Snap Shots: What to shoot in the Wat

by Harry Flashman

Thailand is a photographer’s paradise. None of those cold grey days here. The ambient light levels are strong, shadows are strong and images are also strong if you use light and shadow to your advantage. The ideal venue to use all these aspects is in your local Wat (temple). You can certainly describe it with words, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

As you are aware, Thailand has thousands of Wats. Unfortunately the sheer number of them can blind you to the fact that they have a unique quality. Wats are not commonplace “back home” and so a definitive “Wat” photograph will have a wonderful impact.

So here is how to take that great Wat shot - only it isn’t one shot. It is impossible to show a Wat with one snap. It requires a series. One of the reasons for this is the fact that a Wat is a microcosm of Thai society. People eat there, live there, learn there and go there after they die. So really you are trying to show not only the grandeur of the architecture, but the fact that the Wat has its own life going on within its boundaries.

Here is how I would approach the subject, and remember we are looking for production quality shots here. The preparation is to go there the day before your shooting day to see how the sun shines on the buildings. To get the textures and colours you need the sun striking the walls at an angle. Full shade or full sun is not the way. It’s back to using light and shadow to show form. You will have to note what are the best times of day to record the various architectural details. Also be prepared to use a close up shot or two to highlight some of the small details. By the way, always remember that a Wat is a place of religious worship and significance, so do take your shoes off and be respectful.

Wats are inhabited by much more than the saffron robed monks. There are teachers, nuns, novitiates, school children, street vendors and tourists. A very mixed bag. Try to take shots to show just why these people are there in the Wat and its compound. This is where a “long lens” (135 mm upwards) can be a help. You can get the image you want without having to intrude into the person’s personal space. However, remember that if there is any doubt as to whether your subject would really want that photo taken - then ask permission first. It is my experience that the vast majority of people will happily respond positively to your request. Even when there is no common language, a smile and a wave of the camera in their direction and an “OK?” is generally all that is necessary.

Taking pictures inside a Wat is not as easy as the exterior shots. The light levels are very low and there is often the feeling that you are intruding in someone else’s religious practices. Taking a flash photograph really is an intrusion in my view. This is where the tripod is great. Set the camera up on the tripod, compose the shot, set it on Time Exposure and quietly get that shot of a lifetime. You will probably need around 5-10 seconds at f5.6, but that is just a guide and you should experiment. If you set the camera on Auto mode and turn off the flash you will get better results.

By now you should have taken almost one complete roll of film on your local Wat. Verticals, horizontals, close-ups and wide-angle shots. Do not be afraid to shoot film. It is the only way to improve and the only way to get great shots. Film is the cheapest thing in photography, always remember that. Just avoid taking the ‘same’ shot four times - one vertical and one horizontal for each subject, but that is all.

by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant

With the advent of our daughter Arisa, I had to promise my young wife I would live to be 100. This I readily pledged, saying on oath, that I would live to be 100, or die in the attempt! All eminently achievable. (Beat that for a classic get-out!)

However, longevity has been increasing in most countries (even Thailand despite the Songkran road toll!), but for those of you who are looking for eternal youth, I discovered the ingredients of the longevity potion for a gentleman called Gustav of the House Merinita. Gustav is currently only 40, but you may wish to chart his progress. I now present the potion, which you will have to alter as required to suit your position.

Glands from a magical skunk (to reflect the Magus’ foul odor)

Water from the well of Haindorf (the village of Gustav’s birth)

Ashes from the hearth of his childhood hut (reflecting his affinity with Ignem)

Eggshells from a hen laid on May Day (symbolizing birth and sympathetic to his faerie blood)

Footprints of a Sylph in the faerie forest of Bohemerwald (hearkens to a tale in Gustav’s youth)

Snow that hasn’t touched the ground collected under Capricorn (his constellation of birth)

Nails from his father’s coffin

Plus the final magic ingredient - a snake found in a graveyard (signifying his ‘demon-tainted’ flaw).

So there you go. I am so sure of this potion that I am looking for investors with large bank accounts and small intellect to form 50 percent joint ventures with me on this one.

However, there are some factors that will assist you as far as longevity is concerned, none of which will have you raiding the neighbour’s chook pen on May Day.

First off, you are what you eat. If you eat a diet rich in fats, you will be a fat person. Simple. So the answer is to eat a balanced diet, and that doesn’t require a set of kitchen scales either. The easy way is to eat salads one day a week, a European diet two days a week, a Thai diet three days a week and anything you want on Sundays. Try to avoid the well known fatty foods like chips (other than on Sunday). You should also eat when you feel hungry, not when the clock dictates. Your blood sugar levels depend on what and when you eat, not on “three square meals a day” (anyway your plates are round).

Plan for at least one AFD (Alcohol Free Day) per week, and on the other days try to drink sensibly. Getting legless six nights a week is not recommended, but one beer or a glass of wine is. (Moderate drinkers live longer than teetotalers).

Never smoke cigarettes. If you are a smoker, give up today. Right now! In two years your lungs will be clean and in ten years your chances of problems will be about the same as a life-long non-smoker. But give up today.

Get enough sleep. For adults, seven to eight hours a day seems best according to the longevity studies. Rip Van Winkle was a myth, so there’s nothing to be gained by lying in.

Get some exercise every day. Build it into your lifestyle. Walk to the shop. Walk to where you get lunch. Take the dog for a run. As the sportswear manufacturer says, “Just do it!”

Take 100 mgm of aspirin every day. Faithfully.

Think positive. Do all the above and believe in yourself. I’ll have a drink for you when you reach your century!

Part Three: To Bangkok

by Duncan steam

The Allied airmen spent the next two-and-a-half days on the river slowly making their way to Bangkok. “We would pull into a riverside village at night for some food always a rice concoction. The thatched and bamboo houses were all built up on stilts above the water - this type of housing was quite common all along the river. We had a couple of scares with approaching Japanese but otherwise the trip was without any significant incidents.”

The boat pulled into Bangkok in the early afternoon of Sunday 3 June where it “tied up at a small jetty and within minutes we were the centre of extreme curiosity to the local habitants. It was fairly obvious to them that we were Caucasians and for awhile our worries were rekindled that the Japanese would learn of our presence.”

However, after waiting in the boat for a couple of hours they were transferred to an old bus and driven through the main streets of Bangkok, wearing Chinese-style conical hats as their only form of disguise. “The bus had no glass in the windows but did have some sort of bamboo mats hanging down which kept us hidden from view. The mats kept blowing open due to the wind allowing us every now and then to see the crowded streets and many groups of Japanese soldiers mingling among the civilians.”

The downed fliers were taken to Thai police headquarters where some of them received first aid and, as evening fell, they were allowed outside to wash themselves in a large pool of water. “There was no electricity for lights due to our planes having bombed the city a few days earlier, destroying the power stations and some of the port facilities, so we found out later.”

After a night’s rest, William Pugh woke up to find that the number of his comrades had diminished by five. During the night, two American OSS officers, Major Dick Greenlee and Captain Howard Palmer, operating clandestinely in Bangkok, had come to their quarters and quietly awoken the American contingent, telling them they would arrange their escape from Thailand. They also took out two of the airmen, the commander of the flight, Captain Harry Smith and Cyril Copley, the longest-serving member of the downed force. “It was crucial the Japanese did not find out that we had been about to drop three O.S.S. Agents into Siam,” wrote Pugh.

The four who were left were told that if they were interrogated by the Japanese, they would simply claim to have been on a meteorological flight. The four British airmen remained under police guard for a few more days before they were transferred by car to the prisoner-of-war camp, which had at one time been a girls’ private boarding school. “The camp was divided by a strong wire fence with three-quarters of the area and buildings given over to the civilian internees with the remaining quarter housing P.O.W.s.”

On Friday 8 June the new prisoners had a visit from the secretary to the camp commandant. “She spoke excellent English and was the liaison between the English-speaking civilian internees and the Siamese military. She informed us that the Japanese army headquarters in Bangkok were putting heavy pressure on the Siamese authorities to allow them to interrogate us.”

Only Raymond Woods of the four remaining airmen was handed over for interrogation to the Japanese authorities. Even then, the Thais insisted on remaining present during the questioning. The chief investigating officer for the Japanese had been educated in Chicago, spoke excellent English and didn’t believe that the flight had been for purely meteorological purposes. Nevertheless, Woods was able to convince the Japanese that only four of the crew had survived, and this “was later more or less confirmed when two American O.S.S. officers and one S.A.S. [British Special Air Service] Major visited us briefly after our return to the P.O.W. camp from hospital.”