nlchoo Photo-tales: Sunrise At Angkor Wat

Year 2013, we visited Siam Reap, Cambodia. Our main target was the Angkor complex. The principal temple of the park was of course the renowned Angkor Wat.

As the picture of the temple in broad daylight was too common we were tempted to capture the sunrise over Angkor Wat.

We had done some research on line beforehand, so we knew what we should do. We had to go to the site early in the morning so as to occupy an ideal spot for shooting. We had to make sure that we would be right in front without being blocked by other photographers. In other words, we had to fight with hundreds of other photographers for an unobstructed view of Angkor Wat at sunrise.

We instructed our tut-tut driver to pick us up from our hotel at 5am. At about 5:30 am, we arrived at the site.

It was pitch dark. With the aid of our little torch-light, we managed to find our way to a spot next to the pond in front of the temple.

The sky was star-studded. There were already quite a number of fellow tourists there, who had arrived before us.

We set up our gear and waited. Meantime, we looked around.

The locals were trying busily to do business. Some offered mats for you to sit on the ground, and some offered hot coffee.

Some impatient tourists had started shooting, firing their flashes incessantly.

I noticed that there were red lotus flowers in the pond, which could make interesting foreground objects.

The crowd started to come in, and the site was getting noisy. One Asian guy got too close to me. As I did not know where he came from, I warned him in English and Mandarin to mind my tripods.

We did not know how much time had passed. But we could see the sky getting brighter and her lower half was turning orange. Dawn was breaking and the morning rays were showing up.

And then we saw the sun. At first a little orange dot, peeping out from behind the ancient temple. Moments later the rays became brilliant and fiery, throwing a long golden reflection in the water.