Photographing autumn foliage in Kyoto, Japan, Your Shot community member Aurora Simionescu came upon these illuminated paper umbrellas in a stand of bamboo trees at Kodaiji Temple. But capturing this image of the display wasn’t easy. “Illuminated traditional paper umbrellas were scattered throughout the temple grounds as a part of [the autumn illumination] festival,” she explains, “but I especially liked how they broke the monotony of the bamboo forest by adding a splash of color. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a tripod with me, so I had to try to keep my hands very still while lying on the ground in a pretty awkward position to get this angle. But it wouldn’t be the first or last time my clothes got dirty for the sake of photography.”

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