Gold, a photo from Himachal Pradesh, North

Photographer's Note

Caught in the fast fading, golden evening light the Ki Monastery, the oldest and largest gompa in Spiti has a spectacular location (4116m) atop a conical hill about 14 kms from Kaza.
Built by Ringchen Zangpo it was invaded 3 times in the 19th century by the Ladakhis, Dogras and Sikhs.
Hit by an earthquake in 1975 it was partially destroyed but donations by the poorest and the richest have seen it rebuilt!

Famous for its priceless silk paintings ( thangkas) it allows no photography on the inside!

So instead is a picture of this landmark of Spiti from across the Spiti river. The colours are un touched by post processing.
Enjoy Himachal!

mikhalych, timotey, Katsudon, iamxa, Kenny10pin, GrahamB, DiaAzul, EMA, losteden, jiherka, sn00zie, bfly, Catli, bharat, kurtyang04, nbournas, manu_itu, KevRyan, amol, ramesh_lalwani, altonv heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

mikhalych (1319) 2004-07-19 7:54

Fantastic lighting. You were lucky to catch monastery lighted with last rays of sun against already dark mountain side behind it.

Gatis (925) 2004-07-19 8:02

What a place on Earth!... I love this picture very much!

oochappan (4880) 2004-07-19 8:03

Indeed mikhalych and a good composition and sharpness, makes you feel really tiny towards the massive mountains.

pratyeka (281) 2004-07-19 8:06

Amazing shot of an amazing place. Great lighting, nice composition.

dominique (11414) 2004-07-19 8:19

Framing is really interesting, likes the color of the rock and this small village very well is placed, well done.

Rhiannon (1728) 2004-07-19 9:07

Excellent light and colours. I like your composition very much. The monastery looks very impressive.
Great capture!

GrahamB (939) 2004-07-19 9:59

Fantastic picture and an amazing place. Great light , great composition. I love the way the buildings are highlighted against the shadow on the mountainside.

Olga (927) 2004-07-19 10:09

unbelievable! best postcard HP i have seen! and the monastery is so small... what is the altitutude? no vegetation but no snow either

iamxa (3103) 2004-07-19 10:34

Superb light in a wonderful view. It seems a dream. The composition and yellow tones are great. Really, a very good one.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-07-19 10:48

nice work here, I like the mountains and especially the housing you have caught too, looks amazing, I wouldnt mind visiting that place myself

Well done

DiaAzul (1403) 2004-07-19 11:05

I really like this because it really shows the scale of the mountain and the monastry. The colours are terrific and timing of the photograph is superb. You have achieved something with this picture which doesn't happen to often and that is create a desire in me to go visit to see it myself! Thank you.

jiherka (4552) 2004-07-19 16:35

very nice picture of this gold mountain. The mountains is so impressive, the village seems to be crushed by it.
Well done Vijay

losteden (1520) 2004-07-19 16:41

What to say looking at photo like this ?
That it is amazing - obvius, that is color, composition, light is perfect - obvius. That place is very fascination - obvius. I say perfect photo.

timotey (119) 2004-07-20 2:50

An amazing place taken with perfect light conditions. This picture is great because of a composition rendering a feeling of tallness of the mountain compared to this little village. Very well done !

kingfisher (129) 2004-07-23 4:45

Love it ! Looks as if the mountain right on top is gonna come crashing down ! Hope that never happens.

bfly (5775) 2004-08-01 16:12

Vijay, you should start considering a book..photography may be your passion or not, your notes are so good and detailed that your beautiful pictures become more than they are...this is like some pictures I have seen and envied in my trekking or travel books..looks very very pro :))..I loved the light on the monastry...
hugs

sn00zie (2384) 2004-08-02 4:52

welcome back dear vijay! how was kaza? from the looks of this beautiful picture, i'd say-WONDERFUL! :D please post more from there!

sohrab (7439) 2004-08-02 9:14

helloooooooooo
im back as well
this photograph reminds me of ummmmmmmmmm
i forgot the name of that monastery . it was featured in the january issue of national geographic this year . im actually not sure . ill check up and let you know
anyway it was this swedish photographer called mathias klum who went there for 2-3 months. he's really really good. but to get the permission to goto this monastery it took him a year to get the permission from dalai lama. moreover he had to go on a donkey's back for 2-3 days to reach that place.but......... it was worth it. the place is unbelievable . it looks like mars .i'll let you know about the issue . there are a few 100 of like around in my room so now i have to look through them :(

manu_itu (307) 2005-01-02 4:47

Great picture Vijay. Excellent show of lights and heights. I wasn't as lucky as you, as i had to return from Peo cos it snowed heavily and all routes were blocked. Hope to see this masterpiece next time may be in august or may.

Leonie (8809) 2005-03-01 15:42

Hello there, indeed very impressive sourroundings! Thanks for letting me know about your picture! One can see that the altitude is very high..no much vegetation! Do they have much water there? It looks quite dry.
Your pic is very good anyway, great quality! Congrats!

Léonie

keribar (43841) 2005-03-05 2:39

Hello Vijay,

This is the best picture I've found today in TE. Gorgeous view, striking light, incredible background, everything is perfect. I will add this picture to my favorites. Take care - Izzet Kewribar

KevRyan (22956) 2005-03-07 7:12

A stunningly beautiful photograph of this landscape and the wonderful scale at which human intervention has been made. I agree with Izzet and it enters my favourites too!

maidiremai (1170) 2005-11-03 12:47

Beautiful place with exceptional lights - it is really an amazing picture! Congratulations!

amol (952) 2005-12-02 1:24

hi Vijay
this is simple awesome!!! a masterpiece... beautiful light and a very well framed golden moment... I can't believe I missed it while going through your photos sometime back... anyways better late than never:)

ramesh_lalwani (3213) 2006-07-04 11:04

Hi Vijay
spiti looks just like Ladakh.Golden light looks great on mountain and monestry.Good shot congratulations.
Ramesh

vandana2923 (479) 2006-07-20 8:42

Beautiful....nicely captured! I wanted to see the pictures of Spiti, and you gave me those Vijay...Vandana.