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Adventures of an Eclipse Chaser: Do’s and Don’ts By Dr. Fritz Kleinhans
Abstract: I’ve had a good run of solar eclipse observing over the years with a total of six successful eclipses (5 total, 1 annular). My most recent was Tahiti, July 11, 2010. At these I’ve observed, shot film stills and movies, digital photos and videos, and observed (some more). Cameras ranged from a simple Point and Shoot digital to a 5” Celestron and observing has ranged from the naked eye to 30 x 77 mm binoculars. I’ve done a lot of things wrong, and a few things right. With the average eclipse lasting only 3 minutes or so, there are a lot of important decisions and planning to do ahead of time. I will share some of the things I’ve learned the HARD way. It is easy to plan to do too much, especially in the photography department. If I were only permitted one eclipse in my life time, I would concentrate on visual observing with the naked eye (yes!) and occasional peeks with a pair of hand held image stabilized binoculars. I would keep the photography simple. With modern photo gear a lot of this can be automated so as not to distract from observing. And I would rehearse several times all the visual effects I wanted to observe (shadow bands, bright stars and planets, shadow cone, etc). Don’t forget, ancient man was terrified of eclipses and he didn’t have any cameras or binoculars. If he had, he most likely would have been too busy screwing around with his equipment to actually experience and be terrified by the eclipse. Think about it 
And it’s not too early to start thinking about the 2017 and 2024 eclipses which you can easily drive to from home!
Who is this guy anyway?