Are you gonna record the eclipse?

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Huxter

Huxter

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For those planning on being in the path of totality, are you gonna video tape, take still pics...? Mostly looking for people who do not have solar filters on their cameras.

We'll be in Victor ID (forecast for high level clouds in AM!), and I plan on experiencing the event first hand! I'll probably put my digital camera on a tripod facing west on the horizon - see if I can catch the shadow coming towards us. Maybe put a white sheet down and see if I can record Shadow bends (?). During the total eclipse, I may sneak a few pics from my phone?

How are you planning on recording the "Great American Eclipse"? :)

Pat
 
Nope, I'm going to experience it in all its glory with as few distractions as possible. Can catch a recording elsewhen.
 
I'm going to walk out of my house and look up at the fog or clouds, sigh and then listen to the ducks, seagulls and terns go quite as darkness descends. I'll probably just stand there sipping on a cup of coffee, scratch my dog and enjoy the experience. Then, I'll go back into the house and start reading post on the RF. A nice way to start a day.
 
dhbarr said:
Nope, I'm going to experience it in all its glory with as few distractions as possible. Can catch a recording elsewhen.
Click to expand...

That's my plan too. The last time I was around for a solar eclipse, I built a simple viewer from a cardboard box. If I recall correctly, I cut a small hole in one side which I covered with aluminum foil. A pinhole in the foil allowed an image of the sun to be projected inside the box. It worked well and, somewhere, I have photos of it. The image of the sun was pretty clear.
 
Huxter said:
For those planning on being in the path of totality, are you gonna video tape, take still pics...? Mostly looking for people who do not have solar filters on their cameras.

We'll be in Victor ID (forecast for high level clouds in AM!), and I plan on experiencing the event first hand! I'll probably put my digital camera on a tripod facing west on the horizon - see if I can catch the shadow coming towards us. Maybe put a white sheet down and see if I can record Shadow bends (?). During the total eclipse, I may sneak a few pics from my phone?

How are you planning on recording the "Great American Eclipse"? :)

Pat
Click to expand...

IF you decide to record, you will need a solar filter on your camera/camcorder/phone, unless you want to burn out the sensor. Also, when it reaches totality, you'll need to remove the filter, or you won't see anything. The corona is much more faint (why we can't really see it unless the disk is blocked).
-Ken
 
I may do a HD action-cam time lapse of the surrounding terrain during the eclipse.
 
I have a rocket buddy that is taking 'an arsenal' of telescopes and cameras. In general, I'll wait for the photos from better photographers than myself.
 
I'll be flying model free flight airplanes and enjoying the eclipse. Just happens that this weekend is a Free flight contest right south of Albany, OR right in the path of totality. I'm camping on the field and staying through Monday to enjoy the eclipse, and fly model planes. Downright heavenly I think!
 
I plan on just taking it in. No distractions from my camera or anything else, plus I do not own any solar filters, so I don't want to fry my camera! I dare not brave the crowds in Oregon to see it in totality, so instead, I am going to go to the Crystal Mountain summit, just outside Mt Rainier to view it. It is supposed to be 95% totality in this area, so that's good enough for me!
 
Last edited:
dhbarr said:
Nope, I'm going to experience it in all its glory with as few distractions as possible. Can catch a recording elsewhen.
Click to expand...

Same here. I'll be in the N Ga mountains all weekend anyway for family stuff, day on the lake on Saturday, and then we'll enjoy the show Monday afternoon. I'll probably take a few pictures of the friends and family around me, and maybe video of them as the darkness of totality sets in to see their reactions, but any pictures of the eclipse itself that I take with my phone will look pretty lousy anyway.

But there will be SO many cameras of much higher quality than mine covering this event that I'll just wait and see that later.
 
mcderek said:
I'll be flying model free flight airplanes and enjoying the eclipse.
Click to expand...
Oh the free flight sounds fun! I haven't built stick and tissue in ages. Those Comet kits are missed, pretty decent for a decent price. Was just earlier today talking about free flight rubber powered planes to someone not familiar with them.
How we got on that topic I do not know, but here's a website with lots of good modeling from UK, https://www.ffscale.co.uk/

In our little county seat farm burg, totality is 3 miles from my home. I'm staying home and staying in.
Am curious as to how crowded town gets.
 
I'm going to use my Celestron C90 that I used to record ten seconds of annularity in 1991. The 1000mm focal length makes a nice size solar disc on the frame. I'll be in Cookeville TN, about a 2 hour drive away. I never got any eclipse glasses; pinhole projection is a better way to view the partial phases. I'm not even using a pinhole; a makeup mirror on a tripod reflecting the sun onto the shady side of a building or tree forms an enlarged image.
 
The best suggestion I've heard is to leave the photography to the pro's so you can watch and enjoy.

Any "filming" should be of you and your group's reactions to the event.
Pointing the camera with the event behind it so that you capture the sounds and faces of you and your friends.

Also - throw a white sheet on the ground and observe the ripples of light as the edges of the shadow pass.

If you do photograph, make sure you use a solar filter at the front of the lens for all times except totality.
I bought one from "The Star Guy" - we'll see what I get.....
 
Last edited:
FredA said:
Any "filming" should be of you and your group's reactions to the event.
Pointing the camera with the event behind it so that you capture the sounds and faces of you and your friends.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I plan on doing, especially since I didn't plan ahead and buy a solar filter, and the ones I did see were cost prohibitive for one or two uses... I'll be in a location with about 900 other people, so it will be interesting to potentially get some lifestyle type photos of their reactions
 
Whoa! We had quite a gust front come through around 7am. Rained sideways for a bit. Hope the campers around here are safe.
Dig this,
This hazardous weather outlook is for northwest...north central and
west central Missouri...as well as extreme eastern Kansas.

.DAY ONE...Today and Tonight

Storms this morning will produce 40-50 mph winds across the Kansas
City metro and points southeastward.

Heat indices are expected to reach the 100 to 105 degree mark this
afternoon area-wide.

More detailed information can be accessed at...
https://www.weather.gov/eax/hwo

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday

Additional storms are possible early Monday morning, and are likely
Monday night through Tuesday morning. A few storms could become
strong to severe, particularly Monday night. In addition, heavy rain
could lead to localized flooding.
Click to expand...
 
Huxter said:
For those planning on being in the path of totality, are you gonna video tape, take still pics...? Mostly looking for people who do not have solar filters on their cameras.

We'll be in Victor ID (forecast for high level clouds in AM!), and I plan on experiencing the event first hand! I'll probably put my digital camera on a tripod facing west on the horizon - see if I can catch the shadow coming towards us. Maybe put a white sheet down and see if I can record Shadow bends (?). During the total eclipse, I may sneak a few pics from my phone?

How are you planning on recording the "Great American Eclipse"? :)

Pat
Click to expand...

Doubt it, Supposed to be cloudy here. Will be at 94% obscuration and if it is cloudy, it will likely get dark as night. At least that could be a consolation if we can't see it directly. Kurt
 
Yes, I'm going to record an HD timelapse of the eclipse obscured by clouds which is the usual case for any astronomical event I want to observe. The clouds may look cool in time lapse, though.
 
I've already own video editing software which supposedly can do this, but just in case I looked up some free Windows software to stitch stills into a timelapse video:

Using VirtualDub for Time-Lapse

https://timelapseblog.com/2009/08/04/using-virtualdub-for-time-lapse/

What is VirtualDub?

VirtualDub is a GNU General Public License video editor. Basically, it’s an open source piece of software with plenty of free third-party filters available on the web. For our purposes, it’s also an excellent way to create time-lapse videos. While my recent post Using Windows Movie Maker for Time-Lapse showed how to make a time-lapse video using software already installed on most PCs, it was a bit of a jury-rigged solution. VirtualDub is actually intended for time-lapse, among many other things.

VirtualDub download (at SourceForge)

https://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/

Also:

Windows Live Movie Maker – Time-Lapse Tutorial

https://timelapseblog.com/2010/04/12/windows-live-movie-maker-time-lapse-tutorial/
 
Woody's Workshop said:
Once in a life time experience Steven. Living so close to the totality area, I figured you'd take that new car and go see it.
Have a wonderful day any way you choose!
Click to expand...

My idea of fun is driving a 1/48th Saturn from my place to the coffee shop with the top down on a mostly daily basis. Pretty much a guarantee to get the comments at a light. A toy carrying a toy. Today at the shop there was a line of people wanting to ask questions. Some from customers familiar with the build and others having yet to see it. Some took photos of it standing on the floor with both sections together. I understand the once in a life time thing yet I like repeating things such as flying on the 909 six times instead of once. I live to break rules.
 
My four kids and I left Maryland Friday in an RV and just checked into a campground in Custer SD, early in the morning we will drive down to Alliance NE to be on the line of totality. We have a variety of cameras with filters a couple binoculars with filters, and about 20 sets of glasses. I plan on taking stills with my cannon, the others are leaning towards video.
 
I'll video-tape, take still shots, and enjoy! I'll later edit the videos, and make a time lapse video.
All I have to do, is stick my video camera on my tripod, and I don't need to mess with the camera.
I'm going to stay at my house, I will be in 91.4 % totality!
I've been looking forward to this for months, and my older brother, he's been looking forward since YEARS ago!!
Thanks,
 

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