Viewing the 2024 Solar Eclipse safely

Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, and astrophotographer Jon Carmichael sat down with David Hutton of Ophthalmology Times to talk about how ophthalmologists can help make sure patients are viewing the eclipse safely as well as proper ways to view/photograph the event without damaging your eyes or equipment.

Video Transcript

Editor's note - This transcript has been edited for clarity.

David Hutton:

I'm David Hutton of Ophthalmology Times. I'm joined today by Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, and astrophotographer and keynote speaker Jon Carmichael. First, Jeff, tell us about the Prevent Blindness eclipse in your eyes program and the role ophthalmologists can play.

Jeff Todd:

Absolutely. Thanks, David. Here at Prevent Blindness, we cover all things vision. And certainly we're all excited about the eclipse. I'm certainly looking forward to going down to Indiana in the path of the eclipse and visiting and seeing it with friends. But it's so important to protect your eyes during the eclipse. Those who aren't wearing proper eye protection risk of eclipse blindness or solar retinopathy, which can cause damage to the retina. As far as ophthalmologists go, they can really play a role and no one knows better the potential dangers than ophthalmologists. So they can certainly play a role by talking to their patients and their families about the importance of wearing eye protection.

So, our campaign is really twofold - one to provide information and education, about the potential dangers of an eclipse to the eyes, but also just general information about an eclipse. You can go to our website at PreventBlindness.org where we have plenty of resources and information about the eclipse. We also have links to buy proper eyewear, and that's the second part of the campaign - making people aware and providing access to the glasses. You can buy Prevent Blindness-branded campaign that have all the proper safety protections by going to our website. And knowing that purchase also goes to donate to our mission.

David Hutton:

And as you mentioned the glasses, what are the best options for viewing viewing the Eclipse safely.

Jeff Todd:

I think these days, the best option really is to wear the appropriate eclipse safety glasses. It's really important to look for those that have the ISO 12 312-2 brand. That's the International Organization for Standardization. That indicates that they have the proper safety requirements for someone to view an eclipse.

Be really careful when looking for that because these glasses are being sold everywhere. And that doesn't necessarily mean that they're the proper ones for viewing the eclipse, there are other ways you can view an eclipse and we have information on that on the website. But getting a simple pair of these glasses is the most ideal.

David Hutton:

And what are the dangers for people who don't use proper protection and maybe look at the sun with the naked eye?

Jeff Todd:

Absolutely. And to be clear, if you're in the path of an eclipse, you can take the glasses off during that brief period where the sun is completely covered. Luckily for us, during this eclipse, that period is going to last longer than it has in many, many years, 3 to 4 minutes, depending on where you are. But as soon as that sun starts to appear again, you have to put those glasses back on. The dangers really are potential burns to the retina. And you may not know that right away, you may not feel that right away. It may be days or weeks until the damage just noticed. So, you know, it's really importan ... go enjoy the experience. Get out there. I think everyone should, but make sure you're protecting yourself.

David Hutton:

Everyone wants to document this event. Jon, could you give us some tips for safely photographing a solar eclipse?

Jon Carmichael:

Sure, yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of mistakes that people make without realizing it. One of those things is protecting the sensor of the of the camera. And that's regardless if you're shooting a SLR camera, you know, a professional type camera or even your your phone. They all work the same way. So, pretty much the same precautions that Jeff just talked about.

You want to treat your camera just like you would treat your eyes. So, if you're going to be pointing your camera at the sun, do not look through the viewfinder. If it's an SLR camera, you do not want to look through that viewfinder because that is not only hitting your eye, it's also magnifying that ... just like you'd use a magnifying glass when you're a kid to burn a leaf on the sidewalk or something. That's because that's what's happening in that camera lens. So, it's actually even worse than just looking at the sun, with your naked eye. So, just another precaution there for your actual eyes.

But in the photography tip realm, there's a lot of cool things you can do. There are a lot of apps that are helpful. One app is called Solar Snap. And that helps you do more of a long exposure. Because once the sun is fully covered, it is actually 10,000 times darker than when is that 99% totality. So, it actually gets quite dark, almost like it's complete ... as if it's midnight out. It's completely dark out. So, your camera is actually going to have a much slower shutter speed in order to get the detail of the eclipse. So, you know, you might want to just do a little bit of practicing, do a little bit of research. If you're just shooting with your phone, you will want to put on a filter of some kind over the camera lens, because it does damage your phone quite a bit if you're pointing it at the sun. A lot of people will just be doing that the whole time, and you can actually even just use eclipse glasses to cover that lens, you know, you don't have to buy a whole separate special lens for it. But, again, they do sell those things. So you can just maybe tape it on the camera if you want. And just like what Jeff said, once you're actually in full totality,, then you can go ahead and take that filter off. And protecting the sensor is key on both a professional type of camera or an iPhone camera.

David Hutton:

And what are some of the potential dangers to the eye, you know you kind of hinted at this, when photographing the eclipse?

Jon Carmichael:

A lot of people look through the viewfinder to try to find the sun and the moon. That is the No. 1 most dangerous thing you can do. People also, without realizing it, as they're pointing the camera up at the sky or their phone, they're trying to align the camera up to the sun and the moon. You don't realize that you're looking at the sun while you're doing that. Even if it's not completely direct. And also, the small moments, right before and after totality there's some really beautiful phenomenon called Baily's Beads.

There's another thing called the Diamond Ring moment, which it looks like a diamond ring because the last sliver of sunlight is shining through the canyon walls of the moon surface, which is all really incredible. And we all do want to see that. And we want to see that with our naked eye, but you just can't do that. And even the diamond ring moment with that little sliver of sunlight shining through is 10,000 times brighter than totality. So you just want to be really aware of that. You want to be really mindful of those small moments before and after totality, to just keep reminding yourself and remind the people around you. If you have kids around, make sure you're telling them "Okay, it's about to end, you know, put the eclipse glasses back on and don't look at it." And, you know, maybe if you want to view it with your naked eye, if you have an old iPhone or something you know, care about damaging or if you have an old camera or something, you can use that as sort of your monitor, you can point that at the Sun if you really don't care about damaging it. You know, we do have a lot of old iPhones laying around. You can do that and actually zoom in and really be able to appreciate it while you're protecting your eyes.

David Hutton:

Are there any other points with regard to photographing maybe that I haven't asked today? That would be important to know?

Jon Carmichael:

I really would recommend using a tripod and maybe doing a little bit of practice ... just a little bit of rehearsing. There's a wide range of how professional you want to get with it, how much work you know. Bbut you want to really set up a tripod, have it lined up ahead of time. If you have an SLR camera, you can hook up a remote to it. You could even do that with a phone as well. I would recommend really just being present and enjoying the moment and trying to have the camera or the phone doing everything as automatic as possible so that you can really enjoy it yourself It really is the most beautiful moment, in my opinion, that you will ever see in your life. It is just unlike anything you can ever describe, and it only lasts for a few minutes.

You really want to take that in. Everybody around the US is going to be photographing this. You'll be able to see photos all over the internet. And I know, it's funny coming from me, but I actually recommend not focusing on photographing it, and really just enjoying it and trying to have the camera set up automatically shooting as much as you can. So you can just look over, double check it and just keep shooting it without looking through it and all of that. You know, don't get too caught up in the photography aspect of it and just really enjoy. It's a very beautiful moment, especially, being present with the people around you. The atmosphere around you is really incredible. It's a 360 degree sunset. And I mean, it's just the coolest moment you'll ever experience.

David Hutton:

And any last words from you today, Jeff,

Jeff Todd:

I think I would just, double down on what Jon said. And it's important to note that the next total eclipse that will be visible from the US isn't going to be until 2045 That's 21 years from now. So, let's all get out there and enjoy this one. Have a great time doing it.