Pagoda At Night

Photo of the day #52
February 10, 2013
Random photo from my collection.

This photo, taken nearly 11 years ago, was my first ever award-winning photo. It won 2nd place in the “Places” category of Pennsylvania Magazine’s annual photo contest. It was taken with my first-ever DSLR, the Canon Rebel XS. To this day, I’m still very proud of the shot. It was cold, windy, and nighttime. Looking through the shots, I must have had a tripod, although I had remembered shooting hand-held. It’s possible I had something to lean my camera on, or maybe I did have a tripod. The long exposure 0.3-second shutter speed allowed more light without bumping the ISO to extreme numbers. A portrait orientation of this photo was also featured in the Landmarks category of Capture Greater Lehigh Valley: The Best of the Lehigh Valley photo contest by PBS 39 and Cardinal Camera.

I’ve always had a fascination with the pagoda from the very first time I saw its mysterious red lights at the top of Mount Penn off in the distance. I hunted it down and drove up the winding road to the top of the mountain.