Praying to the Gods of Fortune

Good capture - very nice lighting and exposure. A nicer "model" would probably draw me back to this image over and over again. ;)

Sin Sze Si Ya Temple situated in KL, Chinatown was founded in 1864 by

Kapitan Yap Ah Loy. It is dedicated to the patron deities of Sin Sze

Ya and Si Sze Ya. It is thought that through prayers in this temple

guided Kapitan Yap to defeat the enemies and protect Kuala Lumpur

during the civil war (1870-1873).

 

Today it is one of the most revered temples in KL where the devoted

pray for good fortune and health.

fantastic light in this image!!!!!!

This image has everything going for it but the subject has his back turned away from the viewer. If this was meant to be a environmental portrait it would require you to crop in closer to the person and capture the face and eyes making the soulful connection with viewer. If this was meant to be an factual/historical image then getting closer would improve the image. Notice that you can crop out the left hand side quite a bit and not lose the theme or impact of the image. Likewise the right hand side and a little off the top can stand some trimming as well. Try some cropping and experiment a little more next time with different angles and getting in a little closer, use the viewfinder to do most of the cropping. Reference some National Geographic magazines for more ideas since your style is closer to theirs. Best of luck.

Great lighting and nice composition.

Thanks everyone for coming by and commenting. Bob, I have other similar images that I will post soon.

 

Don, I have read some of your comments on other PN site and must say that you are knowledgeable indeed. I thank you for the insightful critique here and I can assure you I have many other close-ups to write and include in a presentation for this temple. I made this my first submission as it is not usual to find a temple with a glass panel roof to let in the sunlight.....and shining directly at the prayer section is truly appropriate. Notice that this is only a 1/3 section on the right side of the main hall where the deities are displayed. That is why I try to show a little of the wall on the right and the high support/beams on the left.

Bob, another image this time of 3 ladies at the temple.

superb shot superb light condutions make it b&w it would be wonderfull .REGARDS

Love this capture and atmosphere. Great!

This is magnificent - i feel like i'm in the room and can smell the incense! And that light from above just caps it off! If only the man was a little more off centre, and maybe doing something more interesting (praying etc) I think this would be perfect. But very very good nonetheless!

Alec, both photos are very interesting, I think Don is correct about the first onr, I would have croped ir till the column, it will concentrate the image.

I've always wanted to take a temple interior pix like this one. These Chinese temples can be quite dramatic. I'd say go for the gusto, dial up the mood knob. May I offer this variation...

Thanks everyone for contributing. Wilson, your mood shot is something my friend Bob, will certainly approve of. He prefer darker images. What you did here is perfect to accentuate the light rays. I'll do a 13" X 19" print and see if it can hold well. Mucho Gracias.

 

Mumtaz, I'll do a b/w posting and see what happens.

 

 

Sounds like a print out from a 1280 or a 2200. Was it a FINE JPG or NEF capture? Let us know how that shakes down, Alec.

Wilson, it's actually Bob's Canon printer for larger size up to 13" X 19". I think it's a Canon S950. Unfortunately we shot in Fine JPEG and not NEF however we printed some from our recent trip and it turned out pretty good. But it's as expected; shooting from Leitz and Canon L series lenses. Well, I'm sure Nikkor lens should be just as good.

Fantastic atmosphere in all this series. The god beams are a nice touch. Great job, Alec.

The light in the ascending smoke, filtered by the window, is great. I think I prefer the cropped version offered above, since it recovers the "vertical" features of the shot. Light going down, smoke going up...

 

Cheers,

Love that feathered lighting Alec.