Wat Pho, Bangkok

DSCF6121FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/3.6, 1/30 sec, ISO1600)

Same day, same city, same place. Wat Pho temple. It contains one of the biggest lying Buddha statues in Thailand. It’s 46 meters long and 15 meters high and gold-plated. That’s big and that looks truly impressive but thanks to the rather small temple it is also impossible to capture.

It’s like standing directly in front of a big building just 1 or 2 meters away. There is no way to get a picture of the building. You need to step back. In the temple you can’t step back and that’s why all pictures taken from the lying Buddha look the same.

DSCF6129FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/30 sec, ISO400)
DSCF6135FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO2500)

My 14mm lens helped a lot here but it was still tricky to put something that big on a rather small sensor. I wonder what could be achieved with a view camera here. I don’t know but one thing is clear: You can’t use a tripod here and expose a couple of seconds. There are too many visitors.

So the Fuji XP1 with the 14mm was still the perfect choice. An excellent high ISO camera with a zero distortion wide angle lens attached. No reason to complain especially compared to the compact camera shooters.

The shot below is the best to show the real size of the Buddha. It shows the soles and toes of his feet which are made of the mother-of-pearls! In the lower left corner you can see some visitors. It’s a truly impressive  statue.

DSCF6139FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO500)
DSCF6140FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO1000)

In the temple you walk around the big Buddha. When I was still at the front side I heard the noise of coins being thrown into metal buckets. When I reached the back I saw two ladies counting ( or weighing ) the collected money. Thai or Indian temples are much more colorful and bright compared to our dark and intimidating churches and cathedrals but regarding one thing the are just the same: money matters!

DSCF6148FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO1000)
DSCF6152FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/30 sec, ISO1000)

Naturally everybody is focused on the lying Buddha but you should also take a look around. The temple is beautifully made. All walls are full of paintings, the main pillars are covered with the finest ornaments and even the ceiling is painted and gold-plated. It’s an awesome place. I know I’m using awesome quite a lot but it is adequate. This is a great place.

Unlike the pictures in the former post these images are post processed RAW files. I used Lightroom and VSCO’s film 4 and I also used the lens correction tool in some shots to get rid of tilted lines. But post processing time was minimal as the Fuji nails white balance and exposure all the time and high ISO shots look fantastic.

A travel photographers dream.

DSCF6154FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/30 sec, ISO1000)