The total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026, will bring thousands of photographers to a narrow path of totality through eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain. For many, it will be their first opportunity to witness totality, the brief period when the moon completely covers the sun and reveals its delicate corona, a wonder of nature that normally remains hidden by sunlight.Some first-time eclipse chasers heading to the path of totality pack expensive gear they've never used before, hoping to capture expert-level images without any preparation. Others just take a smartphone. Guess who usually comes back with the best images? Practice and rehearsal or simplicity are key. Remember, you should never look at the sun directly without specialist solar equipment (unless you are in totality), or you risk permanent damage to your sight.Preparing for totalityPhotographing a solar eclipse is unlike photographing anything else. Solar safety matters, exposure changes dramatically, and totality lasts only a few precious minutes. Despite that, memorable eclipse photographs can be taken with almost any camera. The best approach depends on your equipment, your experience and what kind of memory you want to bring home.However, you don't need to stand in the path of totality to photograph some of the event. Across much of Europe, a deep partial eclipse will occur near sunset, with more than 90% of the sun obscured in many locations. In northeastern North America, observers will see a smaller partial eclipse during the afternoon. While neither experience matches the drama of totality, both offer opportunities for striking photography.1. Take a souvenir shot through eclipse glassesA souvenir shot of the partial phase can be taken through eclipse glasses or solar viewers. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)To watch any partial solar eclipse, you'll need a pair of eclipse glasses or solar viewers; the former you wear and the latter you look through. Either works well as a solar filter for a smartphone. Simply wrap some eclipse glasses around your phone's camera lens or hold a solar viewer in front, and you can take basic images of a partial eclipse. The way to get more than just a rough souvenir shot is to put your smartphone on a tripod or purchase a Solar Snap, which not only provides a solar filter that attaches to your phone with Velcro but also includes an app that zooms in on the eclipse. If you want pinpoint sharpness without having to spend too much or travel with much gear, get yourself a smart telescope like the ZWO SeeStar S30 Pro, DwarfLab Dwarf Mini or Vanois Vespera Pro.2. Use a smartphone during totalityYou can get a great image of totality using just a smartphone. (Image credit: Getty Images)If you're traveling to Greenland, Iceland or Spain to see the total solar eclipse, take a simple smartphone photograph during totality. A smartphone cannot compete with a camera's zoom lens for close-up detail, but it's perfect for recording a wide view of the landscape you're in. In Greenland and Iceland, the eclipsed sun will hang about 25 degrees above the western horizon, making it possible to include fjords, volcanic landscapes or distant mountains in the frame. In Spain, where totality occurs late in the day, the low altitude of the sun offers opportunities to photograph the eclipse above villages, church towers, castles and mountain ridges. Before the eclipse, switch off auto-flash and enable RAW images if your phone offers them. Burst mode works well as does filming the event in 4K from a tripod and extracting stills later. 3. Take a wide-angle shot during totalityA manual camera and a wide-angle lens work well during totality. (Image credit: Getty Images)Many photographers using a manual mirrorless or DSLR camera become obsessed with the corona and forget that the eclipse affects the entire environment. The resulting images often feel disconnected from the actual experience. A well-composed landscape photograph can communicate the atmosphere of totality far more effectively. The image above was shot by expert eclipse photographer Alan Dyer, author of How to Capture the Coming Solar Eclipses, in Teton Valley, Wyoming, during the Aug. 21, 2017, total solar eclipse. It was shot with a Canon 6D and a 14mm SP Rokinon lens at f/25 for 1/10 second at ISO 100. It's one shot from a 700-frame time-lapse and was taken just as totality began, moments after the diamond ring ended, and the dark shadow of the moon is approaching from the west.4. Capture crescent sunsShadows showing crescent suns can be imaged on people's faces during a partial solar eclipse. (Image credit: Jamie Carter)When a partial solar eclipse reaches about 50% something it will only do in extreme northeast Canada and Europe on Aug. 12, 2026 it's possible to project crescent suns through anything with defined holes. It works really well through a colander or spaghetti spoon. By projecting crescent suns onto the floor, the walls and people around you, unique portrait images of eclipse chasers can be created. Unlike photographs of the corona, which thousands of people will capture, photographs like this, which document the human experience of an eclipse, can be really special.Read: Astrotourism, dark-sky and Northern Lights travel essentials5. Take a close-up of the solar coronaA close-up of the solar corona is the aim of many eclipse chasers. (Image credit: Getty Images)This is the classic eclipse photography setup and the one most commonly used by experienced eclipse chasers though it demands some serious equipment, commitment and practice. A camera fitted with a telephoto lens between 200mm and 600mm provides enough magnification to reveal detail in the corona while remaining portable enough for travel. At 400mm, the eclipsed sun fills a useful portion of the frame. At 600mm, the corona becomes significantly more prominent and fine detail begins to emerge. Lenses like the Canon RF 200-800mm f/6.3-9 IS USM, Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS and SIGMA 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport would be good options.Focus carefully on the partially eclipsed sun through a solar filter, and leave the focus untouched thereafter. With a camera set to ISO 100 and f/5-f/8 aperture, exposure bracketing is essential because the corona spans an enormous range of brightness. Automated exposure sequences, or bracketing, allow photographers to capture multiple exposure levels to combine later, if desired. It's always best to rehearse in advance; the excitement of totality very often leads to basic errors the classic being leaving the solar filter on during totality.6. Shoot a close-up sequence of the eclipseA composite view of various stages of a total solar eclipse. (Image credit: Getty Images)If you want to shoot a sequence throughout the entire solar eclipse that shows all of the various stages, you need to be in position, ready to take images as soon as first contact occurs, and stay there until fourth contact. Since the size of the sun won't be huge in your finished image, you don't need a huge telephoto lens. Instead, concentrate on imaging the partial eclipse at very specific times before and after totality, so that you can produce a mirror image on either side of an image of the solar corona.7. Shoot a wide-angle sequence of the eclipseA sequence of a total solar eclipse over Lac Brome, in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada, on April 8, 2024. (Image credit: Getty Images)A wide-angle eclipse sequence is a different kind of image, showing not just the changing shape of the sun, but the landscape. Start with a base exposure taken during totality, when the eclipsed sun sits in a darkened twilight sky, then layer in the partial phases at regular intervals from first contact to fourth contact. The result can show the sun's path across the sky, the moon appearing to bite across it in the opposite direction, and even bright planets nearby. It's a powerful way to tell the whole story of an eclipse in one frame, especially if you include water, mountains, people or a dramatic horizon. Dyer's image above is a single exposure taken with a Canon EOS Ra and a Canon RF15-35mm lens at ISO 125, f/2.8 and 1/6s. The partial phases were photographed every five minutes from start to finish of the eclipse.Read: Best lenses for astrophotography 2026

As recently as 2019, U.S. military health researchers had concerns about testosterone levels among the troops. Their worries were not that male service members didn't have enough of the hormone, as current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fears. Instead, experts worried about the troops' inappropriate use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), the practice of using injectables or gels to increase a person's circulating testosterone. "Out of every 1,000 male service members, almost 3 are inappropriately receiving TRT," researchers wrote in a report published on Health.mil, the military's health system website. (That report is available on the Wayback Machine.) This could lead to harmful side effects, the report authors noted."Those being inappropriately treated may experience adverse effects of the medication," including obstructive sleep apnea and edema, the report continued. TRT may worsen sleep apnea and cause swelling in the limbs from water retention. "These adverse effects have the potential to impact deployability and medical readiness." In short, supplementing testosterone unnecessarily could reduce military readiness, rather than boost it, per the report authors. Now, in a reversal of these concerns, more service members might find themselves offered TRT in the wake of a new military policy announced July 15 by the Department of Defense. It states that all active-duty and reserve service members' testosterone levels will be tested annually starting at age 30. It is unclear how the policy might affect female service members. Live Science contacted the Department of Defense, which declined to answer questions about the expected testing protocol or criteria for offering service members TRT.Such an initiative goes well beyond what medical organizations recommend regarding hormone screening for men, experts told Live Science. And while the screening could catch some service members who actually need treatment, the policy might also lead to overtreatment and, in turn, unwanted side effects."One of my big, big concerns around this is, how are these tests going to be conducted?" said Luke Cox, a lecturer in sport and exercise science at Swansea University in the U.K. who studies performance-enhancing drugs, including steroidal hormones like testosterone. Testosterone and military readinessTestosterone has strong cultural connections with hypermasculinity. As the primary hormone responsible for the development of male sexual characteristics, it's been associated with concepts of strength, aggression and virility. Hegseth continued this pattern by tying the hormone to military readiness in a video announcing the policy change. "[I]t's about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, projecting your longevity and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight," Hegseth said. That rhetoric aligns with promises made in advertisements for TRT, which pitch testosterone as a tool to "attain that higher level of living," Cox told Live Science. The clinical trial data is more circumspect, however. In men with genuinely low circulating testosterone levels often defined as lower than 300 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL) TRT does have benefits. (This 300 ng/dL threshold isn't the universal definition for "low testosterone," as not everyone below that line has troubling symptoms. We'll unpack that later.) Much of the clearest evidence of benefit is for sexual symptoms: In a large clinical trial, men with low testosterone saw increased sexual desire and sexual activity, such as masturbating or having sex, after TRT. For men whose levels are not low, additional supplementation hasn't been shown to have a clear benefit in the bedroom. TRT has been shown to improve mood and reduce depressive symptoms in men with low testosterone, and in older men, it's also been shown to improve bone density. Boosting testosterone also boosts muscle mass in middle-aged and older men. One side effect of TRT is that it often dramatically lowers sperm count, because supplementing testosterone prompts the body to stop making it in the testes. (Image credit: SCIEPRO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)Most of this research has been done on men over age 40, because testosterone naturally declines with age. Low testosterone is rarer in younger men, although exact estimates of its prevalence vary. Estimates also vary among older age groups, but a large study called the European Male Ageing Study found that 0.1% of 40- to 49 year-olds had low testosterone, along with symptoms such as fatigue or low sexual desire. That number rose to 5.1% among those in their 70s. In 2024, 42.8% of active-duty military members, including men and women, were 25 and younger. Only 8.3% were 41 or older. But the prevalence of low testosterone is generally on the rise, said Dr. Joshua Halpern, chief scientific officer and regional medical director at Posterity Health and a reproductive urologist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.It will be very important for them and their physicians to understand the risks of treatment and the alternatives that may be more appropriate for preserving their fertility.Dr. Joshua Halpern, Posterity Health and Northwestern University's Feinberg School of MedicineStudies suggest that testosterone levels are lower, on average, in young men today than they were in the year 2000. Scientists have theorized that this trend may stem from increases in body mass index, as well as other factors, such as sedentary lifestyles, changing diets and exposure to environmental toxins, according to a 2020 article in Urology Times."While active service members are typically among the healthiest of men, and therefore at lower risk for testosterone deficiency, a significant proportion of service members could have a low testosterone number," Halpern told Live Science. "But that doesn't necessarily mean they should receive treatment."Treating with testosteroneThere is no universal testosterone level that is definitively "too low." The cutoff of 300 ng/dL is based on the point at which symptoms of low testosterone such as fatigue, low libido and poor mood tend to present themselves. However, some men have no problems associated with low or low-to-normal numbers. Plus, testosterone doesn't act in isolation. In fact, some symptoms of "low T" in aging men may actually arise from low estrogen, which stems from these individuals' declining testosterone levels. That's because the male body converts a portion of its total testosterone into estrogen. The two hormones normally work together to regulate sexual desire and erectile function, while estrogen specifically regulates fat accumulation, studies suggest. There is also a broad range of "normal," running from around 300 to 1,000 ng/dL. For that reason, the American Urological Association recommends testing only if a man is experiencing symptoms that point to low testosterone. "Making a diagnosis of testosterone deficiency in the absence of signs and/or symptoms increases the likelihood of making a false diagnosis and reduces the potential benefit of testosterone therapy," the association's guidelines state. Testosterone also has a complicated role in the body. It can affect mood, energy and bone health, but the hormone itself can also be affected by health conditions and lifestyle factors. Studies suggest that intense periods of physical training can temporarily suppress testosterone in military members. That finding tracks with civilian studies that have found that levels can shift dramatically based on people's recent sleep and exercise. That's why doctors recommend two separate blood tests, both taken in the morning, before diagnosing low testosterone. This helps to ensure that a person's levels are consistently in a low range. In some cases, it may be that the best treatment isn't TRT but rather an approach that addresses the underlying health conditions that are affecting testosterone levels. This might include assessing whether a patient has sleep apnea and treating it if they do, for example. Meanwhile, pushing testosterone levels too high can lead to erythrocytosis, an overconcentration of red blood cells that can bring a risk of blood clots and stroke. What constitutes "too much" varies person to person. Due to some testosterone being converted into estrogen, too-high levels can also lead to unwanted side effects like breast growth in some men on TRT.Related storiesMen have a daily hormone cycle and it's synced to their brains shrinking from morning to nightBlood thickening tied to gender-affirming testosterone is rareOne-third of trans people taking testosterone may still ovulate, raising chance of pregnancyThe other major side effect of TRT is that testosterone replacement shuts off the body's own production of testosterone in the testes. TRT only raises the level of testosterone circulating in the blood, not in the testes where sperm production takes place. Sensing the testosterone in the bloodstream, the brain suppresses its production in the testes, thus diminishing or stopping sperm production. This can cause infertility, and sperm production may take several years to recover after a person stops TRT."[F]or young service members who are found to have low testosterone, it will be very important for them and their physicians to understand the risks of treatment and the alternatives that may be more appropriate for preserving their fertility," Halpern said. Meanwhile, a federal judge has questioned the treatment program. An ongoing lawsuit against the federal government's ban on transgender troops states that "the Armed Forces must adhere to high mental and physical health standards ... without the benefit of routine medical treatment or special provisions." The judge raised questions about how the TRT that will be offered to cis men differs from that which transgender men would use.This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.

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