Revised Solar Eclipse Procedures, Revised Objectives

Continued research has caused me again to change my planned photography procedures for the total solar eclipse on August 21. For the partial eclipse phase, not a lot has changed from the last posting, except for these: It IS in fact possible to autofocus on the sun while the solar filter is attached. After autofocus is achieved by this method, I will switch to manual focus and further secure the lens with a small strip of electrician's tape. Bracketing will be the name of the game. The above Nikon D7200 DSLR image, captured handheld at 3:37 pm CDT, Friday, August 4, 2017, was part of a 7-stop bracket, set beforehand at 1/1000 second, f/5.6, 300mm focal length and 320 ISO. The best image of the seven (above) turned out to be a 1/1600 second shot, later enhanced in Adobe Lightroom 6. Note the sunspot at left.

As far as revised eclipse objectives are concerned, my new one may have been influenced a bit by some professionals out there who advocate a first time total solar eclipser to "forget the cameras and just experience it by eye." Duly noted, but to the sky photographer in me, that would be blasphemy! Well then, what about a compromise? Again, bracketing to the rescue. Just before totality occurs, the camera will be mounted on the tripod with only a settings change in shutter speed--now at 1/80 second. With the seven-stop bracketing available, a good capture of the sun's corona should be possible just after the show begins and the solar filter is removed. I will only have to concentrate on the sun being centered in the viewfinder for the opening moments. This hopefully will leave me with about 2 minutes worth of free and naked-eye enjoyment of this once-in-a-lifetime event!