Similarly, on automatic cameras, make sure the flash is turned off.Take plenty of tea or water with you, some snacks to eat and something to provide you with shade (if the weather is nice it will be a long morning) Lastly, find yourself a travelling companion. But don’t shine it at other people; nothing annoys astronomers more. These settings should give good pictures of various phases of the total eclipse, highlighting phenomena known as Bailey’s Beads, the Diamond Ring, the Prominences and the Inner and Outer Corona.The eclipse is a spectacle with quite a buzz and you don’t want to miss out on all the excitement because you’re fiddling with dials, so make sure that you have a small torch handy (for when the sky becomes dark during totality). Initially, try a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second and bracket one speed either way for each part of the eclipse. A little practice beforehand is a good idea.When totality occurs and the filters are off, take a series of pictures at the following shutter speeds; 1/1000th, 1/500th, 1/250th, 1/125th, 1/60th, 1/30th right down to 1/2 a second. Neutral density filters reduce only visible light (remember, the danger to the eyes is ultraviolet and infrared radiation, so don’t look through the camera without additional eye protection). Only during the total eclipse can the sun be photographed without ND filters.Use 100ASA colour print or slide film.

Set the aperture on the lens to a mid-range setting such as f8. During the partial stages of the eclipse, with the ND filters on, bracket your exposures using the camera’s shutter speed dial. You will need neutral density (ND) filters to a value of at least 5.0 or 6.0 or a material known as Mylar to tape over the front of the lens and protect the camera. Tape your lens focusing-ring at infinity so that it can’t move. Ideally, a 200-300mm lens will give a good image and, depending on your position, may even allow some other details in the picture, such as the tops of buildings and trees. A 28mm lens should allow you to photograph the whole eclipse without moving the camera but the Sun will look extremely small. It will be excellent if you want some foreground detail such as a building or natural vista in the picture.With the standard 50mm lens the Sun will appear as a small circle or dot.

These are all superior to projection in terms of image quality and are easy to use (see below for suppliers). And be especially vigilant if there are children about.Photographing the eclipseFirst mount your camera on a tripod and choose an appropriate lens. As long as you move with the Sun, you will be able to watch the whole event in absolute safety.Alternatively, there are some perfectly safe sun-viewing glasses available. Punch a small, neat hole in the middle of the card and then take the other piece and move it backwards or forwards until you can clearly see the projected image of the Sun. A simple and cheap way to do this is to take two large pieces of white card and attach one piece on to the end of a long, flat surface. A pair of binoculars or a telescope pointed at the Sun reflects its image on to a piece of white card, held at the correct distance as to make the projection as sharp and focused as possible.