TAJ MAHAL AT NIGHT

This photograph of the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India was taken at night of a full moon in November 2005. Just one month earlier the national government had opened the Taj for night visits during the full moon only after being closed at night for 20 years for fear of terrorist attacks. We had to send a copy of our passport information page to the government two weeks in advance, and then pass through two metal detectors and be escorted by armed soldiers in groups of 20 tourists to the Taj Mahal. There are no lights on the Taj as this is a tomb. All the light in this image comes from the full moon and the lights from the buildings on the other side of the river behind the Taj. I created this panoramic photograph with my Hasselblad X-pan using a time exposure and after setting my camera down on the top step of the stairs leading down into the garden that surrounds the Taj Mahal.