2012, Day 100 - Release

This photo was taken on my last trip to Thailand.  My friends and I had a late return into Chiang Mai and went almost immediately to dinner.  As it common the temperature dropped a few degrees as night fell so we decided to go for a bit of a walk.  The air was heavy with the sweet scent of the plumeria mingled with the occasional waft of incense.  As we wandered the streets of Chiang Mai's old city we saw a sky lantern rise gently towards the stars before getting caught on a slight breeze and setting off into the distance.

Energized by the sight we quickly made out way to its point of origin and came upon Wat Jediluang.  There we found s few people waiting for the hot air to collect into the lantern before releasing it to the heavens.  These young monks were testing the air to see if enough had collected to carry their lantern away and moments after taking their picture it was drifting lazily into the sky.  Some nights are just magical and this is one that I will never forget.

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 24/f1.4L Mark II
24mm, f1.4, 1/125 sec @ 1000 ISO