Fusion
On a recent trip to Asia, I had one last night before a return flight from Bangkok, so I took a quick flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat, one of the most incredible spiritual sites in the world. Since i had a precious few hours in the morning, I hired a guide to take me to the best locations in this enormous complex of temples. This is one of the most famous ruins, Preah Khan temple, with the massive banyan tree growing around the old temple ruins.
I was so excited to visit here, having always marveled at the pictures of this beauty. I must admit though that I was initially disappointed when I looked over my photos from the trip. They all seemed rather "postcard-y", and nothing exceptional. I had to leave them for a couple of weeks, and only after some time away, and some tamping down of my own unreasonable expectations, I was able to isolate a few that captured the magnificence of the locale as best I could at the time. I processed this one in both color and black and white. There were some pretty splashes of mottled sunlight on the roots which I liked in the color version. I gave my daughter the choice and she chose the black and white version, so here we are.
I'd love to go back and spend a lot more time here, exploring at different times of day and weather conditions. While my guide was totally professional and helpful given my limited constraints, next time I'd do it just on my own, without a guide telling me where to shoot.
Fusion
On a recent trip to Asia, I had one last night before a return flight from Bangkok, so I took a quick flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat, one of the most incredible spiritual sites in the world. Since i had a precious few hours in the morning, I hired a guide to take me to the best locations in this enormous complex of temples. This is one of the most famous ruins, Preah Khan temple, with the massive banyan tree growing around the old temple ruins.
I was so excited to visit here, having always marveled at the pictures of this beauty. I must admit though that I was initially disappointed when I looked over my photos from the trip. They all seemed rather "postcard-y", and nothing exceptional. I had to leave them for a couple of weeks, and only after some time away, and some tamping down of my own unreasonable expectations, I was able to isolate a few that captured the magnificence of the locale as best I could at the time. I processed this one in both color and black and white. There were some pretty splashes of mottled sunlight on the roots which I liked in the color version. I gave my daughter the choice and she chose the black and white version, so here we are.
I'd love to go back and spend a lot more time here, exploring at different times of day and weather conditions. While my guide was totally professional and helpful given my limited constraints, next time I'd do it just on my own, without a guide telling me where to shoot.