Capturing the Total Eclipse on film with Malachi Mackenzie

On April 20th 2023, Malachi Mackenzie and his best mate Ross King were set up to capture the Solar Eclipse in totality in Exmouth, Western Australia - armed with a Mamiya 645 Pro TL and a 500mm prime lens and 5 months of planning behind them. This celestial event was one to remember with hours of the moon moving across the face of the sun and the eclipse in its totality for 58 seconds.

Here are some questions we asked the photographer about his experience shooting his first eclipse and why he shot it on film!

What made you want to shoot the solar eclipse and why on film?

”I’ve always had a deep interest surrounding our cosmic environment. Having the opportunity to bear witness and even try to shoot such an extraordinary and unique celestial coincidence was something I couldn’t pass upon, particularly occurring so close to home.

I’ve never really used a digital camera so after spending a few years getting my head around the format of film, it’s just what feels most natural at this current point of time. This was my first time shooting a 120-format camera, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give the more detailed format a whirl.

I also felt it would be pretty unique to capture the experience on film due to it not being too common these days. I couldn’t find much info about an eclipse being captured on film so I guess that just made me more keen to give it a crack.”

How long were you planning the trip/getting gear together?

I heard word about the eclipse many years beforehand and made the unofficial decision to be there for it however I never made any concrete plans until 5 or so months prior.

Many bits and bobs were accumulated over time which I knew would be somewhat fun, yet worthy to try shoot the eclipse with. Although I didn’t test any of it until maybe a week before heading north haha.

What setup did you use?

The gear I used was my Mamiya 645 Pro TL and a 500mm prime lens with a homemade solar filter/ramen cup contraption so I didn’t burn my eyes out - all mounted on Luke’s trusty tripod.

The film I used to capture the marvel at hand was the glamorous Kodak Ektar 100.

I also had my Sony Hi8 VHS Handycam set up on a separate tripod for some cinematic action.

“Mamiya 645 Pro TL and a 500mm prime lens with a homemade solar filter/ramen cup contraption so I didn’t burn my eyes out - all mounted on Luke’s trusty tripod.” - Shot on 35mm Cinestill 400D

What obstacles (if any) did you face whilst shooting?

All thanks to my undue faith in my online photography-orientated purchases, I only realised my camera’s metering was faulty a week before leaving. With only a brief 50 seconds to try and capture the eclipse in totality, I was doubtful the snaps would work out without the right visual and exposure feedback. Even after taking the shots, I was 80% sure the results would be unsatisfactory.

A huge thank you to Rob for lending his hand-held light meter to save the majority of my shots from being exposed incorrectly throughout the whole trip!

What was your favourite part/ moment during this experience?

The whole trip was an incredible experience. Floating around our campsite and yarning with some of the die-hard eclipse chasers was super fun and intriguing.

During the eclipse itself, I was juggling between both my camcorder and Mamiya, trying to make sure the framing was all good and running through different exposure settings with my camera’s self-timer. It wasn’t until 30 seconds into the total eclipse I looked up and to see the spectacle with my own eyes. You can hear me gasping some M-rated words in the camcorder audio at this point haha.

The total eclipse has been the most peculiar spectacle I’ve ever immersed myself in. Even for the sub-minute we got to experience the totality, it’s now easy to understand why some people spend their whole lives chasing these beautiful phenomena. It’s something I’ll hopefully be sure to experience many more times in my life. I’d encourage everyone to try and lay their eyes upon this mystical display at least once.

Also, most importantly. Did you eat the noodles from the noodle cup?

My good mate and photo wizard, Ross King had the privilege of polishing off the noodles to allow the glorious - high-end contraption to be assembled.

This shot was chosen as part of our ‘Silver Fox’ collaboration with Fox Lab Fine Art - this print initiative is sponsored by ILFORD. Thank you to Tyson at Fox Lab for providing a consistent high quality printing service and to ILFORD for helping us encourage emerging artists to turn their photographs into print.

These images were scanned on our industry standard Fuji Frontier SP3000 and Noritsu 1700SA scanners.