Borobudur Temple and the Moon

On the island of Java in Indonesia, is one of the largest Buddhist temples in the world. Borobudur Temple is just outside the city of Yogyakarta and a stone's throw from the active volcano of Mt. Merapi. A stone's throw, assuming it was the volcano doing the throwing.

At over 1100 years old, Borobudur is from the same time period as the other Buddhist sites of Angkor in Cambodia and Bagan in Myanmar. It had been one of my goals to visit them all. I had visited Angkor multiple times and spent nearly three weeks at Bagan in the last five years and finally in 2007, I made it to Borobudur.

This shot was made at around 6 am. It was well before sunrise and the moon was still high in the sky. Some of the artificial lighting was was vaguely illuminating the main stupa which is the yellowish color you see.

I set up a tripod and a few remote flashes, one with a pocketwizard radio slave and the other optically slaved. I wanted to supplement the moonlight and add a little shape (sidelight) to the smaller stupas.

I also shot with the white balance on tungsten which gave it the eerie bluish cast. Only one flash triggered (connection issues) but with the moon and blurring clouds I ended up with a nice dramatic image of an often visited and photographed place.

Gear: Nikon D2x / 12-24mm F4 lens / Sb-28 flash / Vivitar 285 flash / Pocketwizard Plus / Wein ultra slave / Manfrotto tripod with Ballhead

Exposure: ISO 100 / F 5.6 / 30 seconds


As always, click any image for the larger version. TR