Sunrise at Angkor Wat – 3
For photographers who want to take pictures of Angkor Wat at sunrise, there are exactly two best spots. The photos above and below were taken from the second best spot. The very best spot is about 250 meters further left, which affords a view of all the five towers of the main temple with the rising sun more directly behind the temple.
Unfortunately, they had a major restoration project going on when I visited, and there was a huge scaffolding that would have shown up in any photo from the top best spot, so I had to settle for the second best spot.
Even here, there is exactly one location from which you can catch all the five towers. At any other location, the palm trees in the foreground end up making one or more of the towers.
They let people into the temple complex at 5 AM, so on our first day there, we had a car pick me up at my hotel at 4:30 AM, so we could be there by opening time. Unfortunately, our driver missed a turn and took a wrong road, and had to retrace his way back, so we lost some time.
I still got there very shortly after 5 AM and well before sunrise, but the very best location from which I could get a clear shot of all five towers was gone. So I had to settle for the shot below which gives me a clear shot of three of the towers, but the other two are masked by the palm trees.
It's not a bad image, but I wanted to get a clear shot of all the towers, not blocked by any tree, so I went back there a second time the following morning, and this time I got there in time and grabbed the perfect spot. That's the image above.
Interestingly, the moisture and dust patterns in the air on the second day had changed quite a bit, and I got a much more asymmetrical rendering of the pink / orange tones. I was hoping for some clouds in the sky on the second day, but it turned out to be very clear again.
I like the background tonal variations from the first day (below) more than from the second day. Maybe I can process these in Photoshop and swap the two backgrounds! I might try that, if I decide to print one or two of these.
To anyone visiting Angkor Wat, if you want to take sunrise photos, I highly recommend going back there 2-3 times. The colors and patterns change quite dramatically from day to day, so you will at least come away with images with very different characters. Ideally, if you can also catch some clouds, that would be even more dramatic.
CF001018
Sunrise at Angkor Wat – 3
For photographers who want to take pictures of Angkor Wat at sunrise, there are exactly two best spots. The photos above and below were taken from the second best spot. The very best spot is about 250 meters further left, which affords a view of all the five towers of the main temple with the rising sun more directly behind the temple.
Unfortunately, they had a major restoration project going on when I visited, and there was a huge scaffolding that would have shown up in any photo from the top best spot, so I had to settle for the second best spot.
Even here, there is exactly one location from which you can catch all the five towers. At any other location, the palm trees in the foreground end up making one or more of the towers.
They let people into the temple complex at 5 AM, so on our first day there, we had a car pick me up at my hotel at 4:30 AM, so we could be there by opening time. Unfortunately, our driver missed a turn and took a wrong road, and had to retrace his way back, so we lost some time.
I still got there very shortly after 5 AM and well before sunrise, but the very best location from which I could get a clear shot of all five towers was gone. So I had to settle for the shot below which gives me a clear shot of three of the towers, but the other two are masked by the palm trees.
It's not a bad image, but I wanted to get a clear shot of all the towers, not blocked by any tree, so I went back there a second time the following morning, and this time I got there in time and grabbed the perfect spot. That's the image above.
Interestingly, the moisture and dust patterns in the air on the second day had changed quite a bit, and I got a much more asymmetrical rendering of the pink / orange tones. I was hoping for some clouds in the sky on the second day, but it turned out to be very clear again.
I like the background tonal variations from the first day (below) more than from the second day. Maybe I can process these in Photoshop and swap the two backgrounds! I might try that, if I decide to print one or two of these.
To anyone visiting Angkor Wat, if you want to take sunrise photos, I highly recommend going back there 2-3 times. The colors and patterns change quite dramatically from day to day, so you will at least come away with images with very different characters. Ideally, if you can also catch some clouds, that would be even more dramatic.
CF001018