Discovered this simple and beautiful mosque while exploring Ho Chi Minh City one night. The Saigon Central Mosque or Jamia Al Muslimin or Dong Du Mosque was built in 1935 and is one of 12 mosques in this largest city of Vietnam.
What do you do when you arrive at a beautiful landmark on a very hazy day? The weather was so dull everything appeared almost monochromatic. I walked around the famous Blue Mosque in Shah Alam looking for an element that will make the picture a little more interesting. Found this star-shaped grill on one of its gates and photographed through it. A compositional frame can be an overhanging branch, an arch or anything of any shape. Use it to draw attention, to juxtapose or to give the main subject some depth, as in this case.
Houston, we have a problem. There may not be enough space to walk on the moon. I was driving near the Sri Gombak Mosque yesterday when I spotted a bird on the crescent above the dome. By the time I parked and walked around for an ideal angle, there were no more birds. So I waited for about 30 minutes and 5 of them flew in. A little patience is usually required for a moon landing shot 🙂
Mission Control: First I desaturated the picture (made it black and white). Then I inverted the colours to turn it into a negative image. This made the white sky became black. I then added a yellow hue. Finally, a lens flare was added to simulate the sun, as seen in space.
