06/19/2023
This is Bill Harmon. He is the father of Jeff Nova, the curious little boy in the photo, who eventually grew taller and became founder here at Colorhythm! (And an all around really good human.)
Jeff and his father are at the Indie 500 together in that photo, in Tucson, AZ!
Jeff’s dad, Bill Harmon, was an astrophotographer, a Nikon executive and camera specialist and Products Manager at Ehrenreich Photo-Optical Industries!
He had the distinct honor of training astronauts on three Apollo missions, on how to use the Nikon cameras on the moon! Head in the stars, his son, Jeff, would often pour through the hundreds of photography books in their home, and together they enjoyed a little show called, “Nova,” on PBS.
The family often travelled, as Bill helped introduce the Nikon camera to the world, and in an interview while in New York in 1970, he teaches how to properly and safely photograph an eclipse on film.
Saturday March 7, 1970 [El Paso Times]
GARDEN CITY, NY — “Thousands of photographers will be looking to the sky Saturday, as one of the rarities of the 20th century for the U.S. takes place — a solar eclipse. It will be seen most completely on the East Coast. But shooting a solar eclipse can be dangerous unless proper precautions are taken, according to William Harmon, Nikon Products manager, Ehrenreich Photo-Optical Industries, Inc., who is also an astrophotographer.
Before going into the basic photographic technique involved in shooting the eclipse, Harmon, in a recent interview, warned that serious eye damage can result from direct viewing of the sun. Both people and cameras need protection.
Harmon pointed out that viewing the eclipse with at least a 6.00 ND neutral density filter (not to be confused with 6X) is required for eye protection, whether looking at the sun directly or through a camera. You can make one, according to Harmon, by fogging unexposed black-and-white film (exposing it to light) and then processing it normally.
Color film cannot be used. Two fogged and processed pieces are taped together to form the filter. The filter is used for looking at the sun directly with the eye, or placed over the lens of through-the-lens viewing cameras, or over the finder of cameras having separate finder systems, when framing and focusing.
But while silver particles in the photo film screen out infra-red rays, they also diffuse the image. For actual photography, you need a regular photographic 6.00 ND neutral density filter on the lens. Never point a camera at the sun without one of the filters over the lens . With separate finder cameras , keep the photo filter not eh lens at all times, as well as the the home-made film filter on the viewfinder front element. The light must be screened before it reaches any optic.
The camera should be tripod-mounted for sharpest results and greatest image control. Exposure depends on cloud cover and film used. However, the following exposure information can serve as a basis, according to Harmon.
ASA 25 films: 1-30 sec. at f-8
ASA 50-64 films: 1-30 sec between f-11 and f-16
ASA 100-125 films: 1-60 sec. at f-8
ASA 200-250 films: 1-125 sec. at f-8
ASA 320-400 films: 1-250 sec. at f-8
It’s a good idea, according to Harmon, to bracket exposures, shooting at larger and smaller aperatures.
The exposure data is based on use of the 6.00 ND neutral density filters. However, when the eclipse reaches totality— the moon completely covering the sun — remove the filter and give 32X more exposure. For example, if you’ve been shooting at 1-30sec. At f-8, shoot at 1 sec. At f-8.
If you use a 50mm or longer lens, pan or track with the sun to keep it centered during the approximate one hour of the eclipse.
Special effects shooting can result in exciting images. According to Harmon, under-exposing at totality records the prominence (eruptions arising from the sun) on film.
Over-exposing records the corona. You can also multiple expose to record several phases of the eclipse on a single negative — spacing the shots about ten minutes apart, for instance.”
Bill gifted his son a very special telescope before he passed, to keep looking up to the stars and his insatiable love for the science of image making still lives in Jeff, years later, as CEO of Colorhythm, a photo retouching and software company in San Francisco.
Wishing everyone a very Happy Father’s Day!!
