Eclipse Photography Magic: 3 HDR Techniques for Perfecting Total Solar Eclipse Pictures

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This video is going live a few days before the eclipse is over and here I show you 3 techniques you can use to create an HDR total solar eclipse image.
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Chapters:
0:00 The Agenda
1:56 Manually Aligning the Frames
7:56 First Method: Basic
9:56 First Method: Basic with Adjustments
11:56 Second Method: Auto Stacking
13:20 Second Method: Auto Stacking with Adjustments
15:36 Third Method: Advanced Stacking (Pellett Method)
24:20 Final Thoughts
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[@Naztronomy]

Watch the updated tutorial where I use my 2024 Data and Double Stack the Pellet Method: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6imqah6hpd_pdU

[@ron-shah]

Thank you, good quick and informative tutorial!

[@evanmaurer1968]

Thanks to you I obtained stunning images. Thank you for for teaching us ways to enhance our experience.

[@Naztronomy]

I'm glad my videos have been helpful 😊 And if you have discord, join the server (invite link in the description) and we have a section where you can share your photos. I'd love to see what you caught!

[@Tdog500]

Thanks!

[@mayachughsingh5051]

This is so helpful! Thank you so much for posting!

[@Naztronomy]

Glad this was helpful! I should have an updated video with 2024 data uploaded soon 😊

[@paigecfrancis]

Nice work. Fingers crossed that the clouds clear in Dallas.

[@Naztronomy]

Thank you! Sending you good vibes and thoughts of clear skies!

[@andyhinds542]

Thanks for this, it was very useful. it appears that the techniques have changed since I last did an eclipse composite shot 15 years ago.

[@Naztronomy]

Glad it was helpful! I'm trying to see if I can modernize the steps a bit more :)

[@paulmanhart4481]

Interesting method. HDR is typically a weight sum average of each image. You divide each pixel by its exposure and then divide by the sum of all exposures. Your method seems to be a new one. I’ve been trying to get a HDR solar eclipse photo since 2017. First time my camera was out of focus (ring slipped). It was a Nikon F/2.5 400 mm lens. In 2024, I was ready with a Nikon mirrorless Z6ii and a 400 mm lens, plus an equatorial drive on sun track. But the clouds in Southern Texas screwed me over. I bracketed from 1/3200th to 4 seconds shooting in RAW. At NASA, I wrote a MATLAB program that registers digital images to 1/100th of a pixel. I was going to use that to align all the images and then go into my HDR software in MATLAB. The best laid plans of mice and men. I’m seriously bummed out. Good job Master. Paul

[@Naztronomy]

Ahh sorry for the clouds! They prevented us from driving into Texas and we ended up staying in New England. Do you want any access to my data? I'm happy to share with you. Are you allowed to share that MATLAB program? If so, I'd love to try that to register my data. I don't know MATLAB but willing to learn!

[@paulmanhart4481]

That would be fantastic. Thanks. Let me know how to do this. Much appreciated. Paul

[@Naztronomy]

Do you use Discord? If you do, you can join the Naztronomy server (Invite link in the description) and you can DM me. I'll send you the files there. If you don't do discord, check my KZbin profile for my email address and shoot me an email. Hope you can also share your MATLAB scripts :0 I'd love to give them a try!

[@hael8680]

I'll have a shot at the eclipse Monday. Weather forecast looks great, cameras and mount are ready. Let me know if you don't get your own shots.

[@Naztronomy]

Awesome, where are you going? We're still undecided between NY and Indiana. Will make a final decision tomorrow.

[@hael8680]

@@Naztronomy I am staying at home 😉 Beautiful weather in the forecast. I'll image it from my backyard.

[@TeaMollie11]

How did it go? I just so happened to take a bunch of pictures increasing in exposure time each photo. I'm SO GLAD I did that because I had no idea that's how you photograph the corona.

[@hael8680]

Went great! Idid everything manually and got the ring, prominence and lots of Corona bracketed.

[@Merry617]

Thanks for this video! Very informative and easy to follow. As someone who won't be in the path of totality, I would love an example of a partial eclipse HDR. Thanks!

[@Naztronomy]

Thank you! I don't think you'll get anything out of doing an HDR image of the partial eclipse. HDR is generally used to bring out details of the various layers in the corona (and other objects) but the partial eclipse is just one layer. You may be able to make the sunspot pop a little bit more. You can do HDR with the moon though because it has shadows, dark regions, and bright regions that all come out at different exposures.

[@fehmidonmez7810]

I believe that eclipse photos showing the moon's surface features seem to have an added layer, achieved by adjusting its transparency. I don't believe that they even mentioned achieving this with too many cameras or photo stacking. Yet no space agency or observatory has managed to achieve these views after all these hundreds of eclipses. Suddenly, we have eclipse photos with visible moon surfaces.

[@Naztronomy]

Earthshine photos has existed for a while during totality and during crescent/quarter phases of the moon. If I understand you correctly, then yes, there are a lot of composites where they add the moon in post processing and then make it transparent.

[@DeepSpaceAstro]

Wow! Thanks for this Naz! The last workflow is definitely the way to go! According to the weather models, I have a good chance of clouds on the 8th. So could you do a video on cloud processing next? 😂

[@Naztronomy]

Thanks! I'm hoping to redo this once (if) I get my own RAW images. I have a few more ideas on making things pop. And oh man...still have my hotel near you with my fingers crossed. We are going to have a make a decision by tomorrow afternoon. I will work on a cloud processing video soon. I heard Celestron had an x-ray eyepiece , I wasn't fast enough to nab one. Weird that they only listed it on April 1st.. Clear skiessss!!!!

[@josekunhardt]

The most imporant thing about this process is to shoot the images you intend on using in as short a time period as possible. If they are too far apart, then the movement of the moon in front of the sun will make it impossible to align correctly.

[@Naztronomy]

Yeah, a few people I've spoken to are having similar issues with aligning. This is where automation really comes in handy. I'll be making a video sharing my experience, my setup, my plan, etc. soon to showcase what I did. In the meantime, I posted a version of the 2024 eclipse in the community tab of my channel. I am happy that I was able to capture these exposures for an HDR image this year.

[@stevekaiser4959]

It might be better to align all layers to the top one rather than to other layers.

[@astroguy5364]

I thought the same. Any misalignment error will be amplified if you don't align to the base image every time

[@Naztronomy]

Yeah that's a good point. I plan on redoing this when I get my own RAW data so I'll pick a reference frame instead of shifting the reference. Clear skies!

[@DavidToback]

I shot the eclipse and have been using yours and other tutorials to edit. Came out decent but had trouble aligning the layers well enough. Would be happy to share my shots for you to edit 😊

[@andyhinds542]

Problem that a lot of people forget is that the moon is moving across the sun so alignment is rather difficult unless the sun and moon stop completely.

[@Naztronomy]

Aligning is definitely difficult. The best bet is to make sure you shoot a bracket very quickly. If you join the discord server, you can share your images with the group. We can also talk about how yo ucan get your images to me and I'm happy to give them a shot. There's a little bit of a queue at the moment :)

[@Naztronomy]

@@andyhinds542 Yeah this is very true. My new 2024 data has a bunch of bracketed shots that I can use for individual stacks but if I try to stack along the entire 3.5 mins of totality, I'll have trouble.

[@DavidToback]

@@Naztronomy Just joined, thanks!

[@MrGuitar50]

Excellent video! Can these steps be done in Lightroom?

[@Naztronomy]

Thank you! The camera raw steps can be done in lightroom but unfortunately, the layers and stacking isn't possible in lightroom as far as I know.

[@msmith2016]

@Naztronomy - I know you were doing an abbreviated method here. To do the full method would you blur and subtract then multiply each layer individually then load all the result images into a smart objects mean stack and then adjust and finish? Or is there a way to do that to the individual layers in the original smart object stack made from the aligned layers? I have 10 sets of corona brackets that turned out pretty nice and I'm trying to come up with the procedure to process them all. Thanks! - EDIT - reading down below I think I found the answer to my question. Thanks again! I ran 2 automated rigs and just trying to get the best processing for the amount of effort that was involved.

[@Naztronomy]

Glad you found the answer but I'll write my response any way in case someone else reading this in the future as a similar question: You are correct about doing the blue/subtract/multiply on each layer individually and then loading them and then stacking them. This is probably the cleanest way to do it but longer. Otherwise, you can load them all as layers and before converting to smart object, you can work on each layer individually but this may be challenging if you have a lot of layers. Easy to get lost imo. I'm currently trying to figure out a way to automate that using Photoshop actions or a script. It's a work in progress. Let me know if you have any questions! And if you want to share your images and if you use discord, the Naztronomy discord server (Invite link is in the description) has a place you can upload and share with the community.

[@carlmcneill1139]

I just hope we have clear skies. I'm going to Arkansas and it's not looking good at the moment. Monday is still a few days away though.

[@Naztronomy]

Wishing you clear skies! I'm hoping the forecasts get better so we can go to Ohio or Indiana. Our original plans of Texas have been scrapped.

[@carlmcneill1139]

@Naztronomy for right now they're saying obits and Indiana are looking good. Upstate New York, New Hampshire and a few other states up there are also looking good at the moment. I don't really think we'll know for sure until Monday. I've seen them change the forecast for Arkansas at least 3 times in one day.

[@Naztronomy]

Yeah it'll be a tough decision. In 2017, we were in Tennessee. Up until the day of the eclipse, forecasts said clear skies, then in the morning, forecast said cloudy and sure enough, it was cloudy. But as we decided to pack up and try to move, the clouds all cleared up. We'll see what happens in 2024!

[@carlmcneill1139]

@Naztronomy I'm headed to Arkansas from Alabama. I was born and raised in Arkansas. I'm going to a cousin's house. He lives within 10 miles of the center. Later in the week I'm going up into the Ozarks to look for waterfalls to shoot and also the milky way. It's considered a dark skies region.

[@Naztronomy]

@@carlmcneill1139 That sounds fun! I'd like to head to an actual dark sky area for astrophotography one day. I haven't left the northeast for that yet. although I did try Kentucky a couple years ago but the trip was badly timed because it was around the full moon. Clear skies!

[@pawproarchive]

So, you mention repeating the adjustments to each layer, to get the best detail results. I am a little confused what steps are suppose to be repeated. After you pull up the saved aligned layers, do I rasterize each layer individually and create an OG file for each layer with the radial blur step. My main confusion is flattening of the layers . . . that was just to shorten and simplify . . . so that should be skipped, correct?

[@Naztronomy]

Before you load the layers into stack, you'd open each layer one by one, then do the blur, subtract, and multiply methods on each. Then you save the outputs for each of those layers and load those layers into the stack. Then align the layers, convert to smart object, and then do a mean stack. It's a lot more work but for some it's worth it. And flattening/rasterizing the layers is needed in order to the "Apply Image" option to work. That feature doesn't work on smart objects so we need to flatten it into one single layer. Let me know if you have more questions!

[@aaronden]

Thanks for the vid. For totality I have 6 different brackets each containing 12 shutter speeds (1/500 to 4”). What is the best approach for maximizing detail? Align and stack all 6 1/500s shots, all 6 1/250s shots, etc., and then use those 12 groups to create an image? Or better to make 6 different HDR images from each bracket and then stack those???

[@Naztronomy]

Good question! You may find it somewhat difficult to align your brackets that are taken more than 30 seconds apart because the moon moves across the sun so it'll be at a different position in your first bracket than it is in your last. But it could be worth a try because you could get a good amount on detail on the corona itself, just need to do the aligning part pretty carefully. You'll have the same alignment issue if you do the 6 brackets separately and then try to stack them. Again, you'll probably get good detail from the corona but aligning will be difficult. If you have time, you could try it out. The latter method (do 6 different HDR images then stack them) may be easier because you can do 2 of them and see how it works. I'll be uploading an updated video with 2024 data soon. I show how I double stack this method to get even better detail.

[@mdees88]

05:31 I'm trying to resize my layer but I do not have that toolbar at the top of my screen where you are typing in 100.5%. Where to get that from?

[@Naztronomy]

At 5:19, you'll see that I click the top transform square, when you do that, the option should appear. You can also do ctrl+T and that should bring up the transformation tools. And also edit >> transform >> and you can pick the type of transformation.

[@TeaMollie11]

I followed this and the only issue I have is a kind of ring or gradient of light around the moon that extends out to most of the corona, making it hard to brighten the image at all and hiding some detail, hoping i can fix it

[@Naztronomy]

You may benefit from doing this process on each layer. My guess is that you are seeing the halow from some of your brigthter exposures. I had that too so in the HDR image I posted in the community tab of my channel, I only use exposures up to 1s. When I get home, I'll do the method on each layer and see how that goes.

[@TeaMollie11]

@@Naztronomy Yeah it seems like a glare/halo extending pretty far out and making it pretty bad lol. I took the shots I needed to in order to make a stack by pure chance/luck and got photoshop just for this. Im used to stacking and editing other things like DSOs but not an eclipse

[@dhmccauley]

Aligning this way doesnt help with detail of the corona. For that you want to align using the prominences, not the moon, so the corona is aligned in all images. Of course youll have to use only one sun / moon image.

[@Naztronomy]

Good point, I just finished recording an update to this video with 2024 data. I do align on the prominences but it gets challenging on longer exposure images. But the end result still looks really good. Thanks for the feedback!

[@bradtem]

You do NOT want to align on the moon -- it's moving, and fast, typically a pixel every 2 seconds, relative to the corona and sun. You must align on prominences or the corona for best results

[@Naztronomy]

I just recorded a video doing the Pellett Method using 2024 data. I align on the prominences and I talk a little bit about the challenges you'd face aligning on them on longer exposures. End result looks great! I should have that video edited and uploaded soon. Thanks for the feedback! Please feel free to reach out if you have more.

[@bradtem]

@@Naztronomy Yes, the moon moves too much. I rapid fire my bracket at 9 frames/second but if you want >2 second exposures the moon will move on you

[@thePotatoGamer2]

Wouldn't resizing the image impact the alignment of the corona??

[@Naztronomy]

Not necessarily. If the images were taken quick enough in the same bracket, the corona will also scale and align. If you're shooting with the same gear, you shouldn't have to resize at all. My new 2024 data will show that when I publish the video in a few days. However for this video, since I was using someone else's data from 2017, I didn't have a choice but to resize.

[@thePotatoGamer2]

@@Naztronomy I used the same gear, but some of them had a slightly smaller sun/moon. But stretching them by like 1% worked perfectly! Great tutorial btw!

[@Naztronomy]

Ah very interesting! I wonder why. I'm still sifting through my pictures but I had two main setups and I haven't noticed any size differences. But glad stretching fixed it!

[@mattpenn3972]

In your longer exposures you are adjust the image scale... no, that's not correct! How could the image scale change? What is happening is that for the longer exposures the stray light along the lunar limb is larger, making the difference image appear as though the image scale has changed. Don't do this.

[@BrycetheyoungAstronomer]

Eclipses isn’t magical

[@LeoCurtss]

He's not saying they are literally magic. It's a figure of speech to describe something that appears amazing, impossible, or enchanting.