A wander round the temple at Wong Tai Sin today gave some decent photo opportunities. Sunday morning meant it was busy, not just with the Taoist worshippers but also the tourists. One thing you can be sure of is a warm welcome:
Welcome
I am not sure what the glass bowl holds but hopefully not what it seems. If he filled it from that distance he certainly has a good aim.
Once inside its a slow shuffle through the crowds:
Crowd scene
Temple crowd
I managed to find a small gap to point the lens the other way.
Offerings
As you can see it is all very informal and people come and go as they wish. There is no ‘service’ in the sense that many of us might recognize it.
I took the crowd scenes simply by setting the aperture to F8, Pre-focussing about 1/3 of the way through the scene and holding the camera over my head. All these images were taken with my Leica M9 and either the 35mm Summilux of the 50mm Noctilux.
The buildings themselves are beautiful:
Temple frontage
Roof shots
This next shot was perhaps my favourite of the day. Shot with the Nocti at F2, 1/750s and ISO 160. Whatever you think of the cost of the Nocti I find it a truly superlative lens.
Roof detail
And if at the end of the day you get bored with crowd watching you can nip down and have your fortune told.
The Fortune Teller
My prediction is that I’ll visit again.
All downhill from here 