**Capturing the Magic of the Solar Eclipse with Your Phone**

If you want to capture the breathtaking moment of daylight turning into darkness during a solar eclipse, all you need is your phone and a few simple accessories. The most affordable option is a phone tripod that clamps onto your device and screws onto a sturdy tripod, allowing for easy rotation between portrait and landscape modes. This setup is perfect for taking stunning photos or videos of the sun's corona, and it's available on the cheaper side of things for around $7.

For a more advanced setup, you can invest in a telephoto zoom lens attachment that provides even more zoom capabilities. By adding a 2X telephoto zoom to your iPhone's existing 5x Zoom, you get an impressive 10x optical zoom. The Moment Tele lens and attachment piece is compatible with newer iPhones and offers a simple screw-on system for easy installation.

However, during the actual eclipse, it can be challenging to capture clear images without specialized equipment. To avoid blurring the sun's image, you'll need a solar filter that reduces the intensity of the light. You can either use an existing pair of solar glasses by cutting them up and taping them over your camera lens or purchase a purpose-built solar filter. Some solar filters are designed specifically for photography and offer better quality than others.

If you want to get even closer to the sun, you'll need a high-quality telephoto zoom lens that can capture images without the distortion caused by atmospheric conditions. The Moment Tele lens is an excellent option, but it requires some practice to use effectively. With its intuitive design and manual controls, this app lets you fine-tune your photography settings for optimal results.

For the ultimate solar eclipse photography experience, consider investing in a dedicated telescope with a built-in solar filter. Celestron's Eclipse Telescope offers advanced features like Bluetooth connectivity and a compatible phone mount that makes it easy to take photos or videos of the sun during the eclipse.

To avoid camera shake and blur, you'll need to use a tripod that can stabilize your device, allowing for smooth panning and zooming. If you have an Apple Watch, you can even trigger the camera remotely using the Camera Remote app. This feature allows you to spin the digital crown to zoom in and out and tap the button to snap the photo with a 3-second delay.

However, it's essential to practice beforehand to ensure that your equipment is working smoothly on the day of the eclipse. Don't just rely on taking the same photo as everyone else – get creative and capture unique perspectives by taking selfies or photographs of people enjoying the experience.

In conclusion, capturing the magic of the solar eclipse with your phone requires some creativity and experimentation. With the right equipment and practice, you can take stunning photos and videos that will leave everyone in awe. Whether you're a seasoned photographer or just starting out, this guide has provided you with the essential tips and tricks to help you make the most of this rare and unforgettable event.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enMonday April 8 is the Great American Eclipse so named because the area of totality will pass through Mexico Texas the Midwest New England and Canada it'll be the last eclipse of its kind in the mainland United States for over 20 years if you want pictures of this momentous occasion here are the eight things you can do to make sure you're prepared so let's start with number one get a tripod you can take a better picture if you don't have to worry about holding your phone steady in your hands instead you can focus on the focus the exposure and of course everything that's going on around you if your phone is already lined up for the perfect shot sitting in a tripod a compact tripod like the switch easy easy selfie is easy to carry in a bag and highly versatile you can unfold it extend it out put your phone in and set it at the right angle and you can set it up on a picnic table railing or even just a chair and you can buy it on the cult of Max store right here a full-size tripod will of course be easier to set up at standing height I recommend this one because it has easy to adjust legs and it comes with a phone mount in the box and if you just have so much money to burn you can get a really fancy tripod like this one with an adjustable pan head it also has supermetric adjustment knobs for getting it just perfectly lined up even better than that is a star tracker which will automatically follow the Sun as it moves across the sky during the eclipse so number two if you have a tripod but you don't have a way to mount your phone to it well I highly recommend the moment tripod mount for mag safe your phone just clamps to it and you screw it onto your tripod it's that simple and because it's so tall you can easily rotate your phone between portrait or landscape on the cheaper side of things you can also get this it's like $7 it's not as nice because you have to spin the screw and clamp your phone down onto it but it'll work just as well so if you just want a good picture or video of daylight Turning Into Darkness then this is all you'll need but if you want a really good picture of the sun itself and the ring of fire around there are a few more things you're going to want to pick up like number three a solar filter now to be clear looking directly at the sun will hurt your eyes but it won't hurt your phone it'll just make it really hard to get a picture that isn't incredibly blurry so what you're going to want to do is put a solar filter over your camera now the good news is if you have a pair of solar glasses you already have one just cut it up and tape it over the back if you want something a little more purpose-built you can buy these as well although keep in mind that during totality you'll want to take the filter off because the white ring that you see the corona of the sun is much less bright and you don't need to wear solar eclipse glasses during this period either number four if you want a really good picture of the sun you're going to need a little more zoom than your phone will give you out of the box if you add a 2X telephoto zoom on top of an iPhone 15 Pro Max's 5x Zoom then you get a very impressive 10x optical zoom the moment Telly lens is the easiest way to get more zoom using their simple screw on system you have to buy one of these attachment pieces that fits inside one of their cases the case then snaps onto your phone and the Telly lens itself just rotates into place the T-Series lens and attachment piece is compatible with newer phones with bigger cameras the iPhone 13 and newer the M series is compatible with the iPhone 13 and older and yeah it's a lot to buy but when you have the whole system you've effectively doubled the capability of your iPhone camera number five sometimes adding all this extra Hardware especially during the weird lighting conditions of a solar eclipse can conf use the iPhone's camera app which tries to intelligently make a lot of these decisions for you if you want fine-tuned manual controls just like a full-size dedicated camera you'll want an app like halide which lets you manually set resolution lens Focus exposure and many more settings you tap the 1X button in the bottom corner to manually pick the telephoto lens you drag your finger up and down on the screen to set the exposure and if you drag the AF button at out you get manual focus controls for capturing an object in the sky you just drag it all the way to the end hii packs in loads of pro features but thanks to its intuitive design it's still really easy to figure out you can get it for $2.99 for a month $1.99 for a year or $59.99 lifetime if you click here to get it from the app store number six you can go the next level above a tripod and a zoom lens with an actual telescope this one from Celestron has a built-in Sol filter and they even offer a compatible phone mount that just snaps right into place and even has a Bluetooth shutter button that you can just click to take a picture number seven once you have everything set up just right depending on what you're doing it might actually be a little inconvenient tapping your phone screen to take the picture but if you have an Apple Watch you can trigger it remotely open the camera remote app and you can spin the digital Crown to zoom in and out and tap the button to snap the photo with a 3-second delay by default you you can also even ask Siri take a picture and it'll snap the shot on your iPhone now this can be a little Twitchy and unreliable so you want to make sure that it's working and practice beforehand and that brings me to number eight you should really practice ahead of time I mean you see the Sun every day unless you live in Cleveland so you can try out your lenses your filters your tripods all of your equipment so that you're not fumbling so much on the actual day of and keep in mind that the most memorable pictures and videos of the day will be of the people in the landscape around you don't just take the same picture of the Sun that everybody else is taking get a selfie in front of it as well and another one of everybody wearing their epically cool solar eclipse glasses also remember to like And subscribe I'm D Griffin Jones with Cult of MacMonday April 8 is the Great American Eclipse so named because the area of totality will pass through Mexico Texas the Midwest New England and Canada it'll be the last eclipse of its kind in the mainland United States for over 20 years if you want pictures of this momentous occasion here are the eight things you can do to make sure you're prepared so let's start with number one get a tripod you can take a better picture if you don't have to worry about holding your phone steady in your hands instead you can focus on the focus the exposure and of course everything that's going on around you if your phone is already lined up for the perfect shot sitting in a tripod a compact tripod like the switch easy easy selfie is easy to carry in a bag and highly versatile you can unfold it extend it out put your phone in and set it at the right angle and you can set it up on a picnic table railing or even just a chair and you can buy it on the cult of Max store right here a full-size tripod will of course be easier to set up at standing height I recommend this one because it has easy to adjust legs and it comes with a phone mount in the box and if you just have so much money to burn you can get a really fancy tripod like this one with an adjustable pan head it also has supermetric adjustment knobs for getting it just perfectly lined up even better than that is a star tracker which will automatically follow the Sun as it moves across the sky during the eclipse so number two if you have a tripod but you don't have a way to mount your phone to it well I highly recommend the moment tripod mount for mag safe your phone just clamps to it and you screw it onto your tripod it's that simple and because it's so tall you can easily rotate your phone between portrait or landscape on the cheaper side of things you can also get this it's like $7 it's not as nice because you have to spin the screw and clamp your phone down onto it but it'll work just as well so if you just want a good picture or video of daylight Turning Into Darkness then this is all you'll need but if you want a really good picture of the sun itself and the ring of fire around there are a few more things you're going to want to pick up like number three a solar filter now to be clear looking directly at the sun will hurt your eyes but it won't hurt your phone it'll just make it really hard to get a picture that isn't incredibly blurry so what you're going to want to do is put a solar filter over your camera now the good news is if you have a pair of solar glasses you already have one just cut it up and tape it over the back if you want something a little more purpose-built you can buy these as well although keep in mind that during totality you'll want to take the filter off because the white ring that you see the corona of the sun is much less bright and you don't need to wear solar eclipse glasses during this period either number four if you want a really good picture of the sun you're going to need a little more zoom than your phone will give you out of the box if you add a 2X telephoto zoom on top of an iPhone 15 Pro Max's 5x Zoom then you get a very impressive 10x optical zoom the moment Telly lens is the easiest way to get more zoom using their simple screw on system you have to buy one of these attachment pieces that fits inside one of their cases the case then snaps onto your phone and the Telly lens itself just rotates into place the T-Series lens and attachment piece is compatible with newer phones with bigger cameras the iPhone 13 and newer the M series is compatible with the iPhone 13 and older and yeah it's a lot to buy but when you have the whole system you've effectively doubled the capability of your iPhone camera number five sometimes adding all this extra Hardware especially during the weird lighting conditions of a solar eclipse can conf use the iPhone's camera app which tries to intelligently make a lot of these decisions for you if you want fine-tuned manual controls just like a full-size dedicated camera you'll want an app like halide which lets you manually set resolution lens Focus exposure and many more settings you tap the 1X button in the bottom corner to manually pick the telephoto lens you drag your finger up and down on the screen to set the exposure and if you drag the AF button at out you get manual focus controls for capturing an object in the sky you just drag it all the way to the end hii packs in loads of pro features but thanks to its intuitive design it's still really easy to figure out you can get it for $2.99 for a month $1.99 for a year or $59.99 lifetime if you click here to get it from the app store number six you can go the next level above a tripod and a zoom lens with an actual telescope this one from Celestron has a built-in Sol filter and they even offer a compatible phone mount that just snaps right into place and even has a Bluetooth shutter button that you can just click to take a picture number seven once you have everything set up just right depending on what you're doing it might actually be a little inconvenient tapping your phone screen to take the picture but if you have an Apple Watch you can trigger it remotely open the camera remote app and you can spin the digital Crown to zoom in and out and tap the button to snap the photo with a 3-second delay by default you you can also even ask Siri take a picture and it'll snap the shot on your iPhone now this can be a little Twitchy and unreliable so you want to make sure that it's working and practice beforehand and that brings me to number eight you should really practice ahead of time I mean you see the Sun every day unless you live in Cleveland so you can try out your lenses your filters your tripods all of your equipment so that you're not fumbling so much on the actual day of and keep in mind that the most memorable pictures and videos of the day will be of the people in the landscape around you don't just take the same picture of the Sun that everybody else is taking get a selfie in front of it as well and another one of everybody wearing their epically cool solar eclipse glasses also remember to like And subscribe I'm D Griffin Jones with Cult of Mac\n"