In this Wesak Day procession on the evening of the 28 May 2010 (last friday), most of the decorated vehicles and walking team were moving non-stop, unless there was a little jam in front of them.

It was a good time for me to practice panning photography.  I like to play with the shutter speed control on my camera, and the low light condition forced me to use longer shutter speed (even I have used the highest ISO setting) which was difficult to make sure the photo was not blurred.  I do not have an external flash light, therefore the technique of panning in photography was my solution.

Most of the time, I used horizontal panning where I moved my camera while pressing the shutter speed following the direction of the moving objects.  But this picture above is called zoom panning.  It was out of my camera capability, and I have done it using photo editing software.  :P

Look at their feet.

The pretty girls in traditional Chinese costumes were carrying the lotus light.

I had minimized the blur under low light condition by moving according the their movements.  But my camera’s movement speed may not be the same as their moving speed.  That is why, it is still blur.  The only thing that I can express in this picture is they are moving.  I still need to practice a lot to take a good panning photo.

Moving fast.

A good thing about panning is it can turn the background into lines to show that the subject is moving fast.  If the panning speed is the same or close to the moving subject, the subject would actually stay still and not blur.

If you do not understand what panning means, you can compare this photo with the photo above.  The above photo was taken with panning, but this photo is a static photo with faster shutter speed.  Luckily they did not move too fast.

Yes, panning effects can usually be found in car racing photos.  Does the photo above look similar to a racing car photo?  :D

Since my camera has limited flash capability, I will continue to take photo without flash unless someone sponsor me a flashlight that can be attached to my camera.  With flash, there will be another technique call slow sync flash.

I still need a lot of practice.  I have a lot of chance to practice my skill in taking the photos of procession because each year there will be many processions in Kuching from different Chinese temple besides Wesak Day’s procession.  :D

Coming up next, I will show you the walking team of this procession.

…  to be continued.

“Selamat Ari Gawai Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai” (Happy Gawai day, long life, health and prosperity) to all Dayak (Native in Sarawak, Borneo) especially to my friend Samuel and his wife.

As usual the big white cat statue at Padungan, Kuching Malaysia is decorated with Dayak theme in brown.  You can click here to compare what are the differences during Gawai last year (2009).

The Dayak’s shield hold by the big white cat is the same piece used last year, but the hat and clothes are different this year.

This is the 6th time SiewPeng and I have photos taken with the big white cat statue in different festive seasons.  We will continue to take photo with this cat every time it is decorated.  The next time we are expecting would be Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

We were thinking of taking the photo in day time when the sky is bright and blue, but I remember the last experience when we did it in the morning (a few days before this Chinese New year).  The sunlight shone directly to us until we could hardly open our eyes, so we have decided to take the photo at night this time.  Besides, the lights also look nicer at night.

This year, the authority hanged a decorated light where a dayak dancing with a sword and a shield.  As usual other places on the roads in Kuching were decorated with this type of light also.

It might not be a public holiday in other states in Malaysia for Gawai days on the 1st and 2nd of June every year.  If you are in Sarawak, what is your plan during the Gawai holidays?

Drive carefully and have a Happy Gawai Day!!!