Who will be flying, and shooting video and pictures during the eclipse?
I have read conflicting reports about the need for special solar filters for our cameras on the P4P.
I have opted to skip the crowds, and just fly from home, since we will be 97-98% totality here.
what is everybody else doing?

I suppose you will find it difficult to shoot the sun itself with a lens that has an opening angle of 92 degrees. If I was in America on Monday and had my drone with me I would let it hover so the camera had the side to the sun so I got shot the moving shadow instead. Neither does it require any filter.

Then you can spend time on the sun with a good DSLR on an tripod. It also has a sensor that can better cope with noise and full light.

Regards Leif.

I will be fly on the NC coast during the eclipse catching scenes during the dark time.

Yes Leif, I have already ruled out pointing the camera at the sun, from test flights leading up to this, around the time of maximum darkness. I have 2 Phantoms and 3 batteries, and nothing but forest land around me. I should be able to get 60-80 minutes of solar/ lunar transition out of it.
MJL, can't wait to see what you get out on the coast!

I am in CT. and also plan on filming and trying to get some still shots, I do have the filters so lets see what happens, good luck all.

hdlou94 Posted at 2017-8-20 02:49
I am in CT. and also plan on filming and trying to get some still shots, I do have the filters so lets see what happens, good luck all.

I'm in CT as well....   I HAD planned on shooting Stamford, with the idea of seeing the shadow come toward the camera and seeing the lights of the city start to play.  Seemed like a great idea for telling the story.  So this morning I did some research to try to understand which way the shadow would approach.... and I found out that CT is only getting about 60% coverage, which will mean we will see something more like a cloudy day rather than nighttime.  I also found out that from the time the shadow starts to show itself until the time that we have maximum coverage take about 90 minutes.  As such, flying the drone doesn't seem very interesting.  :-(

You absolutely must have a SOLAR filter on any camera or telescope you will use to photograph the eclipse except when it is in 100% totality. When in totality it is safe to view it without the glasses or filters on the cameras but you must be in an area that will have totality. Shooting the sun without a filter will fry the camera and looking at it for just a few seconds will cause permanent eye damage. Using the drone to capture ground effects would be good especially if the sun is shining through tree leaves, the shadows it casts on the ground can be spectacular. I will be shooting photos here in NC with a DSLR fitted with a 55-250mm lens equipped with a 2x teleconverter. Here is a test shot done yesterday:

racer888 Posted at 2017-8-20 07:40
You absolutely must have a SOLAR filter on any camera or telescope you will use to photograph the eclipse except when it is in 100% totality. When in totality it is safe to view it without the glasses or filters on the cameras but you must be in an area that will have totality. Shooting the sun without a filter will fry the camera and looking at it for just a few seconds will cause permanent eye damage. Using the drone to capture ground effects would be good especially if the sun is shining through tree leaves, the shadows it casts on the ground can be spectacular. I will be shooting photos here in NC with a DSLR fitted with a 55-250mm lens equipped with a 2x teleconverter. Here is a test shot done yesterday:

Great shot !! I hope you get some great pics and post some.

Best of luck to everyone out their flying tomorrow!

I think I might change my plan after seeing the idea to shoot the landscapes during transition.  I had added a filter on my lens using a piece of exposed xray film but the piucture is less than desirable. Can't wait to see the beach photos either...

Brian@Home Posted at 2017-8-20 16:29
I think I might change my plan after seeing the idea to shoot the landscapes during transition.  I had added a filter on my lens using a piece of exposed xray film but the piucture is less than desirable. Can't wait to see the beach photos either...
[view_image]

This is straight from NASA about the x ray film method:


Use Approved Filters

Many materials and methods popularly used to observe an eclipse may be unsafe. Smoked glass, x-ray films, sunglasses, and camera filters, for example, are all dangerous and should be avoided completely.

That's because while they reduce the incoming visible light, they fail to stop the full force of the sun's hazardous infrared and ultraviolet radiation.

I considered it, but I don't want to risk frying the sensor on my Phantom 3. Also, with only 70% coverage here in New Jersey, it won't really be as spectacular anyways. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys shoot. Good luck out there!

Eclipse came early in Alabama.....it's dark outside!

njalex Posted at 2017-8-20 17:35
I considered it, but I don't want to risk frying the sensor on my Phantom 3. Also, with only 70% coverage here in New Jersey, it won't really be as spectacular anyways. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys shoot. Good luck out there!

It's always something spectacular about it even it not 100%. This was in Iceland 2015.
Iceland 2015

Mabou2 Posted at 2017-8-20 07:29
I'm in CT as well....   I HAD planned on shooting Stamford, with the idea of seeing the shadow come toward the camera and seeing the lights of the city start to play.  Seemed like a great idea for telling the story.  So this morning I did some research to try to understand which way the shadow would approach.... and I found out that CT is only getting about 60% coverage, which will mean we will see something more like a cloudy day rather than nighttime.  I also found out that from the time the shadow starts to show itself until the time that we have maximum coverage take about 90 minutes.  As such, flying the drone doesn't seem very interesting.  :-(

Hi. i'm in Milford, yeah i really don't think filming this event will be that great, plus i am not sure if the gimbal will be able to look up at the angle we need, and now i just watched the news and there is suppose to be some clouds now..

forget shooting the eclipse with a drone directly, but how about shooting the transitions from a bird's eye view?

Trekz Posted at 2017-8-21 03:51
forget shooting the eclipse with a drone directly, but how about shooting the transitions from a bird's eye view?

That's my plan...I'm gonna put my bird up about 10 min before totality, and video the 360 degree sunset.  I will be positioned directly under the path of totality, and very near the point of Longest Eclipse.   I will get 2 min and 39.9 seconds of totality.

Monopdrone Posted at 2017-8-21 04:33
That's my plan...I'm gonna put my bird up about 10 min before totality, and video the 360 degree sunset.  I will be positioned directly under the path of totality, and very near the point of Longest Eclipse.   I will get 2 min and 39.9 seconds of totality.

Monopdrone, where are you that you will see the total eclipse?  I had been hoping to get my drone up and shoot a city so I could see the shadow race across the land and the city lights come on... but alas, we aren't getting enough coverage in CT to make it interesting enough.

G_Sig Posted at 2017-8-20 18:18
It's always something spectacular about it even it not 100%. This was in Iceland 2015.
Iceland 2015

Nice shots! I actually did end up trying to capture it with my drone, but it was too high up on the horizon, above my drone. It was, however, a spectacular sight when viewed with glasses.

BTW those are some amazing pictures!

It's rather sobering to think I'll not likely experience a total eclipse in my lifetime, in the UK at any rate. We had a partial eclipse in 2015 (the cloud started to move in!) and a near total one back in 1999, some time before I got into photography. Quite an experience!
It would have been interesting to see if an aerial 360 could have caught the approaching shadow.

Two shots taken in 2015.

Eclipse 2015a

Eclipse 2015b

Since I was at 70% totality, I opted to do a time lapse with my DSLR to capture the change in sunlight intensity. Wasn't really sure what I could do with the drone in my area.

It started getting cloudy about an hour before the eclipse. I went up 400 ft, pointed North, and got 20 minutes before, and after our maximum darkness. It didn't really turn out the way I thought it would, but was a fun time anyways. This video is at 20x normal speed...

It's a rainy stormy day here, so I thought i would revisit some old videos. Here is another look at my eclipse video, with some color correction added...