Friday, January 11, 2008

Place: Wat Phra Keow, Bangkok



Details from Wat Phra Keow

f/8, 1/200s, D80



I love this photo from Wat Phra Keow, Bangkok, otherwise known as the Grand Palace to the tens of thousands of visitors who gawk and marvel at it each year.

The Grand Palace has been visited so many times, seen by so many people, and photographed times over, sometimes even I get bored looking back at my previous photos from there. I'm sure most of you have seen photographs from Wat Phra Keow, if you haven't been there yourself. Personally, I've been there at least half a dozen times, if not more (I basically stopped counting).

The challenge with visiting a place so many times is that you sometimes get the same angles, and end up taking photographs looking no different from your previous visits. This visit, I made a point to look for unusual angles, and to find different points of view through the lens.

Also, since I visited Wat Phra Keow with my girlfriend, the danger is that we could both end up with similar looking photos, a common occurance when you have a group of people photographing together. I was quite determined not to have that happen to me.

This, as well as the photo on Wat Arun, represents my seeking different angles to common places. After all, when you put a lens between your eyes and the subject, there is no limit to how differently you can perceive the subject.

Additional Note: I didn't really mention why I love this photo so much. Visiting the Grand Palace leaves most people awestruck by the scale and majesty of the place. However, it's the small parts that make it all up. The whole facade is constructed tile by tile, one piece at a time, and this photo captures so much of those tiles which collectively is the beautiful facade.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never been to Bangkok (OK, Mum would say I have) but from a normal visitor's eyes, all temples look a like.

But if you think as a photographer, I am sure there are many angles from which you could take lots of pictures, many times over :D

I'd love to visit Chiangmai again too, and see the kind of pictures that I would take :D

Chen said...

I visited this place in 2003. Wah, that's 5 years ago? Time really flies...

IMHO, the chances of shooting the similar looking photos is rare, even though both of u were shooting together. Cos shooting from different angles will give the different feel, even though focusing on the same object ;)