But many of the other temples are almost as spectacular and often more interesting to tour since Angkor Wat is the most crowded. The beautiful Bantay Srei, for example, has gorgeously colored stone and some of the prettiest carvings of the complex. Angkor Thom is literally a city in itself, with several one of a kind gates. And Pra <> is famous for the trees that have overgrown the temple. The temples have been restored in a variety of ways. Some have been nearly rebuilt to the way they might have looked originally, while others have been reconstructed from original materials as available but not rebuilt further. And finally, some have been left with the trees growing through them or the way they were found. This variety lets you experience Angkor as it might have been through the ages.

Like many famous attractions, you are limited both in the times you can photograph the temples and in the viewpoints you can use. Likewise, you will probably only be there for a few days, and only make the trip once. So your ability to get the weather or light you want will be limited. The upshot is that you'll need to deal with extremes of light and dark, often in the same frame. With digital the most flexible tool for doing this is multiple raw images--requiring a tripod of course--and compositing in Photoshop which we described how to do in DPS 2-21.

In many cases the problem is the sky being much brighter than the often shady temple. If you're not interested in creating a multi-shot composite you can either compose to avoid the sky, shoot very early or very late when there is less contrast, or use a split neutral density filter. I found myself often using up to 5 stops of split ND filters (stacking my 2-stop & 3-stop filters) for some scenes. 

TSUNAMI: Obviously this holiday season has been unique in Southeast Asia because of the 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami. I was in Bangkok when the quake hit, on the 12th floor of an apartment building, and we felt the building shake aggressively for 30 seconds or so. But there was no damage in the city or nearby. Fortunately all of the people we knew personally on Phuket were safe, although our hosts lost several friends and acquaintances. This was of course nothing compared to the extensive tragedies suffered by several hundred thousand people and their families throughout the region.

The aftermath has been painful for many, but Thailand in particular seems to be moving quickly back to normal. If you'd like to donate to the relief cause, we can recommend either the American Red Cross or Oxfam, but of course there are many other worthy organizations doing incredible work.

Even without having been touched by the tsunami, life in Cambodia can be harsh. The third leading cause of death is land mines, and one of the temples we visited has only been open for a few months because the mines have just recently been cleared away. Only 30 years ago Cambodians lived through Pol Pot and the infamous Killing Fields followed by a harsh Vietnamese "occupation" government until 1990.

More than any other site I've visited in Asia, Angkor is ideal for a photo trip. I would very much like to return, and perhaps lead a photo trip there. My schedule is full for 2005, but perhaps in 2006 or 2007. If it is the type of trip you'd be interested in, please send me an email at safaris@cardinalphoto.com and I'll make sure and let you know when something works out.

Equipment Note: Nikon had wanted to provide me with a D2X for this trip, but they were not available yet. I would have loved the extra resolution for making large prints, but by using JPEG+Raw mode on my pair of D2H's I've been able to capture detailed images that have been suitable for fairly large prints when I take care to scale & sharpen them carefully. I certainly look forward to returning with a D2X though!