I can still remember it was back in 1988 when I was a kid when I witnessed a partial eclipse here in Manila. I remember my parents telling me not to look directly in the sun. I had to rely on multiple strips of film negatives or looking on the surface reflection on the water. Fast forward to July 22 2009, the world have experienced one of the longest solar eclipse. The Total solar eclipse was see in India and China. But here in the Philippines we get to see a Partial Solar Eclipse.
I wasn’t really sure if we’ll be able to see the Partial Solar Eclipse here in Metro Manila since the sky was cloudy and would often times cover the sun. So morning I quickly commuted to a friend’s place in Makati and went to the rooftop of their building to try to capture the Partial Solar Eclipse which would peak around 9:43am.
I decided to bring along my Olympus E-520 and my longest tele the Zuiko 70-300mm which is equal to 140-600mm. Still it was a bit tricky to take shot of the sun at full intensity. Thank god for Live View I didn’t have to always look through the viewfinder as it may damage my eyes. But I wished I had brought the E-3 along for that faster Shutter Speed since the E-520 could only go as fast as 1/4000.
Most of the good shots I had were taken at Shutter Speeds of 1/4000 with aperture on f22 with focus set on Manual Infinity. I had to thank the passing clouds as well for helping diffuse the light a bit. But I think stacking an ND and Polarizer Filter would have helped decrease the light intensity of the sun.
I was quite happy to have witnessed and capture this grand astrological event as the next Eclipse with a duration this long would not be for another 123 years or June 13, 2132. There will be however another Partial Solar Eclipse in the Philippines on January 2010. Another Total Eclipse will happen on the nearby Indonesia in March 9 2016 which will also be seen as a Partial Solar Eclipse here in the Philippines.
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