Dance of Light and Smoke

Posted by Alfredo J. Martiz J. (Panama City, Panama) on 11 March 2007 in Miscellaneous and Portfolio.

Surprised after looking at the beauty and greatness of the Big Buddha in Kamakura, I started to see how people were gathering around an object with the shape of an sphere. I noticed that this element had some holes on it and smoke was coming from the inside, after that I decided to take a closer look to this curious and strange object. What happened after getting near was spectacular, a small and amazing world revealed to me, one where light filtered through small openings to turn into a mystic director of strange shapes, produced by the smoke from the aroma sticks. The inside of this element turned itself into the stage for the dance of light and smoke.

Nikon D70s 1/80 second F/4.5 ISO 200 51 mm (35mm equiv.)

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Comments (15)

Lazy Aussie from Perth, Australia

Worth working for.

11 Mar 2007 6:08am

@Lazy Aussie: Thank you Lazy Aussie!

Behrooz from Tehran, Iran

The rays of light has been captured the best way possible. They make this one something to remember. My photo of the day!

11 Mar 2007 7:04am

@Behrooz: Thank you very much Behrooz, I appreciate your kind words!

Chris Sullivan from Melbourne, Australia

Fantastic use of capturing light, this scene works on a number of levels; as you point out in the title the interplay between the light and aroma sticks makes for very unique shapes. Great work.

11 Mar 2007 10:41am

@Chris Sullivan: Thank you very much Chris!

Daroru from Osaka, Japan

This is fantastic Alfredo. At first, the elements looked so unusual to me I thought they must be CG of some kind. The holes with the light coming through look like solid objects floating in space. An inspired capture!

11 Mar 2007 12:07pm

@Daroru: Thank you Daroru, I am glad you liked this one, is one of my favorites!

jc from Ireland

fantastic shot, Alfredo - and your recent posts have been really excellent!

11 Mar 2007 12:43pm

@jc: Thank you for you kind words jc!

Dawn Sutherland from Phoenix, United States

Once again a very nice shot! Some shots are worth the extra effort and this is one of them.

11 Mar 2007 3:21pm

@Dawn Sutherland: Thank you very much Dawn!

dYe from Cambridge, United States

Great story and amazing picture! The colors, the composition, the perfectly captured rays - everything.

11 Mar 2007 4:05pm

@dYe: Thank you very much dYe!

Yael Lucas from Oklahoma City, United States

Cuando vi la foto en el cuadro pequenos los inciensos parecian edificios, y la composicion me parecia como si Dios estuviera bendiciendo una ciudad, cuando la amplie me di cuenta de lo que era, los rayos de luz son expectaculares, se siente tranquilidad cuando ves la foto...

11 Mar 2007 9:53pm

@Yael Lucas: Gracias Yael, tienes razón en lo que has mencionado que se siente tranquilidad en la foto!

filipe franco from Lagoa, Azores, Portugal

a fantastic composition with aesthetic refined sense.. Very well!

12 Mar 2007 12:58am

@filipe franco: Thank you very much Filipe!

Michael Zhang from New York City, United States

Wow this is excellent. How were you able to capture these streaks of light?

12 Mar 2007 2:58am

@Michael Zhang: Michael, to be honest I still don't know how I was able to capture the streaks of light, I was so impressed of what I was seeing at the time, that I just took the camera and shoot, while I was shooting I just wished for the photo to a good one, and it happened, one of my favorite photos, I think I was lucky!

laura from Portugal

really great picture!

12 Mar 2007 3:25am

@laura: Thank you Laura!

Zing from Hamilton, New Zealand

Very interesting, I love the rays. Excellent!!

12 Mar 2007 4:07am

@Zing: Thank you very much Zing!

Craiger from Vacaville, California, United States

Fabulous!

12 Mar 2007 10:24am

@Craiger: Thank you Craiger!

paperdoll from Panama City, Panama

So great this pic. One of the best I've seen. The rays of light coming through the holes gives the pic this magnificent effect. I love the way in which the smoke gets "trapped" by the light.

20 Mar 2007 12:23pm

@paperdoll: Thank you very much paperdoll, I am glad you liked this one, it's one of my favorites!

Benoit Darrieux from Clermont Ferrand, France

good, good, good

6 Sep 2008 12:49pm