Skyline from the 12th century, a photo from Magway, North

Photographer's Note

150km south-west of Mandalay, Burma, one can discover a magic place on earth called Bagan. It's un unbelievable jungle area where hundreds of temples and pagodas are standing creating an exceptional skyline at sunrise or sunset mainly dating back from the 12th century.

This shot was made at Sunrise from the Mingalazedi temple. A balloon appeared from the mist 20 minutes after sunrise.

By the way, if you visit the temples during the day, you have to learn "Moweibu !". I didn't need it in Inle, Mandalay or Kyaing Tung but it was necessary in Bagan. It means "I don't want to buy !" :)

In 849, Bagan became the capital of a village federation and started to be a major place in the Burmese history. The place was merely living from agriculture along the Irrawady river.

In 1044, the Anawratha king turned that federation into a major kingdom including far more lands from the south gathering two major people : Pyu (Bagan area) and Mфn (delta area).

Starting from that date, the place became a major buddhist site and hundreds of pagodas and temples have been built during three centuries. Each Burmese king dedicated more and more ressources to build bigger and bigger buildings dedicated to Buddhism.

The place and the Burmese kingdom lost its influence when the Mongols invaded Bagan in 1287. Some more temples and pagodas were built during the following century but Bagan was no more the main capital of those kingdoms.

cherryripe, GrahamB, nercan, eleparc, pitai, kclai, Bien, SWFalken, pilpel-adom, gary91, Elaine_Blath, lesfilous, rajhema, limaz, Nottinghill, Mrija, nivaldo, paromitadey has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

claudiaf (4438) 2006-04-03 14:51 [Comment]

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tontonjc (6623) 2006-04-03 14:52

Hello,
a nouveau un pur rйgal. Ce cadrage et ces silhouettes en dйgradйs sont superbes.
Les teintes et cette lйgйre brume ... waoouuhh...

Bravo

leo61 (0) 2006-04-03 14:52

Hi Steven!
Fantastic shot,verry nice composition with that balloon.Fantastic colors and I like your title.
I`ll be there in december.
Regards,LEO

btouret (59) 2006-04-03 14:53

"In one word as in one hundred" (french expression), Wonderfull...

loic-jaouen (204) 2006-04-03 14:55

amazing depth brought by this monochrome (ce camaпeu).
Wonderful scenary and amazing vision to see that balloon there!

shirgold (2485) 2006-04-03 14:56

Hi Steven - WOW !!!
You left me speechless
This is magnificent
TFS - Shir

rbcy1974 (20758) 2006-04-03 15:12

Sakut Steven
Wow,
les coleurs et silhuetes osnt vraiment magiques, tu as tres ien capture la scene
bien vu
sa veut la peine de se reveiller tot pour ca tu l'a faite en velo?
A+
Daniel

cherryripe (21033) 2006-04-03 15:27

Bonsoir Steven
Magnifique cette image avec les silhouettes des temples et du ballons contre un ciel sublime. J'aime beaucoup la profondeur crййe par les dйgradйs. Dommage les je ne sais pas quoi tout en haut qui enlиve un poil d'harmonie dans le ciel.
Salutations Nikki

Ina (2687) 2006-04-03 15:28

Wow this is great... Colors, composition and all the fine soft tones of black... It perfect... TFS...Ina...

naxius (16685) 2006-04-03 15:29

Une vue classique finalement de cet endroit magnifique mais je dois dire que ta photo est vraiment belle..
Impressionant ces diffйrentes nuances de couleurs, comme des calques.
Superbe!
Alex

greg (2835) 2006-04-03 15:55

great multi-layered silhouette!

yoelb (117) 2006-04-03 16:03

hi steven,
a real wondeful monochromatic,multy leyered skyline.
and the composition with the baloon makes it even better.
yoel

GrahamB (939) 2006-04-03 16:25

What a wonderful shot.
I love the layers of trees and temples fading into the distance abd the baloon is a perfect balance for the big temples on the right.

vincent24 (9060) 2006-04-03 16:32

Salut Steven,
Superbe teinte chaude et bel effet du tйlй qui rapproche ces plans successifs,vraiment une belle ambiance matinale!
vincent

alimo3 (6854) 2006-04-03 16:42

Bonsoir Steven,
une tres belle image,зa donne envie d'y etre !
ce melange de brume et de couleur chaude donne un aspect irrel a la photo.
J'aime beaucoup !

Tom

bip-bip (1837) 2006-04-03 16:57

Hello Steven,
Je vois que tu as superbement profitй des teintes magiques de la lumiиre matinale
Il y a un effet 3D qui me plait bien ici.
Dommage pour les oiseaux, c'est vrai qu'ils "polluent" un peu.
Amicalement
Vйro

nercan (112) 2006-04-03 17:16

Hi,
This is an impressive shot, like it exists of multi layered shadows.

Regards Neşe.

mouzakof (396) 2006-04-03 17:24

what a shot...
what an atmosphere...
what a colour

bravo!!!!!

eleparc (24063) 2006-04-03 17:52

ce lieu reste unique, je te l'accorde.. faudra quand mкme que j'y aille une prochaine fois;-)) ces dйgradйs de brumes me touchent tjrs bcp! c'est beau cette lumiиre dorйe...

Eric

drago (4832) 2006-04-03 19:02

A magic place indeed!Fantastic composition!

pitai (3985) 2006-04-03 20:32

Steven, what a fantastic view. The depth is very good. I like all those different layers yoou got there. The orange colors of the sky is superb. On top of that you got the balloon. Just a treat for the eyes. TFS. Gabriel

moxon (78) 2006-04-04 0:00

Terrific shot! Perfectly composed, brilliant colours, and I love the layers in the background that you managed to capture.

Bien (4745) 2006-04-04 1:55

Salut Steven, C'est vrai que c'est un endroit magique qui colle а la peau! Ta photo est vraiment formidable avec des couleurs trиs fййriques. Impressionant! Sabine

PS Gout personnel, mais je pense que j'aurais enlevй les petit taches (oiseaux?) derriиre le ballon

kclai (2267) 2006-04-04 3:41

Hi Steven
Awesome. Breathtaking. Wonderful. Marvellous. Cool.
The multi-layer of subjects and toning creating a masterpiece in a single color toning. And to add the interesting point, you got the hot air balloon here. Just timingly cool.
Excellent composition, Steven.
Well done.
Eric Lai

Luko (14000) 2006-04-04 5:39

Bin, je partage assez l'avis de Simon... c'est une photo "jolie" (pretty, nice,...) et bien faite mais, du point de vue objectif, on la voit dans pas mal de catalogues de TO et du point de vue subjectif, comme je te l'ai dit, je ne suis pas vraiment emballй par Bagan que sillonent les bus FRAM et NF, je trouve que l'opйration "balloon over Bagan" est une faute de goыt, presqu'autant que la hideuse tour panorama installйe au milieu des ruines (propriйtй du beauf d'un des gйnйraux au pouvoir)... en attendant une grande roue, une rйplique de la tour Eiffel miniature, ou que sais-je...

Comme je ne mets que des observations assez subjectives, je ne note donc pas cette photo.

SWFalken (25) 2006-04-04 7:34 [Comment]

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pilpel-adom (3018) 2006-04-04 13:08

Amazing sunrise, Steven! The balance between the baloon and the pagodas is well balanced with pleasent borwn-ornage color tone that dominant the frame. The exposure control is also very good! Was worth while to climb so early in the morning, aint it??
:)
Chen

gary91 (15348) 2006-04-04 18:35

Bonsoir Steven,
Quelle superbe image !
Vraiment incroyable de dйlicatesse. J'adore ces teintes pastel et ces formes en demi-teinte.
Bravo pour cette belle rйussite
Amicalement. Christian

flydragon (0) 2006-04-05 2:28

une vue plus classique que la precedente
qui perso ne me fait pas bondir, mais tout de meme
une tres belle image
Le ballon me gene et pollue toute la magie de cette
endroit et de ton image ( c'est tres perso )
amicalement
••simon••

meme si je ne suis pass fan, cette image est belle
et mйrite bien ses points

Albrecht (11283) 2006-04-06 15:27

Hi Steven
One of the most beautiful pictures I have seen lately;beautiful silhouets and the ballon is a perfect catch;right time and right place. Great shot and atmosphere.
~ greetings Albrecht ~

Elaine_Blath (8471) 2006-04-07 7:58

Hi Steven,

amazing photo! No words needed, just excellent...I put this one to my favourites...

Regards, Ivana

CoolDan (2516) 2006-04-28 7:11

Bonjour Steven,
Magnifique, tout ce jaune dominant. Le ballon ne me dйrange pas, mкme qu'il donne un petit air moderne au paysage.
Bravo.

jufego (78) 2006-05-01 15:35

Amazing photo.
Congrats.

muratd (5073) 2006-05-01 15:45

hello very well foto. The colour and shoot time is perfect. Thank you.

clarita (654) 2006-05-01 15:46

beautiful photo!
i love the silhouette here next to the beautiful golden sky.
you framed this well.
thx for posting!
sorry i can't give you any props for this...i ran out for the day.

lesfilous (369) 2006-05-01 16:08

Hi Steven,
It's a magic shot with wonderful colors and shades.
Regards.
Fred

jkos (981) 2006-05-19 8:35

Great magical shot!!! Very nice shading of reds.
Well seen!
TFS,
Joel

tdsi (246) 2006-09-14 9:14 [Comment]

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rajhema (1873) 2006-09-14 9:19

Orange picture is awesome Steve. You are right about the ancient atmosphere and the balloon brings us back to present. Very well presented - which means your POV is excellent.
Thanks for sharing. Informative note as well!
TFS
Rajesh

rj2747 (526) 2006-12-22 9:07

This photo has everything, the tones slowly fading into the distance compliment the sprawling site of Bagan, the rusty colour is beautiful and the balloon offsets the composition magnificently.

tudor (220) 2007-02-17 15:43

Hi Steven,
Even before reading your note, one word came to my mind with regards to your photo: Magic!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful photo, that transports the viewer to a different world in a different time.
Bravo,
Tudor

hrobatos (16) 2007-04-11 5:14

extraordinary!!!

fenvemat (550) 2007-04-11 5:21

hi Steven,
great shot.Regards,Gцker

Nottinghill (1089) 2007-04-11 6:08

Hi Steven
I like colors and the mood of your picture. I tried similar shot in Egypt but without much success.Your combination of colors is more appealing
thanks for sharing
Marek

andeweg (139) 2007-04-13 2:20

Hello Steven,

what an exceptional shot. Everything in the same color, in different shades of this color, making it a really spectaculair.

nivaldo (15417) 2007-04-13 2:42 [Comment]

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rinoacq (145) 2007-04-13 2:49

Pura magia.

I miei complimenti

Framboisilla (5277) 2007-10-01 13:00

Hi Steven,

Waouhhh ! Beautiful these chinese shades and this orange sky... The montgolfier is nice in the landscape.

Regards,
Stйphanie.

MeAT (1174) 2009-04-25 5:33

Pretty unique elements in the picture: medieval background and hot air balloon. Layer style type picture and the colours. Good work!

MeAT :)

Photonovice (0) 2009-04-25 5:43

It does look amazing like you say a 12th century although ballons were around untill 1800s

great picture

javierphoto (168) 2009-07-21 7:46

Superbe.
On resent l'ambiance.
Respect, l'image est parfaite!

yuyu418 (100) 2010-01-28 8:57

Bonjour Steven,

C'est une photo magnifique! L'ambiance sublime, trиs belle lumiиre et les couleurs merveilleux.

J'irai а Bagan dans 2 semaines. Je vais essayer d'aller а ce temple "Mingalazedi" tфt le matin pour des belles photos. :-)

Yu

sta (170) 2010-07-04 10:55

This is an amazing picture in composition .
There are many layer of landscape's silhouette..

But, overall I like the combination between the title, the explorer's baloon, and the orange/sephia effect of silhouette..that make classic ambience of feeling.
Very smart, thanks for sharing..

best regard,
sulis

castellano (791) 2010-10-24 6:53

Superb picture Steven!
It looks like taken from a dream.
The "skyline" is gorgeous, and that light gives it a mysterious and exotic atmosphere.
The balloon is just something awesome to complete this excellent composition.

Regards,
Javier

Vagabond (5848) 2010-12-29 5:35

Wonderful picture with amazing composition in sepia tones and the justaposition of Ancient Times and the actulity of big balloons. The silhouettes and the detail are superb.
Congratulations
Rui

smash2707 (3320) 2012-12-08 16:49

Stunning silhouettes in different tones on a warm background. Beautiful composition. TFS

geneward2 (696) 2013-01-11 16:47 [Comment]

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paromitadey (623) 2014-04-22 21:35

Hi Steven,

Beautiful composition with magical colors, loved it.
Very informative and interesting writeup with the photo.
Thanks for sharing.

Regards,
Paromita