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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty: Controlling perspective with the wideangle lens > Thousand-year-old Buddha image, Ananda Temple, Bagan, Myanmar, 2005
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Thousand-year-old Buddha image, Ananda Temple, Bagan, Myanmar, 2005

This an excellent example of how a wideangle lens can get large subjects into a picture, even in tight quarters. I wanted to not only include this huge Buddha statue (it stood more than 30 feet tall) as my background layer, but also a foreground layer featuring a silhouetted worshipper seated within rectangular prayer area, and a middle ground layer holding a soaring softly illuminated archway. I was limited in how far I could back up, because of the height of the arch. If I walked back any further it would have chopped into the decorative area behind the giant Buddha image. The vertical sweep of my 24mm wideangle lens allowed me to place all three layers in a coherent relationship. Neither a 35mm nor 28mm wideangle would have allowed me to make this picture.


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Phil Douglis11-Nov-2006 20:13
Thank you, Ferry, for your comment and greeting. Temples such as these stir the soul from inside out. Glad you were moved by it.
Ferry 11-Nov-2006 19:02
inner peace... this picture is outstanding! very nice!
greets from the netherlands.

Ferry
Phil Douglis13-Jul-2006 17:32
And thank you, Sun Han, for appreciating the value of this image. My wideangle lens gives me the tool to get close enough to this statue for detail, yet still lets me encompass the entire subject. You are right -- your camera might not have had a lens wide enough to make a picture like this, but even your snapshot camera can make an image that tells a story. Remember, Sun Han, it is not the camera that makes pictures. It is the photographer. I know you use an older camera ,the A300 -- which does not have a zoom lens. When you do upgrade, consider the new Panasonic Lumix FX-01. It costs about the same as your Canon A300, yet offers a 28mm wideangle to 102mm Leica image stabilized lens (to avoid camera shake), and the viewing screen is an inch larger than the one you now use.
Guest 13-Jul-2006 13:03
The cusp arch here is very rare in buddism temples, Ananda is the disciple of buddla,
i guess that's why he is standing, while most buddha statues are sitting in a lotus posture
the style of statue is of southeast asian hindu fusion, the background piece if more of jainism style
i won't take any photos inside temple, only because i know well my snapshot camera can never capture
the glamor and scale of the whole construction, but i won't regret at all, since at this stage of our world, all the images are already-there when you try to find it, either on website or somewhere you never expected. thanks phil to present great photos, such like this one, to all of us
Phil Douglis15-Dec-2005 18:59
I enjoyed the comparisons you draw between your own image and this one, Mike. Each expresses itself in its own way. I like the scale incongruity, the glow around the head, and the emphasis on the arches in yours, while this image, as you say, expresses itself through both scale incongruity and spirituality and mystery implied by darkness. I use a spot meter on the brightest part of the image which invariably darkens the rest of the image. Underexposure has become one of the hallmarks of my own style as a photographer. It helps me keep my pictures simple, more abstract and involves the imagination of the viewer to a greater degree.

I included two people instead of one to intensify the incongruous scale contrast. I offer three points of comparison instead of two -- the seated figure, the standing figure, and the huge Buddha figure. Thanks again for commenting on this one, Mike.
Guest 15-Dec-2005 16:39
Hi Phil
Here is my attempt at capturing the the interior of the magnificant Ananda Temple.
As you'll see I actually photographed one of the other Buddha images (it confused me when I first compared the two)

http://www.pbase.com/mike_bonsall/image/40605372

I think your darker exposure is wonderful and does lend the picture a mysterious, as well as a deeply spiritual air. On my picture I quite like the intense, bright light surrounding the Buddha's head. A sign of life and hope perhaps. Like you I was limited with equipment, with only a 28mm lens to try and capture the seen. As a result I was forced to move backwards more than I would have liked. As a result their is greater distance placed between the viewer and the monk and Buddha image. You image is much more intimate.

Another difference between our two photographs is that whilst mine features a solitary figure, yours includes a second person. I would be interested to hear your comments on this?
Phil Douglis13-May-2005 22:59
As you well know, I am not a religious person either, Tim. Yet images such as this tell me that spirituality is an essential component of expressive photography. I respect the beliefs of others, and do whatever I can to illuminate them visually. Such is the case with Buddhism here. As I mentioned to Zandra earlier, this was a magical moment for me. I was able to sense the spirit at work in this temple, and translate it for others to feel as well. I am delighted you felt the humility, as well as the eternal, in this image. That's what I was trying to say.
Tim May13-May-2005 19:25
How small we are in our humble existence in relation to the spiritual or timelessness. I, essentially and agnostic, am captured by the spirit here.
Phil Douglis04-Apr-2005 22:29
Thanks, Ray, for stopping at this one. You are a master of the wideangle perspective -- your galleries are filled with examples of sweeping scenes anchored by the significance of their foregrounds. Your praise for this image makes it all the more satisfying to me, because you know full well how critical wideangle angle perspectives can be to expression.
Guest 04-Apr-2005 20:00
Amazing light. Superb composition. I love wide angle perspectives and you used it magnificently here.
Phil Douglis04-Mar-2005 21:48
A portal, indeed. A wideangle portal at that!
Guest 04-Mar-2005 17:30
Yes, of course, a beautiful sense of scale and depth. It's a portal, no less.
Phil Douglis28-Feb-2005 06:09
Your fever aside, you have every right to see a magical flying carpet in this picture, Zandra. Why not? Everything else in this image is magical. As for my cropping of the very point of the arch, I have to agree entirely with your reasoning here, Zandra, yet must also tell you that it was impossible for me to include, given the equipment I had to work with. And here's why: when I composed this shot, I had to consider only the INNER ARCH, the one that embraces the ornate curve of decorations that form their own arched shape on the wall behind the Buddha. I moved my vantage point back just far enough in the room to include that curving wall decoration within the curve of that inner arch. If I had chosen instead to compose the picture to get the point of the WHOLE arch into the picture, as you suggest, what would happen? I would have had to back up, right. And if I backed up what happens to those inside wall decorations behind the Buddha? With each step back, the REAR of the arch comes DOWN. That means that I would have had to CUT IN to the top of those curving wall decorations behind the Buddha. Yes, I could have salvaged the whole arch as you wanted, but to do I would also have had to sacrifice what is the real power of this image, the great curving wall decoration that acts as crown for the Buddha.

How do I know this? I tried it, of course. Zandra, I wanted that whole arch as much as you do, but sometimes, as the old song goes, you can't always get what you want, even with a 24mm lens. Now if I only had had a 20mm lens or 17mm lens, YES, then I could have had my cake and eaten it too. But 24mm is as wide as I can get, using the compact cameras I use. However when you go to Bagan someday with your Canon DSLR, you can buy the new Tamron 11mm-18mm wideangle zoom, which would give you the 35mm equivalent of 17mm-28mm. That would have allowed you to easily get both the curving wall decorations as well as the top of the arch and the flying carpet all into this shot. (For more info on that new lens, see:http://www.tamron.com/news/35mm/1118di2.asp . I think your Digital Rebel the compatible APS-C size sensor, right?)

I agree entirely with your lucid analysis of the role of the "tiny hole in the unknown through which wisdom can disappear" is fascinating. And I loved your feeling about that raised platform levitating. Now that you mention it, the curving shadow of that step up to the tiled platform upon which the worshipper sits does imply lift-off.

You say that the illusion of a floating or flying carpet here adds more personal meaning because it triggers a sense of fantasy within you. It make you think of dreaming, and reminds you that deep in side all of us, a child still lives.
I was deeply moved by this thought. And realized that when I was standing there in the presence of this incredible sight, that I was no longer working with reality, but indeed, working within a construct of both fantasy and spirituality. And that is why I backed up as far as I could go with my lens, and still keep the golden decorative crown on the wall over the Buddha figure within the inner arch. That crown completes the fantasy for me. And I will just have to live with the slightly abbreviated upper arch. After all, Zandra, everyone with an imagination knows that every arch has a top to it, right? (How's that for a rationalization for not having quite a wide enough lens to make this fantasy perfect for both you and me!)
Phil Douglis28-Feb-2005 03:22
Glad you find so much in it of value, Dandan. It was one of the most important images I made on this trip, exactly because of what you say -- it does have everything -- incongruity, abstraction, human values as well. Zandra also left a comment, but finds fault with my cropping off the tip of the arch. I'll be responding to her comments in detail as well shortly. Thanks
Guest 27-Feb-2005 20:47
Hm...must be my fever...but i can't help seeing a flying carpet her Phil. I will get back to that a bit later though. In my previous comment i suggested that you would have cropped a mm of the top for us not to see the end of the golden pelar. In this shot i will go the other way around i think. I think this imgae could have a diffrent impact if the whole arch was included actually. the reason is very simular as to my previous comment. I want to keep the wisdom within the frame. This picture, as well as the previous sppeks volumes of wisdom (For me Budha is more about wisdom then actual divinity). However, by cropping the top you leave a tiny whole with the unknown in which this wisdom can escape. I must confess, leting it slip away like that comes closer to real life. It is only in our dreams that we remeber everything... Again your wide angle did the trick in getting the elements together. it also gives a vrey good sence of depth and not to mention hight...and that again will make me think of higher power and higher wisdom. The contrast of the Budha and the man sitting on the flor shows us ho litle we are in this world, it shows that we are wournable, and it shows us that we have hope and faith.

Now...about the carpet...it is the black part at the bottom that does it hehe, from the stair. It might just seem like a funny thing that i see this flying carpet cause of that, but it actually adds more maning to the image for me. It tells us about the fantasy world we can live in at times. About the dreams we have and above all, it tells us not to forgett eh child within us.
Guest 27-Feb-2005 12:48
What a spectacular image! It got every thing, incongruities, depth, the human value! It's absolutely stunning!
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