My previous experience talking to this person did not make me hopeful that she would be of much help. The previous evening she had been unable to recommend a good Chinese restaurant in the city. She only knew of the one across the street. I turns out that I was in luck, and that her minor in college was Phuket Firewalking, Where to Go on the Last Night of the Festival. Okay, not really, but she did tell me that one of the temples was much better than the others. While her location was very good, her timing was typical Thai. She told me that things really wouldn't get started until 9:00 pm. The schedule said 8:00 pm, so I decided to get there at about 7:00 pm to get a good spot to take pictures.
I hopped on a motor cycle taxi to take me to the temple. I rode quite a few motor cycle taxis while in Phuket Town. They are a relatively cheap and quick way to get around. They are not the safest means of transportation, however. Sitting on the back of a motorcycle without a helmet (Thai law requires only the driver to wear a helmet), weaving through traffic is quite an experience. A few times I was fearful that my knees were going to hit another passing vehicle, but I was spared the fate of a deadbeat gambler and made it to the temple intact.
There was a festival going on around the temple. I walked around a bit, and then partook in some of the vegetarian food offered. I'm not sure what I ate, but it wasn't too bad.
At about 7:30 I found where they firewalking would take place. There was a small crowd already, but there were still good spots for my camera work. I saw some Thai kids playing motioned to them if they wanted their pictures taken. For the next thirty minutes, I ended up entertaining about five or six Thai kids. Even though they didn't speak English well at all. One four year old knew how to say "hello teacher" and did so about twenty-five times. Here are a few of the pictures of the kids.
 |
| From ThaiKids |
 |
| From ThaiKids |
While I had fun, the problem was that by the time I was finished with my one man show, that the place was pretty full, and I didn't see a vantage point to take pictures. Just before all hope had fled my spirit, I noticed an empty spot on the ground next to a row of chairs and in front of some other spectators. I had to sit down on the ground and shoot through a metal fence. There was just enough room between the bars to place my camera through.
The firewalking was pretty cool. There was a lot of ceremony performed. I suspect that it was in part to let the top layer of ash cool down a bit to make the walk possible.
My vantage point, despite my cramped quarters, was excellent. I had a front on view of the firewalkers as they scampered over the hot coals towards me. The camera work was challenging for a few reasons. First, I didn't have my tripod with me, nor could I have used it in that environment. Secondly, it was at night, and while there was some artificial lighting, it was hardly ideal. Thirdly, the fire pit let off a lot of smoke, making it more difficult to capture sharp images. Finally, the targets were moving, which only exacertabed the lighting issues.
Overall I'm happy with a few of the pictures. I decided to get a bit creative at one point and slow down the camera speed in order to get some of the motion into the picture. Afterall, a picture of a guy frozen in the middle of a firewalk doesn't really capture the spirit of the evening. Anyway, here are a few pictures.
 |
| From Firewalking |
 |
| From Firewalking |
No comments:
Post a Comment