Tanah Lot Temple, Bali

Tanah Lot sea temple is one of the most sacred Hindu sites in Bali. Balinese temples aren’t generally known for their size or extravagance but rather their spectacular locations.

Tanah Lot is perched on a natural lava island that lies just offshore above the pounding waves. It’s joined to the shore by a lava bridge that appears at low tide. After winding your way through the maze of tourist stalls you find this beautiful little temple and most likely a ceremony taking place.

I was already familiar with the place and had an idea for the shot. Firstly, the temple itself wasn’t the shot, it was the location AND the temple. I wanted to shoot at sunset for some nice colors in the sky and I wanted to include the exposed reef at low tide.

I had noticed before the green vegetation that grew on the reef and thought that and the tide pools would make a nice shot. So I looked at a tide chart and found a day when low tide would coincide with sunset.

The difference in brightness between the sky the foreground was too great (2 full stops) for the camera to expose both properly in one frame. So this shot is a combination of two different exposures later blended in Photoshop.

On a tripod, I first took a shot exposing for the foreground then took another shot exposing for the colorful sky. Now I have two nice RAW files to work with later. This doesn’t qualify as HDR (high dynamic range) as that yields a very different look from a very different process. Its best categorized as XDR (extended dynamic range).

Some compare the result to the dodging and burning technique that you would do in a darkroom.

Before digital, I used different filters in front of the lens to accomplish the same thing in a single frame of film. For example, a graduated 2-stop neutral density filter would have worked here. However, with some digital skills, I see no point in carrying around these filters anymore. Purists may disagree, but I’m not one of them. For me, it’s about making beautiful images.

Gear: Nikon D2X / Nikon 12-24mm F4 lens / Manfrotto tripod w/ ball head /Nikon MC-30 cable release / Aperture 2 / Adobe Photoshop CS3

Exposures: Reef ISO 100 F11 4.5 seconds / Sky ISO 100, F11, 0.8 second
As always, click any image for the large version TR