Photographer takes stunning picture of eclipse in Milton Keynes this morning

City photography expert Gill Prince was out at Campbell Wharf this morning to get a stunning photo of the solar eclipse.

She tool the shot at the peak Milton Keynes time of 11.13am.

"I used a 600mm lens and a 10 stop ND filter to protect my eyes," said Gill, who encourages other would-be snappers through her Facebook group called Photography in Milton Keynes.

The annular eclipse is a solar eclipse in which the moon’s antumbral shadow traverses earth. The moon is too far from earth to completely cover the sun so the sun appears as a bright ring surrounding the moon.

NASA has constructed a summary of all solar eclipses that will occur from 2021 through to 2030. The next ones eclipses will happen on 4 December 2021, 30 April 2022, 25 October 2022 and 20 April 2023.

Because the eclipse is so bright, people were warned to be careful when watching it this morning.

Some made their own pinhole viewer by using two pieces of white card. You can poke a small hole in one piece of card and when the eclipse is happening, stand with your back to the sun. Hold both cards up, with the one with the hole closer to the sun. The light through the pinhole will be projected onto the other piece of card, making the eclipse safe to view.

Alternatively, you can do similar thing with a cereal box. Make a pinhole in one edge, point it towards the sun and you’ll see a small image of the sun projected on the inside of the box.

But professional like Gill use special filters - and she was pleased with the way her photo turned out.

Gill offers commercial services, one-to-one tuition, photography workshops and stock images through her website www.gillprince.com .