Light painting the Bodhisattva

ArchitectureLight PaintingAstrophotography

30 Apr

Vihara Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva

Bintan Island, Indonesia

Light painting is a long exposure technique that enables the creation of unique effects that are not possible at standard or high shutter speeds. Also called light drawing or light graffiti, light painting is the technique of using a moving light source — like a flashlight, glow stick, light brush, or even a smartphone — to alter an image while taking a long exposure photograph. Instead of just capturing an image as-is, light painters add another element by highlighting an object or creating streaks, colours, or flashes within the image. And in this case the foreground scene, which was completely in shadow, was brought to life by painting with a beam of light from a small flashlight.

As with any specialised kind of photography, one will need to play around with the camera settings in order to figure out the exact ones to use for the desired effect. But there are some specifics that can help to get started. The most essential fact is that it has to be a long exposure which will allow the camera to capture motion in a blur, while stationary objects stay crisp. In the case of light paintings, the motion will be a light source. I have listed my settings and how I went about getting this photograph.

There are three main types of light sources for light painting:

On-camera light source: An on-camera light source means the element creating the light is a visible subject. With this technique, one has to actually step within the frame of the image and use a light source to “paint.” It’s a good idea to wear dark clothing while using this technique, so that the person doing the light painting doesn’t show up in the image.
Off-camera light source: With an off-camera light source, one going to shine a light from outside the frame of the photo onto a section of the subject of the photograph. Off camera light sources are great for highlighting specific objects or for changing the overall tone of the image. This is the method I have used here. This method also helps to enhance the impact by magnifying the highlights and shadows created by the light source as it constantly moves and changes where the light falls. Also keep in mind that the best results are obtained when the light source is at an angle of about 45 degrees from the camera and from as many angles as possible. I have also back lit the Bodhisattva here.
Kinetic light painting: This is the third method of light painting and with kinetic light painting, the camera is moving and not the light source.

And the most important thing to note is that this entire exercise is performed in almost complete darkness so it is important to keep our eyes acclimated to the low-light setting. So instead of using my normal flashlight, which would have ruined my night vision, I’ve used a red headlamp to set up and take my test shots before launching into the long exposures with the flash light.

How bright the light painting will be also depends on how quickly the light source is moving. For instance, the longer the light source is in a specific spot, the more time the camera will have to absorb it, and the brighter it will appear in the final photo. So to get an evenly lit subject it is good to move steadily while experimenting with fast and slow movements will create shading effects that will add complexity to the photo. I have done both here - first to evenly light the Bodhisattva as much as possible and then moving fast to add to the shadows.

And always - always - shoot in Manual Mode.

Bintan tourism 500 Lohan Temple astro photography

Bintan Island or Negeri Segantang Lada is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province with the capital, Tanjung Pinang, in the island's south and the island's main community. Bintan's history is traced to the early 3rd century when the island flourished as a trading post on the route between China and India, and over the centuries it came under the control of the Chinese, the British, and then the Dutch when it was declared part of the Dutch East Indies through the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. In the 12th century, the island in the Strait of Malacca was known as the "Pirate Island" since the Malay pirates used to loot trading ships sailing in these waters.

Singapore, the closest major city, is a 45-50 minute trip by motorised catamaran across the Singapore Strait to the northwest ferry terminal of Bintan. The island has beaches with beach-front hotels and resorts.

Also known as the 500 Lohan Temple, the Vihara Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is one of Bintan’s best hidden treasures. Located in Kijang (South Bintan), the premise is just a short drive away from the main bustling scene of Tanjung Pinang.

Step into the temple grounds and you will be transported into surreal settings of towering structures and the highlight — more than 500 life-sized (Lohan/arhat) stone statues with intricate physique and facial expressions, each one unique and different from the next. Look through the sea of faces and try spotting famous Chinese characters such as Journey to the West’s Tripitaka or Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ Guan Gong.

Pictured here is the giant Bodhisattva at the entrance to the Vihara.

The Vihara To enter the vihara, visitors must pass through an impressive archway guarded by General Heng and General Ha. Next to the archway is a pavilion with Buddhas in Thai style and facing this pavilion is a sculpture of baby Buddha. The surrounding wall is decorated with Tibetan Buddhist symbols. The main hall is just next to the pavilion where a sculpture of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva sits on the altar. Below it and on the floor is a Taoist deity of filial piety. Guarding the main hall are life size sculptures of the Dharma Protectors Weituo and Sangharama Bodhisattva, more well known as Guan Gong.

The 500 Arahats From the main hall, a felt of stairs leads visitors to an amazing garden. There, 500 life size sculptures of arahats stand orderly in rows on each of the steps at the edge of the garden. The names of each arahat appear at the base of their sculpture. Each of the 500 sculptures is extremely lifelike capturing the characteristics, facial features and postures of the arahats. There is a sense of orderly formation and movement at the same time. These 500 arahats must be every photographer’s wonderland. Facing the 500 arahats are another three great bodhisattvas; Wen Shu Bodhisattva sitting on a lion, Puxian Bodhisattva sitting on a elephant and Guan Yin holding a willow. Bintan Island had history of Chinese (and Indian) merchants settling there, and with Singapore so nearby, the cultural influences are sure to be prevalent here. Nonetheless, whilst Indonesia is home beautiful mosques and churches, Vihara Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is a testament to the country’s motto of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, Unity in Diversity.

An interesting story this one as I was really looking forward to this and had spent a lot of time planning what was possible and what wasn’t. At the outset I had planned for two specific photos at the Vihara well before we even got to the island. One was to be a Milky Way rising over the 500 Lohan and another was to be a light painting of the magnificent Bodhisattva at the entrance.

There were two problems:

Getting into and staying at the Vihara through the night as both photos were not just late night but also the entire night long ideas
The weather gods had to oblige.

Thankfully the hotel solved the first problem by getting us a driver who knew the local crew at the Vihara and agreed to take us there at midnight and also facilitated our stay there through the night. So, with the kids safely in bed in the hotel at the north end of the island and the babysitter to keep an eye on them we - my wife decided to accompany me this time - ventured out into the night on an island we had never visited before to get to a location we had never seen before except on Google Maps.

After a beautiful hour long drive through the quiet rolling hills of the island we reached the Vihara around midnight - if memory serves me right. We made our way in and walked around the amazing campus in moonlight and waited for the lights and light pollution to die down and also for the clouds to clear but unfortunately it was not to be. Eventually, after a three hour wait, the cloud cover got so frustratingly heavy that we decided to leave and on our way out I looked up to see a break in the clouds and decided to try my luck with light painting and hoped the Bodhisattva will give his blessings.

The photo above is what I was able to get between 3.30am and 5am with almost 75% cloud cover. I set up my camera some 50 feet away from the Bodhisattva and with my handy flashlight, with no warming gels, I went around the Bodhisattva painting him from all angles while the camera did its business.

The gear and settings:

Canon 1Dx Mark 2 with the amazing Samyang 14mm f2.8 manually focused.

For the foreground - at 14mm, f8, ISO 640, 25 frames of light painting the Bodhisattva at 9 second exposures and 25 dark frames for noise reduction. The bright star above the Bodhisattva is the planet Jupiter and a few shooting stars are also visible. The light at the top of the structure is from the sodium lights facing the Bodhisattva from the main entrance of the compound.

For the background - 14mm, f2.8 and ISO 10000, two 8 second exposures again with two 8 second dark frames for noise reduction. Unfortunately there were a lot of clouds which blocked the Milky Way from shining through. Still, a glimpse can be seen, where the clouds have parted.

I had the camera perched on my sturdy ProMediaGear TR424L tripod with the BH-55 Pano ball head from Really Right Stuff. All images were stacked with StarStax.

Find all the gear I used on this trip here.

Hopefully some time in the future, when travel opens up again, I will be able to get back to the island and photograph the 500 Lohan. Till such time, unfortunately, they will have to wait.