Tag: joss sticks

One Moment In Time.

Through the doorway: the skywell, sun rays, smoke, spiral joss sticks and ancient Chinese architecture appear like art. It can happen only in that one moment in time when the light, smoke and objects combined perfectly.

Photography Tip: Use a tele lens not just for reach. Here; I used the compression effect of the Sony FE 70-200mm lens to reduce the perceived distance between objects. I wanted the roof to appear nearer to the spiral coils than it actually was.

Exercise extra care when changing lens in a temple environment. There is a lot of fine ash that can get into the rear element and sensor.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4, 1/1000 sec.

#streetphotography #temple #chinesetemple #architecture #smoke #art #josssticks #chinatown #chinesenewyear #cny #sonyalpha #a7r #sonyg

Raise The Black Monopod

I was taken aback by the sheer number of monopods fighting with joss sticks for space at this temple procession. The new crowdscape of raised cameras is an inevitable sign of the times, I suppose. For the uninitiated, a monopod is a one-legged telescopic camera stand, as opposed to the three-legged tripod.

Many of the dSLR video shooters were using monopods to get a higher P.O.V. or simply to get above the crowd. The trend will become even more prevalent as more new cameras come with remote control and monitoring via smart phones.

The street parade was part of the annual Taoist Chingay festival at the old Chinese Temple in Jalan Trus, JB. Title inspired by “Raise the Red Lantern” by Zhang Yimou.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 320, f6.7, 1/1000 sec.

#chingay #jb #johor #taoism #procession #streetphotography #jossticks #monopods

Multi Faith And JB

Three years ago I caught the sending off or launch procession for the Chingay Festival from the temple in town to the prayer site off town. The JB Taoist procession passed near the very old Catholic church.

I positioned myself and waited for the juxtaposition of icons from the two different faiths. The annual event took place this morning. There was another religious harmony factor involved which I found out when I visited the church a few days later.

The church was built on land donated by the late Sultan Abu Bakar and was then known as the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes. There is also a marble statue of Mother Mary gifted by Sultan Sir Ibrahim Abu Bakar and it is still standing at the church’s front courtyard.

#chingay #jb #johor #taoism #procession #streetphotography #jossticks #church

Nine Emperor Gods Festival Procession In Jinjang – Part 1

The roads here are a maze so I had no idea of the route the parade will cover. Heck. I don’t even know where my car was parked but I did bread crumb my tracks with a pic on my phone camera at every junction or turn during the walk.

Jinjang was a Chinese village notorious for gangsterism and triads many years ago. At one time, no taxis will send passengers in for fear of ambush by the gangs.

The gangs are gone or are silver haired now. The Chinese community solved the gangsterism and associated social problems by sending their kids to college. This broke the vicious cycle but it is to have another impact on the festival which I shall discuss in the next post.

As a photographer, my attitude was to cross the bridge when I get there, prepared to face all eventualities since it is my first time at their parade. There’s smoke, there’s fire and the Pak Thian Kiong temple is beautifully lit tonight. Am loving it but wished they started during the magic hour.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 400, f4, 1/80 sec.