Bangkok Skyline and Lessons in Light

When I was doing my Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies, I did a semester of Climatology (think weather). One day our lecturer asked all of the students what the weather had been like that very morning.

You could hear a pin drop throughout the lecture hall.

From that point on, our lecturer told us to never stop observing the weather patterns, what the clouds were doing, whether there was a dew in the morning etc…

While I didn’t realise it at the time, this training in observation would later serve me well as a photographer. Instead of watching the weather, I would learn to watch and learn what the light is like for a given location.

When I first arrived in Bangkok, the skyline was continually smoggy and terrible for decent city skyline photos. What I would go on to learn though, is that when the wet season comes around the rain drops all the dust out of the air and the result is really, really clear skies. (It helps if you get up right on sunrise to catch that magical early morning light).

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