Location
While in Thailand in January 2020, I had the pleasure of photographing a night sky image at the famous Wat Sirindhorn Wararam Phu Prao or Wat Phu Prao in short. My father-in-law is a police man based in a district of Ubon Ratchathani and after a leisure outing at the huge Sirindhorn Dam I asked him was there any nice temples to photograph in the area. After informing me of one “up on the hill over there” I googled it and my eyes lit up…. I’m there already! What materialised was to be a memorable visit for all sorts of reasons.
Unsurprisingly, the beautiful temple and grounds were full of tourists when we arrived about 6pm. I had already checked the alignment of the temple for night sky positioning with stars and Milky Way and knew it was facing directly North/South and perfect for polar star trails. Unlike Ireland, I didn’t have to worry about clouds, skies were crystal clear. An ambitious plan had to be executed and the experience that unfolded was something else.
I managed to find a tripod spot on some steps across from the main feature highlight of this temple at night which is the Tree of Life. While the temple is famous in its entirety for the workmanship both inside and out, the Tree of Life has to be the most enjoyable memory with the fluorescent painted tree and all its roots winding around the grounds coming to life at night. Check out this fantastic blog from Korean Nikon Ambassador and educator Andrew JK Tan for some truly stunning angles.
Selfie pollution
Many of us photographers get frustrated by swathes of tourists while we try to shoot our images. We have no right to of course, they have every right to be there too, but our egos often lead us to wave our hands and let a roar to move them out of the way.
What happened in front of my eyes was quite hilarious but also saddening to be honest in view of the way society has become so self obsessed in wanting to get their face in front of the chosen attraction, almost to document being there for social media status. Look at me, I am here.
I set up my camera and fine tuned my composition, input my intervalometer settings and began shooting a circumpolar star trail. Whatever tourists remained began capturing selfies with the Tree of Life and amazing view of the temple and surroundings.
Although recent camera phone sensors are getting better in low light, most folks are not equipped to capture selfies in the dark. Everyone began turning on camera flash and were frustratingly trying to capture their faces in the dark combined with the florescent features. Little did they realise that their flashes were actually overpowering and washing out the luminous effects.
Short 10 second time lapse of tourist light pollution during my star trail shoot at the temple.
Lights out
What I experienced that night was quite shocking to say the least. I don’t think anyone actually took five minutes to actually sit back and enjoy the beautiful temple at night, the way it was meant to be viewed before smart devices and the necessity to capture oneself became the norm. There were phones and tablets in everyone’s hands from children to grandparents and in all in between. Trailing around with no awareness whatsoever to sit back and enjoy the spectacle and no care they may be hindering someone else’s view.
The image below is a stack of 100+ images I captured that night. Regards the effects of the phone light pollution destroying my image, I wasn’t worried in the slightest as long as I managed to capture a few clean images with no light trails towards the end of the shoot which I could blend in post process.
Preserving the dark
My group and I stayed to the very end as I was trying to capture as many images for the star trails as I could. The more images, the longer the trails. The security actually approached us to finish up as can be seen in the time lapse above. We finally packed up and left around 8.30 pm. What an experience it was!
I flicked through the images in the car and couldn’t wait to see them on the computer. I knew there was a valuable story here, much more then just a normal astrophotography image.
As a society, we must indeed do our best to preserve our views of the night sky, something that has been a source of inspiration for centuries and could be in serious jeopardy over the next few. In relation to this blog and the experience I had at the temple , we must also appreciate and respect tourist attractions that have any connection to the dark. This temple at night was obviously meant to be enjoyed at best in total darkness with no lighting other then inside the temple. The disregard for this aspect of the tourist experience was quite stunning to say the least.
By chance this year, a brand new photography competition called “Capture the Dark” was announced by the International Dark Sky Association with the intention of using photography to raise awareness of the night sky and educate on the appropriate use of man-made lighting among other initiatives.
I felt this story accompanying my final star trail image, suited the category “The Bright Side of Lighting” which was to portray lighting used in an effective manner such as that of the beautiful fluorescence of Wat Phu Prao temple. I was absolutely delighted my image was awarded 3rd place in the category, partly for my photography, but more so to be able to tell this experience of an unforgettable night at Wat Phu Prao temple.
“Wat Phu Prao Star Trail” Sirindhorn, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. © Brian McDonald | 2020.
Nikon D850 + Tamron SP 24-70 2.8
Sky: 120 x 30 sec f/4 ISO 320 exposures
Foreground: Single clean frame of same settings above. One person with a phone blended in from another frame to add a human element to the story.