This photo is part of WordPress’ Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination – my entries for other weeks can be found here.
With many dazzling pretty lights abound in this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge on Illumination, I decided to focus my entry on one particular kind of beautiful light: inner light.
Not far from the mists of West Lake in Hangzhou, China, clouds of rising incense fill Lingyin Temple (灵隐寺). As Buddhist pilgrims meander through the hilly terrain, a young woman burning incense lifts her gaze with an intense focus and a sense of hope.
Having hope, especially in the midst of dark times, requires a focus on that inner light. Illumination from a Buddhist perspective also comes from within – the inner Buddha-nature of all sentient beings. Although she may gaze towards the luminous heavens, the light she sees is a reflection of her inner being.
How does hope illuminate your life?
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Want to see the photo-editing magic that illuminated this once-dark photo? Check out my tutorial here!
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 mugs and more |
Available at my Inner Bodhisattva Zazzle store – (due to Zazzle policies not allowing photographs of people, the image has been cropped and retitled “Incense Ascending”). |
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A few shout-outs to some other Illumination entries that I liked:
- mikehardisty has two stunning photos and a great discussion of color balancing in both natural and artificial light
- timetobeinspired shows multiple photos from different churches featuring different kinds of lights, my favorites being the candles, the chandler, and the church at sunset
- sherrygaley has a beautifully lite photo with starbursts, with a corresponding poem
- skww brings a peaceful Stockholm night a-glow with life with beautifully vivid colors
- milnersblog used long exposures to capture the path of the International Space Station
- museandsparrow shares night photos full of many bright colors that really pop against the black backgrounds
- adayinthelifeofjennay shows a variety of different photos, my favorite being the soft glow of the autumn leaf
Thanks for the shout out!! =)
You’re welcome!
[...] create the final look of my Hope Ascending photo I used a technique in which I layered the same photo on to of itself repeatedly, while using [...]
Thanks you for visiting my blog and mentioning me here
You’re welcome! Thanks for the return visit =D
Thanks for the shout out. I love your focus on inner light.
You’re welcome – I’m glad that appreciate the inner light focus!
[...] Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination – Hope Ascending (seasreflectingstarlight.com) [...]
[...] Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination – Hope Ascending (seasreflectingstarlight.com) [...]
This is so beautiful! And very inspiring :)
Thank you very much!
[...] Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination – Hope Ascending (seasreflectingstarlight.com) [...]
[...] Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination – Hope Ascending « Seas Reflecting Starlight [...]