How to Safely Photograph the Total Solar Eclipse 2026

Background photo: Baily’s Beads and solar prominences, total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, Dallas. Source: NASA/Keegan Barber

On August 12, 2026, the Moon will cover the Sun in one of the most anticipated eclipses in decades: the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Europe since 1999.

In this guide you’ll find everything you need to photograph it safely: equipment, camera settings, where to see it around the world, and the eye and camera protection rules, all verified against reliable technical sources.

1. What is a total solar eclipse

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, completely blocking the Sun’s disk for a few minutes.

The event is only visible along a narrow strip of the Earth’s surface, called the path of totality: outside this path, the Sun is only partly covered.

On August 12, 2026, a new total solar eclipse will take place, the first visible from mainland Europe since 1999.

The path of totality will cross Arctic Russia, Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain, and the Balearic Islands, ending shortly after sunset over the Mediterranean Sea.

Maximum totality will last about 2 minutes and 18 seconds, but only over the Atlantic Ocean: on land, in Spain, the real maximum duration will be just under 2 minutes.

Across most of Europe, including Italy, the UK, and Ireland, the eclipse will only be visible as a partial eclipse: the Sun will never be completely covered, but the spectacle will still be remarkable.

Watch the official NASA animation

This official visualization from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio follows the Moon’s shadow along its entire path around the globe, from Arctic Siberia to sunset over the Mediterranean.

2. Equipment: what you actually need

The one truly essential item, even more than the camera itself, is the solar filter: without it, you can’t shoot safely.

It must be a dedicated solar filter, certified to the ISO 12312-2 safety standard, always mounted on the front element of the lens.

Which lens to choose depends on the kind of photo you want to take.

A telephoto lens between 200mm and 500mm gives a satisfying close-up of the solar disk: with a 400mm on full frame, or 250-300mm on an APS-C camera, you already get a clearly visible Sun in the frame.

A wide-angle lens between 14mm and 35mm is the right choice if you want to include the landscape in the shot instead: the Sun will appear as a small bright point in the scene, but it can work very well as a compositional element.

You don’t need a special camera: any model with manual controls works, whether mirrorless or DSLR.

On an APS-C sensor camera, the crop factor works in your favor: a 200mm lens behaves optically like a 300mm on full frame.

You’ll need a sturdy tripod with a head capable of properly supporting the weight of the lens and filter, especially in windy conditions.

Always use a remote shutter release or an intervalometer: pressing the shutter button by hand, even on a tripod, risks introducing camera shake.

Always bring spare batteries and memory cards: the eclipse won’t wait, and there’s no second chance on the same day.

Finally, get certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses for eye protection: you’ll need them regardless, even if your camera is protected by its own filter.

3. Settings and shooting technique

Always set manual mode: it’s the only way to have full control over such a bright and unusual subject.

Start around f/8: it’s the most common compromise between sharpness and brightness with the solar filter mounted.

Keep the ISO low, between 100 and 200, to avoid unnecessary digital noise: light, even filtered, is never in short supply.

For shutter speed, with the solar filter mounted during the partial phases, a good starting point is 1/500s: the exact value depends on the combination of filter density, aperture, and ISO, so adjust based on your light meter.

Use spot metering aimed directly at the Sun, not average metering: this avoids being fooled by the rest of the sky.

Always bracket your exposures, shooting a series at different shutter speeds around your base value: this gives you room to pick the best-balanced shot in post-production.

Focus manually on the edge of the solar disk: autofocus often struggles to lock onto such a uniform, low-contrast subject.

To check focus, zoom in on the image in live view on the LCD screen before shooting your final sequence.

Set white balance manually: you can still correct it precisely in post-production if you’re shooting RAW, which keeps far more recovery headroom than a JPEG.

Good color management in post-production helps keep the tones of the sky and the solar disk consistent, avoiding unwanted differences between screen and final file.

If you’re on a tripod, turn off image stabilization: on a stable support it can paradoxically introduce micro-vibrations instead of removing them.

A practical tip: take some test shots in the days before, at the same time of day and with the same filter mounted, so you arrive on August 12 with settings you’ve already tested instead of improvising on the spot.

If instead you choose the wide-angle approach, with the Sun reduced to a small point in the scene, focusing works differently: in this case it’s best to focus at the hyperfocal distance, to keep everything sharp from the foreground to infinity.

You can calculate the exact hyperfocal distance for your lens and camera with the free long exposure, DOF and focus stacking calculator, instead of relying on approximate values.

4. Where to see totality

If you want to see true totality rather than a partial eclipse, you’ll need to travel into the path of totality: Arctic Russia, Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain, and the Balearic Islands.

Northern Spain is the most accessible destination for most of Europe, with the path crossing Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, the Zaragoza area, Catalonia, and Valencia, as well as the Balearic Islands.

In Spain, the Sun will be very low on the horizon during totality, between 4 and 10 degrees depending on the location: a condition that makes for a particularly striking eclipse, but requires a genuinely clear horizon to the west.

The other two areas of totality are Iceland, with Reykjavík inside the path, and Greenland: both farther away, with historically less predictable summer weather than Spain.

Source: NASA Science, official eclipse page. All times local.

5. Where to see a partial eclipse

For the United Kingdom and Ireland, this will be the best partial solar eclipse of the century: coverage will reach 90-96%, with London at 91%, Cornwall around 95%, and south-west Ireland up to 97.5%.

Outside the path of totality, much of Europe will still see a very deep partial eclipse: Paris will reach 92%, Berlin 85%, and Madrid and Barcelona, though outside the path of totality, will reach a striking 99%.

In North America the eclipse will be much lighter: in the United States, Anchorage, Alaska will reach 28%, New York 9%, and Philadelphia 7%. In Canada, St. John’s, Newfoundland will reach 53%, Montreal 18%, and Toronto 8%.

North-western Africa will also see a partial eclipse, in the evening hours like the rest of Europe.

Wherever you are outside the path of totality, the event will happen in the evening, with the Sun already low on the horizon: look for a viewing spot with a clear view toward the west or west-northwest, with no buildings, trees, or hills blocking the view.

Percentages: NASA Science, official eclipse page. Rome: simulations by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), as reported by Italian science press.

6. Safety: what you need to know before you shoot

This is the most important section in the whole guide: getting this wrong means risking permanent damage to your eyesight or your camera.

If you already work with ND filters for long exposure photography, you know how dark they can get. And yet, even the darkest ND filter isn’t safe for photographing the Sun: it reduces visible light, but doesn’t sufficiently block the infrared and ultraviolet radiation the Sun emits.

You need a dedicated solar filter, certified to the international ISO 12312-2 standard: the same standard required for eclipse glasses.

The solar filter must always be mounted on the front element of the lens, never in a rear filter tray: some professional telephoto lenses have a rear slip-in tray meant for regular photographic filters, not suited for pointing at the Sun.

Always use live view on the LCD screen, or the electronic viewfinder of a mirrorless camera, to compose and focus.

If you have a telescope and want to use it to observe the eclipse, the same rule as with a camera applies: you need a dedicated solar filter that covers the entire front aperture of the instrument, never a small filter placed at the eyepiece end.

To align your telescope toward the Sun, never look through the instrument itself: aim it by watching the shadow it casts on the ground, adjusting until the shadow becomes as small and circular as possible.

Don’t forget the finder scope (the small optical sight mounted on the telescope): it has a separate optical path from the main tube, and is just as dangerous if left unfiltered or not removed.

Never wear eclipse glasses while looking through an unfiltered telescope or binoculars: the light already concentrated by the instrument would burn straight through the glasses’ filter, which is designed only for naked-eye protection.

Outside the path of totality, where the eclipse stays partial the whole time, the solar filter should never be removed during the entire event, unlike those watching totality in Spain or Iceland, where the filter comes off only for the few minutes of full coverage.