A panorama from Wat Arun, looking across the river towards the Royal Palace on far left, Wat Pho centre and modern day CBD across far right.
(5 shots merged in Photoshop, click for a much larger size )
Panorama taken from half way up the main “Phrang” of Wat Arun
It is early rainy season here in Bangkok now, which usually means drab, boring skies that are not much good for photography but the other day we had an interesting sky with some dramatic clouds that might be perfect for some black and white photography (clear blue skies might look good in colour photos, but they are rather bland for monochrome). So I grabbed my camera, put a graduated ND and a 10 stop ND filter in my bag for the skies and headed off to Wat Arun, one of Bangkok’s tourist landmarks …unfortunately by the time I got there the sky was not so interesting or dramatic 😦
Part of the main “phrang” of Wat Arun
But I did get some photos even if they were not the ones originally envisaged, so the trip was not completely wasted.
To vignette or not ?
After processing these photos I realised that all the ones I thought looked best had been vignetted ( I guess that is a real word ?, the spell checker did n’t pick it up ). I suppose it would depend on the subject but I think monochrome photos generally look better with a vignette, to give more of the retro look.
Looking from the Phrang of Wat Arun across the river
Well my Thai language test turned out to be almost a non event, so I don’t have any dramatic story of cancelled visas and being taken to the airport. I did the written test at school, with help from the staff when needed, and the face to face interview was pretty short and sweet.
She spoke quite fast, so I did n’t catch everything first time but when I knew what she was asking I just kept talking, and kept the conversation on easy ground !
So instead of the dramatic story, I’ve only got some more cosplay photos from last weekend. As I mentioned in the last post, it was a qualifying event for the “World Cosplay Championship” and they had a couple of the Japanese cosplay champions here to judge … apparently you can make a living dressed up a schoolgirl cartoon character !
Last weekend saw another cosplay event here in Bangkok, in fact there were two but I only got along to one of them, and that was enough to get a couple of hundred photos to sort through ! I only go to these things for the photo ops, I don’t know anything about cosplay but apparently this event was a qualifying event for the “World Cosplay Championship” in Japan so there were lots of cosplayers there, and lots of photographers !
These events are good opportunities to practice portrait photography, as most of the participants seem to love having their photo taken. I guess you have to be a bit of an extrovert to dress up as the Japanese anime idea of a schoolgirl heroine, which seems to be a common theme.
Which may be why there are so many photographers :
Just a few of the photographers !
Anyway, this is just a teaser, I’ve still got many more photos to sort through. I’ve also got some swotting to do, as I have an official Thai language test at the Ministry of Education tomorrow, which is a bit worrying. I never have liked exams and tests so I’m not looking forward to it. The school staff say it is easy and not to worry, but that is easier said than done. It seems I’m the only person in the class chosen to do it, and nobody I’ve spoken too has ever heard of having to do a test after just 6 months, usually the tests are done only after you have done a full year’s beginner’s course and want to go on for an advanced course.
The test is apparently to make sure that people are really going to classes and not abusing the Education Visa system, you would think that it would be easier just to check attendance records ? Oh well, hopefully it will be as easy as the staff say ….or I might be making a forced trip out of the country with a cancelled visa 😦 It will be something to write about either way, I suppose. At worst I might have to change to a retirement visa but that’s not something I want to do yet. So stay tuned either for more cosplay photos or ???
Bangkok is not a city you would usually associate with graffiti, and generally speaking it is free of the mindless “tagging” that I often saw on public transport and buildings in Australian cities. When you do see “graffiti” here it is usually street art murals, such as these two near the Jim Thompson museum I wrote about yesterday.
South East Asia has had it’s share of mysterious and enigmatic figures over the years, including Jim Thompson. An American, he trained as an architect before joining the Army during the Second World War, and then the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA.
After serving in North Africa and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) he was sent to Thailand at the end of the war, to become chief spook at OSS Bangkok HQ. While here he fell in love with the country and after being discharged from military service he returned to Bangkok to eventually set up a small silk export company, which hit the big time when it supplied the silk for costumes in The King and I musical.
Bangkok in the late 1940s must have been very different to now, and while his house is now surrounded by hotels and shopping malls in his time it was probably nearly jungle in places.
His house is actually built from several old houses brought to Bangkok and reassembled as one big house, facing onto a small river.
It must have been a very pleasant life, living the life of a white man in tropical exile, in a huge house filled with antiques and art, with servants at his beck and call…. like something out of a Humphrey Bogart movie ? ( I wish my expat life was like that 🙂 )
I do love the color and general confusion of the Far East. There is so much to see and learn out here. (Jim Thompson)
Heliconias in the garden of Jim Thompson museum
In 1967 Jim Thompson went to the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia with friends. One afternoon he went for a stroll, never to be seen again. Despite the biggest search in Malaysia’s history no trace was ever found of him. Was he eaten by a tiger ? kidnapped by Russian spies because they thought he was still working for the Secret Service ? Or just the victim of a hit and run driver ? Lots of theories but nothing ever proven, he was even supposed to have been seen in Tahiti afterwards !
Anyway his company is still going, selling thousands of silk ties and shirts to tourists every year, and his house is now a museum still filled with many of his antiques.
Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos inside the house but the lush tropical garden is a world away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Bangkok just outside it’s walls. It’s all well worth a visit, and just a short walk from the National Stadium skytrain station.
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Designing and building an Eco House in Thailand
Follow the Blonde Coyote and see more of the world!
Trying to live a creative life
a camping trip of ridiculous proportions
Changes in latitude, changes in attitude 