Partial solar eclipse | Contributed photos
MOALBOAL, CEBU — Missed the annular eclipse last Sunday afternoon, June 21, 2020?
Worry not as people throughout the country witnessed this astronomical event and had it documented.
According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), an annular eclipse occurs when the moon is farthest from Earth. Because of this, the moon seems smaller and does not block the entire view of the sun, creating a “ring of fire” effect
Read: Partial ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse to be visible in PH on June 21
As expected, a lot of photographers captured its beauty with their cameras and solar filter.
In the Visayas, the eclipse was only partial as its eclipse obscuration only ranged from 52 to 66 percent.
But a lot were still able to document the eclipse.
Among them was John Reco Estrera, a freelance photographer from Maya, Daanbantayan northern Cebu.
Estrera, who started to fall in love with photography in 2018, said taking a good photo of the eclipse was not an easy feat.
“Challenging part kanang inig take nakos eclipse.. Kanang kainit sa adlaw wala koy makita hapit if mo tan aw kos landong.”
(The challenging part when I took some photos of the eclipse is the heat of the sun. It was hard to look at the shaded area due to the heat of the sun.)
When he finally took the photo of the eclipse, he said he was in awe by its beauty.
“I felt amazed…Naa napud koy ma puno sa akong collection of best shots.”
(I was amazed…[And] I have new photos to be added in my best shots collection.)
Estrera added that he was able to capture the eclipse with his manual camera settings — Focal length: 300mm; Aperture: f/36.0; ISO: 200; Expo time : 1/4000. He also used a neutral density filter with was set to maximum darkness.
Partial solar eclipse taken from Maya, Daanbantayan northern Cebu | Photo courtesy of John Reco Estrera
Creativity
For André Erasmo, a senior high school student from Daanbatayan, creativity and being resourceful was his key to capture his best photo of the eclipse.
Despite the lack of filter intended for taking solar eclipse, he was still unable to take some good shots of the astronomical event.
“What I did was use two sun glasses to make it a makeshift filter and taped it to my camera,” he said.
Erasmo, a freelance photographer, added that he started to take shots of the eclipse at 4 p.m. He captured his best shot during its peak at 4:28 p.m.
“I never thought nga sa ka luoy sa akong setup, inyato diay kanindot ang gawas,” he said.
(I never thought that even of I had a poor gear setup, I was able to take a good photo.)
His camera settings: Focal Length: 300mm; Aperture: f13; Exposure time: 1/3200; ISO: 100
Partial solar eclipse taken from Daanbantayan northern Cebu | Photo courtesy of André Erasmo
Patience
In Ormoc City, a freelance photographer also took some good photos of the astronomical event.
Charles Chamberlaine Igot told CDN Digital that he decided to document the partial solar eclipse after he knew about it through the news.
The 26-year-old Igot also said that patience was his key ingredient to capture his best shot of the eclipse.
“Because mag depend ra gyud na sa weather like ganina na cloudy, some will get discouraged and di nalng mu-wait but if you wait, maka capture gyud kag perfect timing” he added.
“Because it also depends on the weather. Like that time, it was cloudy. Some people would get discouraged and won’t wait. But if you wait, you would able to capture it in perfect timing.)
Here’s his camera settings: Shutter speed: 1/1000; Apperture: f16; ISO: 50; ND filter: 16 stops; Focal length: 200mm
Partial solar eclipse taken from Ormoc City | Photo courtesy of Charles Chamberlaine Igot
Meanwhile, in the northern island of Bantayan, Cebu, a young photographer also had his solar eclipse experience documented.
Mark Lester Cordova, 24, a seafarer by profession and a freelance photographer from Barangay Baod, Bantayan, Cebu, shared his documented photo of the rare solar eclipse phenomenon.
“I’m so glad I got this photo of the solar eclipse. I don’t have any solar filters so I used negatives films and I’m happy with the dramatic results. This is as far as I can get before clouds completely obstructed my view,” said Cordova.
He said that it just took him a couple of minutes to take the photo and was glad about the outcome of the photo which he said that he will be cherishing forever.
He used his DSLR camera for taking his beautiful shot of the solar eclipse.
The photo was posted on Sunday, evening June 21 and as of Monday, June 22, now has 241 shares and 801 reactions. /bmjo
Photo from Mark Cordova