Saturday, June 23, 2007

Place: Ayutthaya



Chedi
f/8, 1/400s, Nikon Coolpix 7900

Ayutthaya is one of my favorite destinations in Thailand. Cut out Pattaya. No Phuket for me. Ayutthaya is the place to be in.

It's the capital of the old kingdom of Siam before it was looted and sacked by the Burmese after a long drawn siege. The old ruins reminds one of the times past, and the whole place just has a very peaceful air to it now. Walking in Ayutthaya is just like taking steps back in time, with plenty of ruins to savor, and plenty of good food around as well.

This is a picture taken at the Phukao Tong, also known as the Central Chedi, which is an Thai tower built on a Burmese foundation. It's a little out of the way, so it doesn't get as crowded as some of the other ruins do.

It was here that I learnt just how important light is in photography. The tower has 4 faces just like this, but the other 3 are no well lighted by the setting sun. So, I walked around to this face which was facing the setting sun to take this picture. The bonus is the great sky in the background.

There are few shots that remind me of Ayutthaya on its own. This is one of them.

5 comments:

Winn said...

sounds like someone's name..

may said...

yup, lighting is very important, especially natural lighting. especially when I don't have a canggih flash or camera setting to get that right exposure! my white balance always seem to get thrown off...

nice one, this!

Applegal said...

Ruins? Good food???

Sounds like just the place for me! :D

I like this photo :) There's a sense of heaven and light, with the blue sky, clouds and the temple in the setting sun light.

Anonymous said...

The 2 structures on the roof looks like someone's very long feet. :p

Still, it's a very nice picture.

moz monster said...

winn:
It's a place punya name lah ... but you know lah ... some people have their names named after places.

may:
Er ... from the photos I can see in your blog, your white balance is SPOT ON !!!

applegal:
Ah ... applegal ... always gravitate towards the good food places ! Ruins are strictly optional !

jems:
They're called chofa, and are roof tassels ... an obligatory decoration found on the roof of every Thai temple ....

but yeah .... looks like someone's feet, now that you've mentioned it.