STAN HONDA: A lot of it is preparation,
trying to make as simple of a setup as you can.
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For amateur photographers, you could
try doing the aperture priority setting
and making sure your camera is on a tripod
and it's at a fixed focus.
So you focus it and then either disable the autofocus
or focus it manually because you don't want the focus shifting
during the eclipse itself.
That might be the simplest setup.
Another way would be to use a telephoto lens.
You get a proper filter for the lens, a safe solar filter,
so you could both focus on the sun,
but also you could photograph some of the partial eclipse
before the totality starts.
Then you kind of go through the process of focusing,
determining a good exposure.
And then you're pretty much set for totality.
You do have to increase the exposure.
And you can often do that by picking a slower
shutter speed during totality.
One major factor about a total solar eclipse
is that with our own eyes and with the camera,
you could see the corona, which is the outer atmosphere
of the sun.
And you can only see that during a total eclipse.
With a phone, it's a little bit more difficult
because, as people know trying to take pictures
of, say, the moon at night or even the sun during the day,
the camera kind of takes over with the auto exposures.
And it's worth trying just a few.
And, I mean, I wouldn't spend a lot of time looking at my phone.
I would kind of maybe take a few pictures and then--
and then look at the-- look at the sun and the moon
with your own eyes, look at the corona with your own eyes.
I always tell people that it's great to get nice photos
of the eclipse, but remember to try to watch
it while it's going on.
You really want to see it and experience
it because it will be something that you'll never, ever forget.