The Yi Peng lantern festival is a festival marking the end of the rainy
season that is unique to Northern Thailand. It is now held at the same
time as the Loy Krathong festival which is celebrated nationwide.
The pictures featured here were taken last year at Lamphun located
at the outskirts of Chiang Mai city. This privately organized event were
toned down a bit as the nation observes the mourning period for their
beloved late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
There are ample photo opportunities, but the circumstances proved
to be challenging. One of the event’s highlights, the mass simultaneous
release of the sky lanterns happened so fast that it was over in a few
minutes. It was also quite dark and getting the focus and exposure right
was tricky.
I opted to use the Pen F with the versatile 7-14mm and 12-40mm Pro
zoom lenses, so I didn’t need to move around the crowds that much.
Wide open, I could still get a usable 1/30 shutter speed at ISO 3200 for
most of the time. If the light levels were lower though, I wouldn’t hesi-
tate to use my primes instead.
Equally interesting are the monks who perform the festive activities.
The young ones in particular were very enthusiastic and cooperative.
Their participation is both in line with tradition and a kind gesture to tour-
ists. Me and my fellow photographer friends had a great time shooting
this event.