2. Myanmar (Burma)

Bagan, Myanmar

Ancient temples, ancient stupas, ancient pagodas, buddhas, frescos, street food, local people, sunrise, sunset, oxen, Bos indicus, horse drawn carts, moon rise, lacquer ware production
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Golden Buddha statue, Dhammayangi Temple, Bagan, Myanmar
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Golden Buddha statue, Dhammayangi Temple, Bagan, Myanmar

  • Statue of Buddha sitting on lotus blossom located in a wall niche, Pyathada Pagoda,, Bagan, Myanmar
  • Pyathada temple detail with bougainvilla, Bagan, Myanmar
  • Praying woman, Sulamani temple, Bagan, Myanmar<br /> <br /> As soon as I saw this woman kneeling on the temple floor in her colourful robes, before a statue of Buddha, I knew that it would make a great photo. She was outlined from behind by the light coming in from the temple door and her shadow was projected in front of her. There were some remains of frescoes on the wall behind her and the stones had a lovely warm colour. The natural quality of the light, her pose, and the colour palette just captivated my attention. I can only hope that I did it justice!<br /> <br /> Other new photos of the Sulamani temple can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/Pl8PR">http://goo.gl/Pl8PR</a>
  • Sulamani Temple (1181), Bagan, Myanmar
  • Forecourt of Sulamani Temple, Bagan, Myanmar
  • Buddha behind wrought iron gate, Sulamani Temple, Bagan, Myanmar<br /> <br /> In this image, I wanted to show the beautiful dragons on the gate in sharp detail, but also give a sense of location by showing the unfocused Buddha behind the gate. Again I took advantage of the ability to recover detail in shadows from RAW files in Photoshop.
  • Detail of dragon in wrought iron gate, Sulamani Temple, Bagan, Myanmar<br /> <br /> This was shot so the gate was sharp, but the Buddha was just suggested as an unfocused form behind the gate.
  • Mother and son near Sulamani Temple, Bagan, Myanmar<br /> <br /> Check out the boy's cool wrist watch, and proud possession, at larger sizes.
  • Wrought iron gate, Sulamani Temple, Bagan, Myanmar (best seen at larger sizes)<br /> <br /> As my talented photo friends in SmugMug know, it's fun playing with light and shadow. I was inside the Sulamani Temple and looked out to see a friend admiring this beautiful gate. There was a huge dynamic range to accommodate for the shot I wanted. I needed to capture the details of the gate and my friend in semi-silhouette, while not blowing the highlights and washing out the fine gate details against the overly bright sky. I underexposed by a couple of f-stops, knowing that I could retrieve some detail in the shadows from the RAW files in Photoshop, but that there was no way to recover detail from blown highlights. I also chose an aperture that resulted in the gate and my friend being in sharp focus, but the distant background unfocused so I didn't draw attention away from the gate....all within a second or two for this unposed spontaneous moment. <br /> <br /> In the days of film, I would have used a neutral density filter to hold back the highlights, but at the expense of losing some of the light in the top part of the arch, which would have unbalanced the photo.<br /> <br /> For the same problem in reverse, shooting from outside the gate, but retaining light on the Buddha statue on the inside, see here: <a href="http://goo.gl/OjVz6">http://goo.gl/OjVz6</a>
  • Portrait of a woman bringing a flower offering to Sulamani Temple, Bagan, Myanmar<br /> <br /> For other views of this beautiful temple, and for some close-ups of the intricate old carvings on the temple walls see here: <a href="http://goo.gl/Z6UDM">http://goo.gl/Z6UDM</a>
  • Sulamani Temple (1181) side view, Bagan, Myanmar
  • Entry gate, Sulamani temple, Bagan, Myanmar
  • Detail-1, Sulamani temple, Bagan, Myanmar
  • Detail-2, Sulamani temple, Bagan, Myanmar
  • Very old graffiti!<br /> <br /> I've enjoyed the 'modern' graffiti that many of you have posted on this site in the past. I thought it would be interesting to post this example of ancient graffiti that I saw on the wall of the Sulamani temple in Bagan, Myanmar. It portrays a sailing ship with three anchors (two fore and one aft), that the artist likely saw in the harbour in Yangon (Rangoon). From the shape of the masts I think it was likely an East Indiaman, which plied the waters between England, the Cape of Good Hope, East India (Bombay), the West India ports of Madras and Calcutta, and China, between the 17th and 19th century. Yangon is just across the Bay of Bengal from the Indian ports and on the way to China.<br /> <br /> An interesting ancient twelve snake fresco from the same temple can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/JwSFb">http://goo.gl/JwSFb</a>
  • Fresco from Sulamani temple, Bagan, Myanmar<br /> <br /> In the centre is a depiction of Buddha sitting on a lotus blossom, topped by Hanuman (the monkey god) and surrounded by twelve wonderfully rendered snakes.
  • Bougainvilla bush in full blossom by the entry gate to Sulamani Temple, Bagan, Myanmar
  • Steady stream of worshippers visiting the Dhammayangi Temple, Bagan, Myanmar
  • Women burning incense to a smiling Buddha, Sulamani Temple, Bagan, Myanmar<br /> <br /> At the original size you can just see the glowing end of the incense stick.<br /> <br /> I liked the position of the three woman, each a little closer to the Buddha and each head higher than the next, drawing my eye up towards the statue's hand, and then the light coloured arm and shoulder making a reverse curve up towards the head (i.e., all together making a semi-circle)<br /> <br /> For another image of a woman with a different Buddha (and a photo of two cute school children) see here: <a href="http://goo.gl/Gsgsz">http://goo.gl/Gsgsz</a>
  • Golden Buddha statue, Dhammayangi Temple, Bagan, Myanmar
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