Back to photostream

Enlightenment

This is one of my favourite photos, and it has a story... so strap in, here it is.

 

At the time I took this photo I was working on a gallery article for a magazine on light painting in SE Asia, and this was one of the images I took.

 

So this is the famous U-Bein bridge in the Mandalay area of Mynamar, it's the longest teak bridge in the world. It also happens to sit very close to a buddhist temple at one end.

 

So I set up my composition from a bank along the lake where this bridge crosses over, and unlike most light paintings I wasnted to do this during the colors of sunset just after the sun has set. So I got all my settings ready, and took a test shot, I needed to ensure a long enough exposure for a light painting, and gave myself 10 seconds.

 

Now for the tough part. I needed to be about 200 or 300m away from my camera in order for this composition to work, I had zoomed into 300mm on my camera which was set on a tripod. I had a local helping me with driving that day, so I asked him to press the shutter at the correct time. I'd give him a signal from where I was, in position to light paint.

 

Now my next task was to find a silhouette subject. I hoped to find some monks, but thought it might be a cyclist. Luckily some friendly monks stopped, and were happy to stand still for this photo.

 

Now all set the photo was taken, with me using a pixelstick to create that light pattern behind the monks.

479 views
33 faves
4 comments
Uploaded on December 11, 2025
Taken on January 27, 2017