire” effect during annularity as it emanates from the sun around the edges of the moon. You do know what AEB is and how to use it right? leave a comment if you need help with that.
One real BIGGIE… You need to remember to pull the solar filter as totality occurs. If you all-of-a-sudden can’t see the sun, it doesn’t mean you bumped your tripod moving it off the sun… (could be) But if you are shooting and the moon is moving across the sun and you are in the zone and clicking away and you look up at the sun and it’s almost there and you look back down and nothing… It’s most likely that there isn’t enough sun to punch through the DARK filter PULL THE DAM FILTER… FAST!!!
Ok, I don’t know about all of you but this is my one (last) chance left for this rodeo. I’m going to hire my wife to help me remember to pull the filter at the last second AND to remember to put it back on as the sun begins to come out the other side. This is the reason I love the LEE filters. They slide on or off so I don’t have to unscrew them. (B&H photo/video still have them in stock)
Other Planning Considerations
You may have thought of all of these already (or read them yourselves in other articles)
First: On April 8th, NOT all Vermont State Parks will be open. This article by trailfinder.info talks about Northern Vermont State Parks. Check your city and state and make sure where you want a nice clear view of the sky is open and has facilities. If you are in your backyard (show off…) fine, but many of you are heading to parts unknown and the location you are dreaming of may be booked up or closed in April.
Second: In the summer or fall I will tell you to take those “dirt” backroads. But this IS NOT SUMMER OR FALL… This is MUD SEASON…! Even 4X4 vehicles are careful on the mushy, sloppy, muddy roads. It doesn’t matter if you are in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine. A muddy dirt road is to be avoided at ALL COSTS!!!
Third: Check the weather out and if Mother Nature is nice to us and lets us see the Eclipse, then be prepared to stay outside in whatever the weather gives us.
I suggest a lightweight layer against your skin to wick away sweat, light to midweight fleece, and either a rain shell jacket or a heavier coat that can be removed as needed. Examples of all these are in my Amazon Store or click the direct links.
There are at least a dozen more things we need to remember on the day of April 8th… but for now, work through your preparations. If you see any common sense things I may have missed let me know and I’ll include them next week for my final last-minute What Can We Do article… After that, I’ll do a show and tell and lessons learned article.
- A Hidden Gem in the Western Green Mountains: The Waterfall Behind the Blue Pennant
- Macro Photography in the garden
- April Bielefeldt on collecting, a Guest Post
- Jeff’s Review of the Solar Eclipse – 8 April 2024
- A Guide to Safely Photographing and Observing Solar Eclipses, Part 3
Jeff “Foliage” Folger
You can purchase my images by visiting
Fine Art America for prints, home decor, and more
Join Jeff on his social media by clicking on any of the following.
On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jeff_foliage/
On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Vistaphotography/
On Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/jefffoliage.bsky.social
3 comments