As I know there are over thousands photos of Christ the Redeemer all over the World, my challenge is how to take a photo making the difference. Before departure, I started to do researches by referencing other photographers’ pictures on popular photo web sites, checking weather as well as light direction.
From the top of Christ the Redeemer, I saw Sugar Loaf Mountain which is the next spot in my itinerary. Then I came up an idea - “it would be nice to have a photo with the close-up and long shot together”. Next day, I went to Sugar Loaf Mountain as planned. Unfortunately, it was raining all along. I took many shots but none was good enough. Just right before heading back to hotel , rain stopped in late evening. (It was a magic, wasn’t it?) I got an once-in-a-lifetime chance to take shots with dramatic sky in such perfect time. Sun light added additional textures (cloud and shadow) to the sky. Amazing. Hence I named this picture “Precious Gift” (奇妙的恩典).