Total Eclipse of the Sun - August 11 1999

by Bryan Basketter

Images of the Partial phases from Flixton, UK

All images © Copyright Bryan Basketter, LRPS

Bryan, showed the above images to members of the MAS shorltly after the eclipse. Although Bryan is not a member of the MAS we are delighted to be able to show you his images of the partial phases of the total eclipse.

Equipment

Canon EOS 500N camera with 75-300mm EF USM lens and 2X converter - giving 600mm and set on manual focus. The film used was Fujichrome Professional MS 100/1000 rated at 100 ISO. A tripod, remote release, 81C warm-up filter and built-in multiple exposure mode set to 9 exposures used throughout. A piece of welders glass was used for the eclipse pictures, it was mounted and secured with small bulldog clips in a Pro-size Cokin filter holder.

Method

The first image of each set in most pics was taken of an area of sky away from the Sun to provide an interesting background to the partial eclipse phases. THis was taken with exposure compensation set at 1 stop over exposure. The eclipse phases were taken by metering through the filters in "aperture priority" mode set at f11 throughout.

The Sun was positioned in the bottom left corner for the first image and then allowed to cross the field of view until the full frame had been covered. Where fewer than 9 exposures were made on the frame, as a result of passage and angle of movement of the Sun, the remaining exposures were taken by releasing the shutter with the lens covered. These settings were established by test shots during the couple of weeks prior to the great event. A home made Baader film filter was also tested but the colour with the welders glass was prefered.

Bryan is a member of the South Manchester Camera Club (Didsbury) and the Royal Photographic Society. He can be contacted by email at... watty.aj@virgin.net

Home Page Maintained by Michael Oates
Page modified 19 January, 2005