Ancient Angkor

[Montmelo]

Many thanks to fellow Cser OttOMaster for some tips for my recent trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Appreciate it.

I must say that it was a very pleasant place for a short break.
Local folks are friendly & extremely helpful. Street food was excellent. And opportunities for photography were even better.

We arrived in Sieam Reap in the late morning & headed to Ta Phrom, which was supposed to be a good location for an afternoon visit as it is relatively shaded.
#1 Overgrown roots. Had to wait a while for groups of tourists who took group shots at this location.



Though these may not be very elegant, these wooden braces play their part to prevent further collapse of the already frail structures
#2



Laterite is one of the main building material used. Here, they add a nice brownish color tone of this shot in Ta Phrom.
#3



It was tough to get both the sky & stone structures properly exposed. In most cases, the sky highlights are blown. Here are two shots in Sepia tone in an attempt to 'cover up' the blown highlights.
#4 "The House of Fire"


#5

[juLi]

Xcellent series!!
thank you so much for sharing & would love to visit there soon

[Montmelo]

The climb up Ta Keo is pretty steep.
#6



Pillars next to the immense bas relief carvings at Angkor Wat.
#7


Not sure if a portrait orientation would work better here or not.
#8 Angkor Wat


Amok Fish. Traditional Khmer cuisine. I had it 4 times at various places during my 4 day trip and found this one served at a small eatery outside Angkor Wat called "Nearby Khmer Angkor" to have the best one.
#9 Amok fish served in a coconut

[giantcanopy]

Originally Posted by Montmelo Amok Fish. Traditional Khmer cuisine. I had it 4 times at various places during my 4 day trip and found this one served at a small eatery outside Angkor Wat called "Nearby Khmer Angkor" to have the best one. #9 Amok fish served in a coconut

Amok fish quite nice! I tried a few times at different places.
And i see that you got the local Angkor beer

Ryan

[Montmelo]

Originally Posted by giantcanopy Amok fish quite nice! I tried a few times at different places. And i see that you got the local Angkor beer Ryan

Yes, must try the local beer. Both Angkor beer & Bayon beer.
Pretty cheap compared to Singapore prices.

On day 3, we also tried some of the street food. This is the local mixed dessert or "bang em kroup mok" (Hope i got the spelling correct). 5 different items topped up with shaved ice, coconut milk & condensed milk. US$1. Excellent stuff.
The lady vendor could not speak English. Fortunately, a local chap who was having his meal there came to our aid to explain what these were & the price.
#10


#11 Close up of the dessert.



Not to be missed also is the pan cake or "Banh Chhey". The skin is made of ground rice and filled with bean sprouts & meat. Its then dipped into a sweet sauce.
We packed 2 pieces back to the hotel. US$1
#12

[Montmelo]

Went to Phom Bakong for sunset on Day 1.
The climb is pretty steep but no sweat for some. There was a lady wearing ankle length skirt & 2 inch heels with a baby in one arm.
She got up to the top pretty quickly.
#13


Sunrise attempts at Angkor Wat on Day 2 were futile due to the clouds.
This little girl was helping her parents (probably caretakers at the temple) sweep up.
#14


#15 And her brothers

[Montmelo]

Next destination was the group of temples around Angkor Thom.

#16 Demon statues one one side of the road at the South Gate. The other side are statues of Gods (many are missing for apparent reasons)



#17 Steps leading up to Bayon.
The face towers are hollow and are filled with bats. You can hear & see them. Take care you might be pelted with bat droppings while looking up to spot them



#18 Faces on the upper terrace at Bayon


There is much ongoing restoration work at Bapuon. Skilled craftsmen are present - chipping on stone blocks to recreate some of the missing wall carvings.
#19 View of the causeway at Bapuon

[Montmelo]

#20 Spider web dominate the slopes & steps at Preah Palilay.



#21 Sculptures along the Lepper King Terrace


#22 In desperate need for a facial. Lepper King Terrace


The passageway was pretty narrow here.
#23 Famous sculptures at one end of the Lepper King Terrace

[night86mare]

love the portraits

a lot of orton used here? i'm thinking there is selective blur done for pp in the third post.. a tad overdone in my opinion

still nice, rustic series.. any ir done?

[Montmelo]

Originally Posted by night86mare love the portraits a lot of orton used here? i'm thinking there is selective blur done for pp in the third post.. a tad overdone in my opinion still nice, rustic series.. any ir done?

Thanks. I found it difficult to get the exposure of the stone surfaces correct. Orton effect helps to brighten that up a little.

I assume you are referring to the selective blur on image #8. Noted on it being overdone.
I would have set to a larger aperture (instead of doing it via PP) when taking the shot but there were many people waiting behind me to get onto the passage way.

No IR this time. Kinda regretted not bringing my IR cam along during this trip though.
A modded cam would be useful here else you'll get lots of tourists walking into your frame during longer exposures.

[Montmelo]

Originally Posted by juLi Xcellent series!! thank you so much for sharing & would love to visit there soon

Thanks. I see from your multiply that you travel a lot!
Great photo collection.

[Shuttergraphy]

Most framing looks good but do not quite like the soft focus effect that you've applied, think should have just kept them simple and true; as right now, they don't seem to value-add your work. Only works for #19 for me for the effect also, few nice portraits.

Otherwise great work, keep it up!

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by Montmelo Not sure if a portrait orientation would work better here or not. #8 Angkor Wat

i think horizontal orientation is good, and perhaps i may even prefer it wider by possibly cropping a little of the bottom (since the top is already tight)

and i suppose the blurring is done by pp, and not by large aperture, tilt shift lens or lens babies. that done on the wall and the lights in the background are great. those on the left are plus minus, think they looks good in either ways.

[zoossh]

Originally Posted by Montmelo #10

just a little more contrast and a little brighter (and better clarity), this will remind me of the hawker shots that giantcanopy has in his thread also on cambodia.

hope u dun mind me asking. what lens is this shot on? i think the lens may make some differences on the clarity and color reproduction.

[Montmelo]

Originally Posted by zoossh just a little more contrast and a little brighter (and better clarity), this will remind me of the hawker shots that giantcanopy has in his thread also on cambodia. hope u dun mind me asking. what lens is this shot on? i think the lens may make some differences on the clarity and color reproduction.

Thanks for the comments for improvement.
This shot was taken with the Nikkor 18-200mm / D80.

[Montmelo]

Originally Posted by Shuttergraphy Most framing looks good but do not quite like the soft focus effect that you've applied, think should have just kept them simple and true; as right now, they don't seem to value-add your work. Only works for #19 for me for the effect also, few nice portraits. Otherwise great work, keep it up!

Thanks. Noted on the soft focus.

There were 12 of these impressive structures called the Suor Prat Towers but were of little significance/importance
#21 Grazing horses



The next location was a beautiful site that is still very much in ruins. Preah Khan is declared as a World Heritage Site. A must to visit.
#22 Images of buddha scratched out. Possibly during ancient times when there was a change in rulers & hence the official religion from Buddhism to Hinduism



#23 More overgrown roots at Preah Khan

[Montmelo]

#24 Peak at East Mebon


Kind of a repeating shot but this is another view of the walls at East Mebon
#25


This shot was taken riding on the tuk tuk back to the hotel
#26

[wranger]

Very nice series.

[Montmelo]

The next morning, we took a tuk tuk over to Banteay Srei.
This is a highly recommended site. The structure are made of laterite stone, which is quite different from the temples at the main Angkor group.

#27 View from outside the restroom at Banteay Srei


The ride further up north to Kbal Spean via tuk tuk was quite an experience.
Dirt road. Lots of it kicked up by passing cars.
#28


#29 Greenery around Kbal Spean


#30 Trasek trees during the climb up to Kbal Spean

[Montmelo]

In general, toilet facilities around Angkor are modern & kept very clean.
However, the 'proper' public restroom at Kbal Spean is still under construction. So this is the one you'll need to use located behind the restaurants. Need to pay 1000 Riels.
Bucket system
#31


Next location was Tonle Sap lake
#32


This young man was paddling around the lake. He was missing an arm & 2 legs. Didn't seem to stop him from moving around efficiently in the water.
#33


Kids trying to ride a dog
#34