Last July in Indonesia, I spent 4 days shooting around Borobudur Temple, learning the surrounding area while waiting patiently for the right conditions for photography. Borobudur Temple is one of the premier attractions in Indonesia and with that notoriety comes a heavy influx of visitors. The temple has also (for good reason) become a very popular sunrise destination, so if you’re planning a morning visit, try to arrive extra early so you can get a spot at the front of the cue. If you hurry up the stairs, you can be the first person at the top!
One of my new years resolutions for 2014 is to significantly expand my photography portfolio. This doesn’t just mean that I’ll be visiting new destinations, it also means that I’ll be taking a serious look at the diversity of both subject matter and lighting conditions in my shots with the objective of creating a more well rounded and cohesive body of work.
The first thing I noticed (right off the bat) is that I definitely favor blue hour photography. In fact, it would be fair to say that I’m obsessed with it – and for good reason! I feel that it’s a stunning few moments of time where both natural and artificial light can coexist in a beautiful and harmonious manner. Still, sticking to the 2014 resolution, the plan is to add some scenes that rely more heavily on direct sunlight rather than artificial light. This shot from Borobudur Temple seemed like the perfect opportunity to start. 🙂
On a side note, since this photo was processed in three different airports over the past week, it also helps solidify one of my other new years resolutions: “Get more done on travel days.”
Technical Mumbo Jumbo
Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 20mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-33 / BH-55 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/22 (f/22 for the star burst effect)
7 Exposures Shot / 2 Used
Location: Shot in Central Java, Indonesia – July 2013 and post-processed in 3 different airports – January 2014
Hardware: 15” 2013 Macbook Pro Retina, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet
Software: Lightroom 5, Photoshop CS6, Nik Color Efex Pro 4
Post-processing: Out of the 7 exposures captured, I ended up using only two of them in the final blend. Both exposures ( -2 and +2 ) were imported into Adobe Camera RAW for contrast and light balancing before they were brought into Photoshop for blending using a combination of both painted and luminance masks. Nik Color Efex Pro was used to bring out the color and contrast and additional sharpening was applied using a High Pass Filter.
Espresso: Various cups of coffee from different airports.
