I was about to leave the office yesterday when I got a message Froilan Gallardo asking me join them to shoot the lunar eclipse. I told him I had to go home first because I had to leave Sophie at my pad. But then I decided to bring Sophie so that she could also “witness” the total lunar eclipse (as if she understands it).

So they picked me up at the office at 6pm then we dropped Carol Arguillas first at the Mindanews’ office and we went straight to the Davao Baywalk — it’s where the infamous the Statue of David is erected. I was a bit excited because t’was my first time to shoot the eclipse. I had no idea how to shoot it. I told Froilan that he should have told me earlier because I could have read some tips on the internet :-) Worse, he only brought one tripod!

We were frustrated when we arrived at the baywalk because of the bright mercury lamps. And the kids were annoying and I can’t just leave Sophie elsewhere. So I had to carry her along with my camera — on my left arm is my camera while on the right arm is Sophie. I looked so funny, I guess.

We decided to look for another spot where it’s pretty dark. We ended up at the viewdeck on the way to the Matina Shrine Hills. We were expecting some expectators there, especially photographers. But then we were the only ones there! Froilan quickly setup his video camera…but after few minutes, he quit recording the eclipse because of some techinical problems. So we decided to shoot still images, then.

Davao City at night as seen from Matina Shrine Hills.

Roxanne returned to GSIS homes to pickup Carol, Charina and her son. We were starving but we couldn’t just leave, we don’t want to miss the moment. While I was shooting, Sophie was also trying to get my attention. So I had to carry her. While aiming at the moon, I am also holding her in my right arm.

At around 8pm, Carol and Charina arrived at the viewdeck. Minutes later, ABS-CBN crew stopped and asked: “Nganong diha man mo?” We just ignored the, we believed that we’re on the right spot. Charina’s son Zandro (I hope I spelled it right), played with Sophie while we were busy shooting. Then alsk told his mom that he also wants to have a puppy. Then they kept on asking where did I get Sophie….But that’s another story:-)

I could hardly get a good picture. I don’t know how to shoot eclipse or the nightscapes. I kept on experimenting. Another factor is my lens, I don’t have the best lens. I have a telephoto lens but it’s not the good one.

Before 9pm, ABS-CBN crew arrived and took footages. We thought they will simply took footages of us. But then they also setup their camera and aimed at the moon! We thought they wont believe that it was one of the right spots to shoot the eclipse. I was not able to take pictures of the crew because my camera is locked on the tripod.

I was taking photos of the city, not the moon. Look at the lens, too short to capture the eclipse. Photo by Froilan Gallardo

Around 9pm, we left and went to Mindanews’ office to view our images. I was excited. But then I expected more bad images than good ones. But then this image landed at Yahoo hahahaha!

Reason why they used my photo, because it’s cloudy over Manila. So Bobby Ranoco of Reuters asked me to send my photos. Not a good photo but better than no photo at all. :-) It was a great experience and I was able to record that pretty rare moment.

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