P#24: A Serene Photo of a Young Burmese Monk

Making it Happen

Scott Stulberg: This is a photograph of a Burmese monk, taken in Burma at a nearby temple. I grabbed this little kid and I asked him if he would pose in this window. I put him up here. I went up there, put him in the position I wanted him to be in and shot the picture. (click image for a larger version)

You can't just be walking along in Burma, finding people doing stuff like this. You have to pose them in this position. I had my friend Jim down on the ground because he is up on the first floor above. He was holding a soft gold reflect and bounced the light up into the face of the Burmese monk.

A little bit went on his knee, and a little bit went up on his face. I don't travel anywhere in the world without my soft gold reflector for exactly this reason. When I pose people in open shade, I need to bounce back light. Some of the light went on the shutters and some of the light went on his face. That's what made him have that beautiful golden glow.

I had him look right at me. He couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Burmese. I'd use my hand, "No, no, no. Okay, look here," and look right at the lens and, "Put your hand here." I came out of the temple, came back and was shooting on a tripod. The reflector is going up.

I just framed it tight and took a bunch of shots until I got one I really liked and he had his eyes perfectly. He had that beautiful "not knowing what's going on" expression just looking straight at me.

This is what happens when you find local people, put them in positions you want. Set it up, and you get it. I love this shot because I know exactly what I was feeling and how happy I was to shoot this guy. Anybody can get this kind of shot if they're willing to work with the locals. I also had the head monk sign a model release so I was able to sell this image.

In Closing

The best shots don't happen naturally. They have to be posed. That's exactly how Scott Stulberg got this beautiful golden photograph of a young Burmese monk.