SEATTLE — Ahead of the solar eclipse across the United States on Aug. 21, doctors are warning people of the dangers of shielding their eyes improperly or just trying to take a photo.
Dr. Russell Van Gelder, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Washington and director of the UW Medicine Eye Institute, showed how the sun can burn a person’s eye in seconds.
>> Related: Everything to know about the partial eclipse passing over Western Washington today
“You can cause irreversible damage that can lead to lifelong blindness,” he said.
He said the Seattle area will get about a 90 percent eclipse of the sun. If people want to watch, they need special glasses. The glasses should be made by vendors on the American Astronomical Society's list, not just any seller online who can make a replica, and the glasses should have a special stamp.
“You have to look for the stamp that says ISO 12312-2. That's the international certification that these are safe to use in the eclipse,” Van Gelder said. “If you don't see this, I wouldn’t trust the glasses.”
At Glazer's Camera store in South Lake Union, glasses and camera protection are flying off the shelves.
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“We're almost sold out of a lot of the filter sizes and you really have to use that filter on your camera to protect your camera,” Kate Hailey said. She runs workshops and events for Glazer’s and told KIRO 7 they’ve run three workshops on eclipse photography that have all been standing room only.
“There's not enough supply to meet the demand,” she said.
And when it comes to our obsession with posting these moments to social media, Van Gelder said, people need to protect the camera on their phone.
>> Related: How to photograph the solar eclipse with your smartphone
“For cellphones you can actually burn out your camera sensor by pointing it directly at the sun,” he said. He advises people cut an extra pair of solar eclipse glasses in half and tape the filter part over the camera’s lens.
“That's how you protect your sensor,” he said.
He also said if people are looking at the eclipse through a camera or telescope, they must still wear the proper eyewear.
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