Zen

That’s the title of the theme topic chosen by the PAPM for the first theme-based photo sharing. So Zen, that’s a Buddhist philosophy centered around meditation in view of attaining enlightenment. Zen photos usually evoke images of calmness, tranquility & oneness.

With this in mind, I came up with an idea – a meditating Buddha figurine behind the sunset (similar to the bus photos).

 

I got hold of a laughing Buddha figurine & set to work. With a compact camera, it’s quite hard to balance the metering. Sometimes it’s overexposed.

 

Or underexposed.

 

Buddha figurine facing the camera… that’s too common. Why not meditate while facing the sunset?

 

After several tries, I got this. :)

 

The timing was crucial, because the sun just had to skim the treetops to get this wonderful bokeh which meant I had only a few chances to shoot it. Otherwise, the sunset disappears… I was fortunate to get it right because I never managed to get the same setting again! ;)