BROOKFIELD, Wis. — Excitement over the eclipse is growing. It is now just a day away. 

What You Need To Know

  • Photographers need to have a solar filter in order to capture the eclipse

  • Lack of a filter could cause permanent damage to your camera

  • It's also recommended to have a tripod

People might be curious about how they can capture the unique moment.

Jeffrey Dobbs is the general manager at Mike Crivello’s Cameras in Brookfield. Like many, he’s looking forward to Monday’s eclipse.

He had the chance to photograph the 2017 total solar eclipse, which was his first time capturing something of this nature.

“I enjoyed going, and I enjoyed seeing it,” Dobbs said. “It was amazing. I ended up with a couple of pretty good pictures.”

He traveled to southern Illinois to snap the images. Dobbs said it was an incredible experience.

“It was one of the most amazing sights I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. “The feeling you get, and everything seems to stop, and you have 360 degrees of the sunset around you and it’s a beautiful thing to see.”

Seven years later, he’s had a lot of customers interested in learning how to photograph the eclipse. Dobbs said the main thing people need to know is that they need a solar filter. Without one, it can harm the camera, just as looking directly at the eclipse can hurt your eyes.

“On a digital camera, you could probably damage the sensor of the camera because it isn’t meant to take that amount of light at one time,” Dobbs said.

That kind of damage can be costly. In addition to the filter, Dobbs recommended a tripod to keep things stable. Once a person is ready to get the shot, have the filter on while the sun is out.

“As soon as it is completely covered, you can take off the filter, and you can shoot a picture just like normal,” Dobbs said. “You get a really remarkable result. As soon as the sun starts coming back out, you should certainly put a filter back on it so that you don’t damage your camera.”

With luck, he said it will be the perfect picture.

Dobbs said he and his team are happy to answer any questions or have eclipse photos printed. He said he hopes everyone enjoys getting to see a rare sight like this.

“I think it’s one of those things that you remember for the rest of your life,” Dobbs said.

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