A total solar eclipse is both a photographic opportunity and an experience that is easy to miss while looking at menus and camera screens. The most useful rule is simple: practise everything before 2 August 2027 so that the camera requires as little attention as possible during totality.

Use a solar filter during partial phases

Any camera pointed at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed Sun needs an appropriate solar filter fitted securely in front of the lens. A neutral-density filter is not a substitute for a proper solar filter. The same principle applies to telescopes and binoculars.

Tripod, focus and exposure

A stable tripod makes framing repeatable. Focus can be set carefully on the filtered Sun before totality and then locked. Exposure requirements change dramatically between the bright partial phases and the much fainter corona, so testing a bracketed sequence beforehand is preferable to improvising.

Second and third contact are the critical transitions

At a site inside totality, the front solar filter may be removed only once the bright photosphere is completely covered. It must be replaced immediately as totality ends. Build this into your sequence so that photography never competes with eye safety.

Do not spend totality adjusting equipment

Use interval shooting, exposure bracketing or a remote release if your equipment supports it. Take time to look directly at the eclipsed Sun during complete totality, observe the horizon and notice the change in the landscape rather than treating the entire event as a camera test.

Phones can work too

A phone can record the atmosphere, people, changing light and wide-angle scenery. Do not rely on digital zoom for a detailed solar image and never point optical accessories at the partial Sun without appropriate filtering.