How to Photograph a Solar Eclipse Safely With Your Phone or Camera

With the 2026 solar eclipse coming up, you might be wondering how to photograph it safely, whether you're using a phone, a camera or nothing more than your eyes.

There's something really magical about a solar eclipse.

The light changes. Shadows look strange. The world suddenly feels a little different.

And if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably want to grab your camera and photograph it!

But before you point your phone or camera towards the Sun, there’s one very important thing we need to talk about: safety.

Because photographing an eclipse isn't quite the same as photographing an ordinary landscape.

The good news is that you don't need a fancy camera to enjoy photographing one. In fact, some of the most interesting photographs might have nothing to do with photographing the Sun itself.

Let's have a look.

First things first: protect your eyes and your camera

During a partial solar eclipse, never look directly at the Sun without proper solar viewing protection.

And this applies even though the Moon is covering part of the Sun. The remaining sunlight is still strong enough to cause serious eye damage.

Ordinary sunglasses aren't safe. Neither are homemade filters or bits of photographic material.

If you want to look directly at the Sun, use properly certified solar viewing glasses or a certified solar viewer designed for eclipse viewing.

And if you're photographing the Sun itself with a camera, you need a proper solar filter designed for photographic use, fitted securely over the front of your lens.

Don't point an unfiltered camera, phone, binoculars or telescope at the Sun and assume that because you're looking at a screen rather than directly at it, your eyes or equipment are protected.

They aren't.

If you're in any doubt, don't photograph the Sun directly. There are plenty of other wonderful things to photograph during an eclipse.

And that's where it gets interesting…

Look down, not just up

Here's one of my favourite things about photographing an eclipse.

Look underneath a tree.

You might see something really strange happening on the ground, lots of little crescent-shaped images of the Sun.

But why?

It all comes down to a little bit of photography magic called the pinhole effect.

The tiny gaps between leaves act like little pinholes. Light from the Sun passes through these gaps and projects an image of the Sun onto the ground or another nearby surface.

During a normal sunny day, those images are usually round and you probably wouldn't even notice them.

During an eclipse, however, the Sun isn't round anymore. Part of it is covered by the Moon, so those tiny pinholes project hundreds of little crescent-shaped Suns onto the ground.

It's basically nature creating hundreds of tiny pinhole cameras for you. And I think that's pretty amazing.

Just find a tree with plenty of small gaps between the leaves and look carefully at the ground beneath it.

Then start experimenting.

Get closer. Move around. Look at the shapes and patterns.

Try photographing the whole area, or get really close and fill the frame with the little crescents.

And don't forget to look at the shadows and the things around them too.

Sometimes the best eclipse photograph isn't the one you take of the Sun. It's the one you take of what the Sun is doing to the world around you.

Look at the quality of the light

One of the most interesting things about an eclipse is the way the quality and appearance of the light around you changes as the Moon moves across the Sun.

The light can become noticeably cooler and flatter, shadows can change and the landscape can take on an unusual, almost other-worldly feel.

Keep your camera handy and look around you rather than only at the Sun.

Photograph the landscape, buildings, trees or people as the light changes. Look at the shadows and the way familiar scenes suddenly look different.

You're not only photographing the eclipse, you're photographing its effect on the light around you.

Photograph people watching the eclipse

Don't forget about the people around you.

Someone wearing eclipse glasses.

A child looking up at the sky.

A group of friends experiencing it together.

Someone standing in a garden with strange shadows falling around them.

These photographs tell the story of the day.

And sometimes a photograph of someone experiencing something extraordinary is much more powerful than a technically perfect photograph of the event itself.

If you're photographing people, think about the light falling on them rather than simply pointing your camera towards the sky.

Can you use the changing light to create a silhouette?

Can you photograph someone's face lit by the unusual light?

Can you include the sky and the person together?

Again, move around and see what happens.

In fact, I'd encourage you to spend some of the eclipse with your camera pointing anywhere but at the Sun.

Look around.

Notice the light.

Look for shadows.

Look at the little details you might normally walk straight past.

Because that's what photography is really about.

Noticing.

And an eclipse gives us a pretty wonderful reason to stop and look.

One final reminder

If you are photographing the Sun itself, make sure you have the correct solar viewing and photographic equipment.

If you don't, that's absolutely fine.

There is a whole world of fascinating light, shadows, patterns and moments happening around you.

Look for them.

Sarah Lester is a professional photographer with over 20 years of experience behind the camera. She specialises in helping beginners feel confident using their cameras in a clear, simple and jargon-free way.

Her Get Camera Confident course has already helped thousands of students start taking photos they’re proud of.