Art In Paradise is located just off Pattaya 2nd Road, around 200 meters north of Central Marina shopping mall, and 80 meters before Tiffany’s Ladyboy Show. It’s easy and cheap to reach by baht bus, GrabTaxi or motorcycle taxi. You can find it using this Google map of tourist attractions in Pattaya
Pattaya Art In Paradise is open from 0900 to 2100.
I know ‘Art in Paradise’ has been covered hundreds of times already, but I will give you a retrospective view, I will point out a few things I did, which you should not do. In other words, you can learn from my mistakes.
First tip: it gets busy at weekends, try and visit on a weekday, or else you will be waiting a long time to take your photos. Second tip: Take your Thai driving license and get in for the same price as Thais.
Check the current status and opening times, read real user reviews, and get discounted tickets and entry to attractions, activities, tours and all the best things to do in Pattaya.
By the time I arrived at this picture I had learned that the glossy finish of the paintings reflected the light from the camera’s flash, so I increased the ISO rating to 3200 and turned off the flash.
Notice all the bare feet ! (photo above), you have to take off your shoes (they supply you with a plastic bag), many of the paintings are on or include the floor below them, the purpose of the bare feet is to protect the paintings from scuff marks. Take a shoulder bag to carry your shoes, otherwise you’ll struggle adjusting your camera settings.
It’s all about perspective, the illusion does not work unless you position yourself and your camera in the correct position. Take your time when photographing the floor paintings, make sure you are looking from the right perspective (viewpoint), look for the vertical lines, and try shooting a few photos from a low angle to capture the background.
The lighting is directional and quite dim, like I said earlier, the flash causes a reflection, and using higher ISO settings results in inferior quality photos. Another way around this is to take a tripod and use the slower shutter speeds, just make sure your human subject stays still
Take a wide angle lens with you to capture the larger paintings, as you can see in the photo (above) some of the paintings cover a whole wall.
You don’t have to frame the whole painting, try getting a few close up shots. I actually did some serious cropping on this photo (above) to remove the glare of the flash, it is still evident in the top left of the photo.
It doesn’t have to be interactive, but a little role play can make all the difference.