A statue of Buddha photographed at the Thai Chetawan Temple. This PJ landmark was officially opened by His Majesty King Bhumiphol and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand in 1962. The shimmering background is actually out-of-focus shiny roof tiles.
Buddha means The Awakened One or The Enlightened One.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f11, 1/1600 sec.
The Chief High Priest of Malaysia, The Most Venerable Datuk K Sri Dhamamaratana (center in orange robes) leading the 15 km Wesak Day procession through the city.
In the past, I have followed “The Chief” to photograph his many charity missions and was glad to be able to catch up with him at his office in the Buddhist Maha Vihara earlier. The busy man has a great sense of humour and reads my photoblog (occasionally). 🙂
Photography Note: There is only a tiny window of about 10 minutes when the fading blue sky and building lights combine beautifully. I was able to stress this point to the chief many years ago. Somehow, many owners of landmarks wait until the sky is pitch black before switching on the lights.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f4, 1/30 sec with FL-50R Flash.
Only if your camera and flash are water-resistant, do you challenge the monks up on stage with “Bring it on!”. The normally gentle guys took it seriously and gave me and the camera a good splashing. They seemed very happy with the wet result.
The holy water blessing is a Buddhist Wesak Day tradition at the Maha Vihara Temple. It is normally a gentle sprinkle, though. The OM-D lived to tell. Didn’t realise there were so many flower petals in the water until it was frozen by the high speed flash.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f4, 1/30 sec with FL-50R Flash.
