Photographer's Guide to Timelapsing a Solar Eclipse in Northern Spain

In August 2026, a photographer traveled to northern Spain to capture a timelapse of the total solar eclipse, a departure from the typical single-frame approach. The choice of Spain over Iceland was influenced by an astronomer friend's warning about Iceland's likely overcast weather. Despite concerns about wildfires and air quality, the location proved acceptable. The photographer scouted a vantage point near Tabanera de Cerrato, a village north of Madrid, finding a hill with a radio tower and a view of windmills that would frame the setting sun. Using a Fujifilm X-H2 with a 40-megapixel sensor and a Fujifilm XF150-600mm lens, the photographer planned to manage extreme exposure changes and the Earth's rotation. They brought two ND filters (1,000 and 100,000 stops) and two teleconverters, ultimately opting for the 1,000 ND filter and no teleconverter to avoid rapid frame movement. Manual exposure was chosen over auto, leading to challenges in post-processing, but a script helped stabilize the sequence by interpolating the sun's disc. The photographer noted that a motion-control rig would be beneficial for future attempts and that auto exposure would have been smoother for LRTimelapse's Holy Grail method. The experience yielded valuable lessons despite imperfections.