Today’s Consumer Alert takes a look at April 8 and your cell service. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event, and you may want to record it.

The big question: How do you record it safely and effectively?

You certainly don’t want to risk harming your vision. You want to get the best video possible, and you want to be able to fully experience the eclipse without being preoccupied with getting the shot just right.

The first thing you need to do is get a pair of glasses so you can enjoy the eclipse while you’re taping it.

Next, get a tripod to keep your shot steady.

Next, if you have a smart watch, use the app to start your video recording so you don’t have to fiddle with the camera.

You’ll want to increase the resolution of your camera by increasing your pixel size. If you have an iPhone, your default is likely 24. You’ll want to increase that to 48 megapixels. If you have a Samsung, depending on your phone you can go all the way up to 200 megapixels.

And lastly, you want to practice.

“Practice on the moon to make sure you have the distance set properly, because there’s different ranges within them — and get the proper zoom you want because there’s a difference between an optical zoom and a digital zoom; optical zoom is gonna give you the best picture,” said Bryan Rogers, AT&T manager and tech guru.

Using your optical zoom is easy. Go to your camera — you may have never noticed those tiny numbers on the right side of the picture. You’ll want to tap those numbers to zoom to preserve the quality and sharpness of your video.

With those tips, you’ll not only be able to enjoy the eclipse on April 8, but you’ll also be able to enjoy your video for years to come.