Welcoming 2008 with a Bang!

Happy New Year people! Thank you very much for still tagging along for the ride all this time. To make the start of the year more lively, here is Makati City’s Countdown to 2008 held at Ayala Corner Makati Avenue. Just in front of Manila Peninsula Makati, where the recent Trillanes Standoff happened. So a couple of hours before the strike of midnight I headed up to Makati, the nearest vicinity where I could shoot some fireworks and scenes from the event itself.

New years eve is usually spent with the family at home. For a slight change, I decided to make a quick segue to Makati to a more public celebration. It was a quick ride from our place especially without the traffic, so I was able to still catch the feast when I got home. The venue has a very festive mood with some bands playing, laser light shows, booths and of course the lively crowds.

There were lots of interesting characters there. I was able to see a lot of foreigners watching the bands which isn’t surprising since this is Makati. Aside from the costumed mimes, I also saw an interesting guy like this one. I’m not sure if he’s a cosplayer since most of the time cosplay characters are Anime inspired. But this one seems to be a Micky Mouse fan donned in a Disney patterned Kimono with a Japanese umbrella. I disturbed the guy whose watching the band with his binoculars. When I asked if I could take his photo, he threw his umbrella up high and opened it and actually posed. hahaha. Amusing.

The crowd at the stage is quite manageable. I was able to squeeze in through since I’m meeting up with a fellow Olympus User here from OlyClub Philippines whose also there to shoot the fireworks. Since there are not that many Olympus users around here I spotted him with his camera held high. There are not too many Olympus SLRs here in the Phil yet so it’s easy to spot us in a crowd of Photographers.

I actually don’t like staying confined in a crowd like that so 30 minutes before midnight we headed out far from the crowd to have a larger view of the fireworks. It was a bit tricky trying to find a good spot here. Unlike Baywalk or Espalanade where there’s a wider field of view, Makati has a lot of buildings, trees and lamp post which can obstruct your view.

Not exactly knowing which direction the display would show, we positioned ourselves on top of a truck steady enough to use our tripods. Hoping we got a good view. Even before midnight there were already a number of fireworks in different directions. Colors just plashing along the skies. And when the clock struck 12, fireworks painted the sky of Makati. And we also realized the wind was blowing at our direction, bringing the smoke as well. Bad bad.

The fireworks display took around 10 minutes. And in those time, I tried experimenting on different setting. And I think I suck at shooting fireworks. hahaha. Some were too overexposed or just out of composition because of those buildings. Oh well, unlike last year’s World Pyro Olympics, you had several chance to shoot the fireworks.

I didn’t stay long after the fireworks finished. I could still hear the band, Kamikaze playing at stage but I was already hungry. I enjoyed my brief stay there and bid farewell to my companion who decided to shoot more of the event. When I got home they were still eating and we have a feast on our table. Thank God for that and hope we stay this bountiful all throughout the year of 2008.