If you want to take photos of a solar eclipse with your iPhone, your big chance is on April 8th. You can capture a total solar eclipse in the eastern United States and a partial solar eclipse in all 48 contiguous states of the United States. But remember: a solar eclipse is one of the most challenging things to photograph, you don’t get many chances, and even the best iPhone photo of a solar eclipse can’t match the effort of a professional photographer. Still, an amateur with an iPhone can take pretty good shots of a solar eclipse with the right preparation.

I’m sure you already know that looking directly at a solar eclipse can permanently damage your vision, and you may have heard that the bright light can also damage camera sensors. That’s true for some cameras, but your iPhone should be fine, says Apple.

That said, if you want to get a nice shot of the sun being swallowed up by the moon’s shadow, pulling out an iPhone with a bare lens isn’t the best option. For best results, you’ll need to do a little bit of preparation and maybe buy some gear.

If you don’t have one, it won’t damage your phone, but a solar filter will result in better eclipse images. You don’t need to buy expensive equipment: disposable glasses that protect your eyes during an eclipse will work on your phone lens, and they’re cheap enough that buying an extra pair of glasses (so you can stick the filter to your lens) is a trivial expense. This will eliminate the glare that can ruin any photo of the sun.