BALI ⸨A Travelogue⸩ ~ limwhow & SereneXMM

[limwhow]

... Learning fast, Miss ESP also did her share of photo-sharing with the children...

[limwhow]

T R A V E L O G U E

Kecak Dance

I would say that this day was full of hightlights.
One highlight after another highight.
And of course one lowlight (low light condition) after another lowlight.
We have been looking forward to this Kecak Dance since we set foot on Balinese soil.
And finally here we were.

In this dance, the few tens of male dancers in Sarong would alternate between sitting and strutting around in circles,
and in general would keep chanting the word 'kecak kecak', in mimicry of the noise of a monkey.
Our fellow travel-mate Colin aptly described it as hypnotic, for after a while, the kecak-ing would lull one into a half-asleep, trance-like state.
So pardon me for not being able to shoot well.

The story of this Kecak Dance is taken from the Indian epic The Ramayana.
In this story, the Princess Sita was abducted by the evil lord Rhawana and it tells how
the Prince Rama goes about saving her with the help of Hanoman the Monkey God.

Colin said to me: "Catch the men when they first come streaming out of the doorway.."
So I tried my best here and obediently I did, with him sitting beside me.
The timing of the day was great as it was last light and we could still see the blue of the sky.

[limwhow]

If you ask me who is the most difficult character to photograph, I would say it's Sita the beautiful Princess.
Her delicate hand movements and the slow, sensuous gyration of her hips, coupled with the expressions on her face...
Add onto these, the fact that she would fleet from one part of the stage to another,
all make for a difficult subject to capture.
I have always dreamt of shooting her in the centre surrounded by the male dancers with out-stretched arms Kecak-ing away.
But alas, my dream was not to come true. Here is the best that I could manage.

[limwhow]

Another set of characters whom SereneXMM and I found most attractive were the Legong Dancers.
These are young girls of around 7-8 years of age and they have been trained since very young.
Their movements were synchronised and graceful, and their eye expressions enhanced the whole beauty of their dance.
One thing about these Legong Dancers - once they reached puberty and started have their first periods, they will no longer be able to be a Legong Dancer.

[limwhow]

I am full of loads of nonsensical record shots.
This one serves just to show the ritual in the middle of the dance by the priest.

[limwhow]

So I ended up just shooting the other accessories around...
...this one is taken when I just tip-toed to the corner of the stage and shot right in, with the dancers in the background.

[limwhow]

SerenXMM liked the little girl dancers very very much because they were dancing in time with each other.
Here are some of her pictures.
A little noisy, but never mind - they showed what she saw through her eyes.

[limwhow]

This one should be the princess.
Another shot by SereneXMM.

[limwhow]

This one is also the princess from another angle.
By SereneXMM.

[limwhow]

"Yoyo, it's a little noisy. Keke!", says SereneXMM.

[limwhow]

I think this should be the female side-character. Just forgotten her name.

[Zeus]

Excellent coverage with such low light conditions. The Kecak dance lasted for hours?

[limwhow]

Excellent coverage with such low light conditions. The Kecak dance lasted for hours?

Hello Zeus,
Sorry for the late reply and thank you very much for the encouragement!
Yes, the Kecak dance lasted about an hour.
It was really good to be at the front row of seats as we were able to vary our shooting position.
And we could even go very near to the stage.

[limwhow]

After the dance...

Don't push your luck lah, Adrian...!
You wear EOS shirt and talking about the 'Dark Side'?!
Ai si yah! Hahaha...

[limwhow]

It's been a tiring tiring, extremely exhausting dawn-morning-late morning-noon-afternoon-dusk-evening-night.
We just can't wait for dinner.
And the Scotsman, his beer.
What? No beer?
From limwhow: "Yes, Scotsman... No beer in KFC. Thousands of apologies..!"

[limwhow]

T R A V E L O G U E

Day 3 (Finally!): From Sanur to Tegalallang (Model Shoot!)

Here we are.
Day 3.
Got permission from General Adrian to wake up a little later to have a nice drive to this beautiful rice terrace part at Tegalallang.
And what have we there? A beautiful Balinese girl for our model shoot!

[limwhow]

Here.. early morning golden light.
All natural. No hanky-panky-ing on the lightings.

[limwhow]

This time, this day at this particular spot,
my breath (as I am sure some of our members as well) was taken away when I set eyes on this terrace.
I could hear speng and JJ breathe out a soft sigh of exclamation behind me when we all saw this scene.
My photo does this scene no justice.
Waiting for yours, SK1968. (and yours too, Adrian, if you are still out there somewhere...)

[Zeus]

i think if u add some constrast to this shot..it'll be great.

[limwhow]

i think if u add some constrast to this shot..it'll be great.

Hello Zeus,
Thanks for the advice.
Yes, I certainly do think that that will make it better.

[vngks]

Wah Mr. Old Flower. Every forum I go I see your postings hahaha.

[limwhow]

Hey, vngks!
sorry for the very late reply!
I just came back to the forum and was pleasantly surprised to see your post on the thread. Hahaha..
Thank you thank you!