Eyewitnesses watch solar eclipse at ABC7

GLENDALE, Calif. (KABC) -- The greater Los Angeles area didn't experience a total eclipse, but there was still plenty to see. We invited a group of loyal eyewitnesses to check out the Great American Eclipse on our ABC7 lawn!

The fleeting spectacle is something few will experience in their lifetime. For a group of ABC7 eyewitnesses, the rare moment of a solar eclipse was not lost.

"It looks pretty amazing. I don't think I've seen anything like this. Right now, the moon is coming down on top of the sun," said Dov Viramontes.

The ABC7 studios wasn't in the path of totality, but for a few minutes, the world seemed a few shades darker.

"It looks like a Cheshire cat smile from Alice in Wonderland," said Jane Brownsen.

Conserve Energy SoCal handed out safety glasses so that everyone got a protected glimpse. The eclipse also created a crescent shaped shadow of the sun on the pavement. That shadow was also captured in more ways than one.

"What does it look like? It's a dot in the background you can see the actual circle and you can see the actual eclipse," said Robert Gavela.

The historic event was so fleeting, to capture it on camera took skill.

"I don't want to damage the sensor on the camera so I'm going to try and use the glasses and get a couple of shots," said photographer Michael Zikry. Fellow photographer Viramontes used the glasses as a filter on his iPhone camera lens to snap a photo.

"I've just been putting the lens to the iPhone and just zooming in on the sun," he said.

No matter where or how they took it in, for a few moments they were one, under the sun.

"It's awesome to be part of this beautiful universe," Zikry said.