Thaipusam Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Hey, folks. Thanks for staying tune for this second post of the Thaipusam series.

……intro continued from last post……

Apart from carrying the pots of milk up to the Nattukkottai Chettiar Temple at Waterfall Road, there are devotees carries a Kavadi, semi-circular structure decorated with colored papers, tinsels, fresh flowers and fruits as a form of penance. Some devotees have entered a trance and have their cheeks, tongues and body pierced. Along the way to the hill temple before having their kavadis and skewers been removed, these bearers with chant “vel-vel” or “arohara”. “aro” is the shortened version of the word arogam which means blissful, and “hara” is another name for Lord Siva. Hence “arohara” means Blissful Siva.

These bearers have to endure the long hours of walk and slow steps up to the hilltop temple, like other devotees and visitors do. Patience played the main role during this festivity.

From the first post which I have captured the steps crowded with devotees and visitors talking their single step up to the hilltop temple. And here, the hill top temple over-looking the island, brightly lited with spot lights are well seen from afar. Devotees and visitors have to walk pass this track before coming to the doorstep of the temple and at the right side is the steps taking devotees and visitors back to the ground. And this image was taken at 5.00am.

I’ve observed several angles before having this shot taken, which composed the main temple and the movements of both devotees and visitors reaching the temple from the left and leaving the temple at the right. With no tripod in hand and limited area to stand my self, I've resort to captured this image hand-held

The image is saturated to bring the green garden to its exceptional color.

As usual, external flash (Nikon SB800) was used to lighten up the gardens and the devotees in the foreground while maintaining a slow speed exposure to include the temple from the top visible.

Merchanics.
mode : manual
speed value : 1/15s
aperture value : f/4.0
focal length : 18mm
flash : external flash, bounced.

Comments and critics are mostly welcome.

Thank you and good day to everybody.

weswang, pablominto, Fixfocus, andchew, jhm, Flavia, rabani, PJE, ChrisJ, thaprem, jrj, john_c, spence, gary91 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

pablominto (41458) 2006-03-07 2:45

Hello Eric,
Intriguing POV!
I like the composition with the movement in the diagonal... Good use of present lighting and fill flash in a fine exposure...
Regards,
Pablo -

Fixfocus (9377) 2006-03-07 14:07

Hello Eric,
It´s an excellent illustration to your interesting note.I like the three layers of the compo,the depth is really good here.Very nice how the lit temple stands out against the darkness.
Greetings,
Hermann

weswang (18223) 2006-03-07 19:13

Hi Eric, Indeed, I was looking forward to your post about the end of the line, the temple. This picture brings us closer to their destination. The warm colored temple made a nice contrast to the dark and cold colored environment. Nice capture the long, endless line.

andchew (476) 2006-03-08 5:43

Another great shot Bro. Nothing much to comment except by learning from you.

jhm (83446) 2006-03-08 8:15

Hi Eric,
Again a wonderful picture out of the series, absolutely not easy for make this image, I like the gold colours of the lighting, also the foreground is a colored with the flowers, lovely composition, good job
Best regards,
John.

Flavia (10202) 2006-03-08 8:44

Hi Eric,

5am is too early! Did you spend the night at the site? I like the result you got with the green garden, contrasting with the golden temple. I learn everytime I see your pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

Flavia

rabani (9429) 2006-03-08 20:01

My festival specialist. I liked your note. I felt guilty not reading it twice. I always in favor of the photographer that not only takes his time composing his shot, but studying the subject as well and sharing it with others. But I have a funny feeling you have a much closer shot of the lit temple yes :) If I was you, not only I would get this photo but get a much closer shot of the temple with the ascending devotees.

Have fun trekking Eric. Don't walk too fast. Take your time and shoot what is around you my friend. And I believed Mrs. Lai is also a photographer and an outdoor enthusiast. Or else she wouldn't be peakbagging. And a few days before coming to Sabah, email me.

PJE (19547) 2006-03-08 23:15

Eric the flare effects on the lights there really add a nice touch to the photo. I like how you captured natural light as in the top half of the frame and then added fill flash to add color to the bottom half of the scene. Excellent capture!

aloyho (6109) 2006-03-09 2:55

Hi Eric,
The radiating halos really catches our attention and acts as a good drawing force to your point of interest. The clear and beautifully coloured foreground adds much interest to the otherwise dark surrounding. You have taken the right course of action here. Well done!!! Have a nice day.

rabdelnoor (2973) 2006-03-12 9:46

Olá Eric,
Excellent capture from a very nice angle. The light and exposure is superb as your last posts. You captured well the enthusiasm of the people trying to reach the temple at this time on the morning. Thanks for sharing this picture and for writing so nice note.
My regards,
Ricardo

simplyoga (5184) 2006-03-14 3:28

Hi Eric,
You know it is not easy to do a night photo.. but you did it very well..
Nice photo !
PEACE,
Yoga

ChrisJ (70443) 2006-03-14 3:33

Hi Eric

I like the repetitive circles of confusion around the lens flare. A well managed time exposure, with good lighting, contrast, & sharpness. Congratulations!

thaprem (2498) 2006-03-14 7:24

Eric,
I am always scared about night shots in outdoor with lot of foreground objects in front of the actual subject...
Particularly, since the flash light bounces of the foreground object...Here, I can see that handled very well..A disadvantage turned into an advantage!...
The Relection from the lights make an ainteresting pattern!..Surrounding the large "Om" in Tamil...
Lord Subramanya, always celebrated as god of Tamils...Not just for Naatukottai chettiyars(Nagarathars), here plays a unifying role in multicultural environment!!!...
Wonderful.
Cheers,
Prem.

jrj (34779) 2006-03-14 10:26

Very good work and with a top result by combining the blitz with the artificial light. The effect from the lanterns on top is just amazing. Creative, interesting photo job E.

john_c (24635) 2006-03-15 13:53

Hi Eric,
A well composed shot taken from a pleasing low angle POV. The different layers in the photo are most interesting and compelling to the eye. The colourful lights combine with the dynamism of the people walking for a very effective scene. Very well captured, Eric. Regards.
John

spence (1679) 2006-03-15 23:29

Hi Eric. Your very low angle here seems to accentuate the striving of the devotees towards their goal. Your note is very interesting. Nice to see some context with the foliage at the bottom of the shot.

gary91 (15321) 2006-03-16 16:11

Hello Eric,
Very original point of view. Good use of wide angle and performance for getting this sharpness at 1/15s...
Maybe the fill flash is a little bit too visible.
Nice shot anyway.
Regards. Christian

xavshot (63137) 2006-03-21 14:29

Bonsoir Eric
vraiment pas facile de maitriser ce peu de lumière. C'est bien fait et le POV est excellent. Belle compo
amicalement
Xavier