Tiger Temple

[yass00]

I shot this one along with many others in Thailand sometime in January of 2004 at a very mystical & magical place called Watpa Luangtabua Yannasampampanno, better known to travellers as Tiger Temple... Around 3 hours drive N/W of Bangkok in the remote Province of kanchanaburi...

My wife & I spent the hole day there watching & observing the tigers ( free running & unchained ) being washed, fed & exercised by these incredible Monks...

The Monks allowed us unrestricted physical contact with the tigers, to play and observe their behavior with many photo opportunities along the way, the whole day... I have choosen one of many favorites...

Changed my life forever, very touching & emotional experience !!

http://www.photo.net.au/members/d/2034-1/WildEyes.jpg

Enjoy

[sue248]

What an absolutely beautiful shot! I love the composition. Must have been an amazing experience. :)

[LyndaC]

Great shot, what a perfect look on his face and what beautiful markings.

[yass00]

Thanks so much LyndaC & sue248... The photo was snapped around 25 meters away from the subject so it was croped heavily, nearly to the point of pixelation + we were in the shade...

Alot of work was done to get it to this...


yass00

[yass00]

Here is my wife Christina & I walking with Storm (tiger) the most placid of the group...

http://www.photo.net.au/members/d/2039-1/RossHongTigerWalking.jpg

Now i'm just showing off :p


yass00

[yass00]

One More for for feeling confident :)


This is my wife Christina & I with Storm & the latest edition to the clan, New - Sky...

One of the monk's helpers assisted with the camera...

http://www.photo.net.au/members/d/2041-1/RossHongTigerSitting.jpg

:D

[sue248]

[QUOTE=yass00

Now i'm just showing off :p

yass00[/QUOTE]



Great shots....i'd be showing off too! Must have been a wonderful experience being so close to such magnificent cats.

[EarthSeaSky]

Hi Yass, amazing pics. Aren't you glad that storm and sky weren't hungry and in such a peaceful mood! How many cans of Happy Tom do they gobble up each day? - They look as if they could swallow a whole case of it at once! lol

[yass00]

Hi Yass, amazing pics. Aren't you glad that storm and sky weren't hungry and in such a peaceful mood! How many cans of Happy Tom do they gobble up each day? - They look as if they could swallow a whole case of it at once! lol

Hiya Mark, I have a few links that might quench your thirst about consumption of cans ( happy tom ) :D

http://www.buschgardens.org/infobooks/Tiger/diettiger.html

http://www.2ndchance.info/bigcatdiet.htm

Also, here is a link to the tigers home page:

http://www.tigertemple.org/Eng/


yass00

[EarthSeaSky]

Thanks for the links yass, WOW, glad I read that bit about wearing a face mask back the front as tigers only attack your back ... although I don't think I'd want to test that theory either! Tiger Temple was interesting too..

[xa-coupe]

hrmph, I went to the same area ( Bridge over the River Kwai ) and no one mentioned the tiger temple !!!
Maybe I will go there next time I am in the neighbourhood :)