The annual Nine Emperor Gods Festival begins today. The deities arrived last night by boat and was escorted to the Ampang Temple with a street procession. Here’s a short photo essay with a few photography tips…
Kids, ultra-wide angle lens and the black & white filter always work well. For the wide angle to be effective, get down and stick the camera close. Of course, ask the parent’s permission before you do that.
Unlike those Buckingham Palace Guards, these two young chaps get distracted easily. Who can blame them. See next pic
The standard attire for female worshippers, the hot pants, are getting shorter each year. Here, I used the pillar as a visual metaphor.
With so much smoke from the joss sticks, I was crying non-stop. Found this little refuge to wipe my tears but several photographers (who recognised me) came crying for a different reason.
They asked me why their pictures were full of raindrops even it wasn’t even raining! The answer is simple. Their flash captured those tiny ash particles floating in the air. Don’t use flash, young grasshoppers.
To my embarrassment, I quickly found out I was sitting on the gods’ official parking bays. After the deities disembarked inside the temple, the chariots are parked here for the next nine days.
The Olympus camera’s white balance can be so accurate that a scene can become clinical white (cold). After stepping into the altar area, I did a manual white balance to add a bit of bias towards red. It helped retain the warm atmosphere within.
Black in a sea of white makes an interesting visual counter-point. To get better pics, you need to kneel too. Get down to the worshippers’ level for a more interesting POV.
See also: MyCen Map to Nine Emperor Gods Temple in Ampang
All pictures photographed with the Olympus Pen E-PL2 by & © TV Smith
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excellent shots that represent our chinese culture / religion in Malaysia.