Will taking photos of the eclipse damage your phone? Experts offer safety tips
Solar eclipses provide a rare photo op, but it’s important to keep your eyesight and your electronics unharmed.
Pointing your camera directly at the sun is risky. Besides possibly hurting your eyes (wear eclipse glasses please!), you can actually damage the image sensor on your camera or phone.
To avoid this, NASA and other experts have some tips.
1) Use a solar filter.
Think of your camera as a third eye. It needs protecting too. NASA recommends using solar filters labeled ISO 12312-2 to protect your camera and your eyes.
If you don’t have a camera filter but you do have a pair of eclipse glasses for your eyes, you can hold those in front of the camera as long as you don’t stare at the sun with your naked eye.
We asked our @NASAHQPhoto team, and the answer is yes, the phone sensor could be damaged just like any other image sensor if it’s pointed directly at the Sun. This is especially true if you’re using any sort of magnifying lens attachment on the phone. You would need to utilize…
— NASA (@NASA) April 4, 2024
For those who don’t have filters for your camera or protective glasses, there are alternatives:
2) Wait until the eclipse has reached totality
This year’s eclipse is unique in that it is a total solar eclipse. If you are in the path of totality, wait until the eclipse has reached its totality to snap a photo. The exact times of totality can be found here.
3) Take indirect photos.
If you don’t have filters and you are not in the path of totality, there is no reason to leave your cameras at home. There are ways to take photos of the light changing without pointing your camera and eyes directly at the sun.
“As the Moon slips in front of the Sun, the landscape will be bathed in eerie lighting and shadows,” NASA says. “As light filters through the overlapping leaves of trees, it creates natural pinholes that project miniature eclipse replicas on the ground. Anywhere you can point your camera can yield exceptional imagery, so be sure to compose some wide-angle photos that can capture your eclipse experience.”
You can also capture the gradual changes in the sun safely using pinhole projection, according to the American Astronomical Society. This is where you keep the sun behind you and watch the light on the ground pass through a small opening. For example, a pasta strainer can be held up while you watch the light do its thing in dynamic pinholes on the ground.
According to AAS, using a straw hat or even lacing your fingers over the ground are good ways to do this trick. But just remember, keep your eyes on the light on the ground and try to avoid looking directly up at the sun.
In addition, remember this day is also a human spectacle. Snap photos of people looking totally weird in their glasses and standing on their roofs. Take photos of your friends, family and colleagues all together in the middle of a Monday.
“The real pictures are going to be of the people around you pointing, gawking, and watching it,” NASA photographer Bill Ingalls said. “Those are going to be some great moments to capture to show the emotion of the whole thing.”
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