Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
If you’ve been on the Internet at any point in the last few weeks, you’ve probably heard of this eclipse that’s about to happen. It seems there’s a lot of feeds going up and down today as demand to view it online increases. I’ve been keeping an eye on a few of them myself. Even NASA’s own feeds have been quite flaky for me at times today.
But, don’t worry. Google has the power, and NASA’s public TV feed is also streaming out live through their YouTube channel, too.
As most of you in the photography and filmmaking community know, on the 21st of August, North America (and some parts of South America, Africa and Europe) will get to experience a moment that reminds us just how small we are on this tiny planet rocketing around the universe – a solar eclipse.
We’ve put together a handy guide on everything you need to know about being prepared to capture it, so read on, get your gear together and remember to show us what you’ve managed to shoot after it all goes down!
This solar eclipse coming over the USA in a few days certainly has whipped people up into a frenzy. A buying frenzy, getting whatever they can to protect their eyes and their cameras from the sun’s potentially hazardous effects. It seems, though, that some customers might not be as well protected as they thought. Amazon have now started issuing refunds on unverifiable eclipse eyewear.
As reported by The Verge, some vendors are selling counterfeit or unsafe versions. And now, Amazon is cracking down on these sellers. Product pages are being entirely removed from the site, and customers are being refunded. Along with a warning to not use them for the eclipse. But you don’t need to return them in order to qualify for your refund.
Well, it looks like the best view of this year’s eclipse on August 21st is going to go to NASA. They recently announced that they’ll be chasing it with WB-57F jets. For most of us here on planet earth, the eclipse will last around two and a half minutes in total. You can see here how to capture it from the ground. For the NASA scientists aboard the jets, though, it will last over seven minutes.
They’ll be following the shadow of the moon as it moves across the USA. Observing with twin telescopes mounted to the nose of the jets. Their aim is to capture the clearest images yet of the Sun’s corona. But that’s not all they’re looking for. They’ll be recording the first ever thermal images of the planet Mercury, too.
A month from today, the earth is going to experience one of those rare moments where a fine drink is in order – a total solar eclipse. If you live in America, YAY. America will get the full Total Eclipse treatment, if you are living anywhere else, why not enjoy the eclipse from space.
Total eclipses aren’t actually as rare as many people think, happening somewhere on earth about every 18 months or so. But to have them appear over a particular part of the planet, or even a specific country, isn’t quite as often. But, there’s is a total solar eclipse happening over the USA in a couple of months. Monday, August 21st, to be precise. For many Americans, this will be a once in a lifetime event.
Destin Sandlin from YouTube’s SmarterEveryDay has, naturally, had this event at the forefront of his mind recently. So, he went to interview some people about it to find out more from a science perspective. But Destin also had a chat with eclipse fanatic and creator of the Solar Eclipse Timer app, Dr Gordon Telepun, MD, to find out how best to capture the event on video.
Every year, dozens of astronomical events take place, making perfect photo ops for astrophotographers. To help keep track of the events going on this year, we have for you an infographic that highlights 12 of the events that have already happened, and will happen, throughout 2016.[Read More…]
This october is quite a fest for astronomers having both a FULL lunar eclipse tomorrow (Oct. 8th) and a partial solar eclipse on the 23rd.
While the two events are somewhat different in nature, there are some similarities in preparing for both. We asked photographers Josh Bury and Alan Erickson what should we be aware of before going ahead and shooting any of those eclipses?
Like most things in life, the secret is with preparation and Josh and Alan were kind enough to prepare a list for us:
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.
His videos have over a hundred million views, have been extensively published by news outlets, and has even received recognition from a few film festivals, such as International Ocean Festival
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