Thailand :: Bangkok
Whenever anyone asks which country in Southeast Asia I enjoyed visiting most, my immediate and emphatic reply is ‘Cambodia’. Sure Cambodia is beautiful, the people are kind & generous, the food is cheap & tasty, and the attractions are numerous. So it is easy for me to say that I enjoyed Cambodia more than, let’s say, Thailand.
Thailand, or more specifically Bangkok, ranks pretty low on my ‘Recommended Places to Visit’ list, but in all honesty it isn’t entirely it’s fault. I do however feel that Bangkok Air had a hand in making my visit less than enjoyable. The airline’s jets and crew were great. It was the ‘mystery meat sandwich’ that they served, which I hold a grudge against. Liana and I only had about three and a half days in which to visit all the places we wanted to see in and around Bangkok. Therefore, when I became very ill, from what I believe to have been food poisoning as a result of the ‘mystery meat sandwich’, our time to enjoy Bangkok was dramatically shortened. I was so sick that I spent more than 48 hours straight unable to leave the hotel room, leaving only a day and a half to try and see the sights around Bangkok. Even when I was able to leave the hotel room, I wasn’t feeling my best, so we had to take certain precautions. I usually have a pretty strong stomach and tolerance for many things that would make squeamish people ill, but since I was already not well, some of the smells we encountered caused me to run through many areas in search of fresh air!
Despite my sudden illness, there were many beautiful sites to visit and photograph. I’ve shared a few of my favorites below, but please click on the link to my slideshow for additional images!
Thailand Slideshow: Click here
Wat Pho Guardian…
The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho…
Tags: bangkok, thailand, travel
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Nice work on #1 – I like the use of DOF in the image. Are you doing any particular kind of processing on your black and white images? They seem to have a nice contrast to them.
#2 has rich colors – and I suspect a requirement for a horribly wide angle lens to get any more of the statue in. Out of interest, what is the orientation of the statue in relation to the ground?
There’s a pleasing symmetry to #4, and the sky was playing ball as well with some pretty clouds to go with this ornate building.
Looks like an amazing place to visit.
John – Check out the slideshow and you’ll see more of ‘The Reclining Buddha’… the status is enormous! For my B&W shots I sometimes enhance the blacks in Lightroom, but mainly I use a pretty cool set of actions (Totally Rad Actions to be precise) in PS to really enhance the contrast and sharpness. I wish I could say they came straight out of the camera looking that way!
I really dig the symmetry in #4 and the Budda is just amazing. That thing is HUGE. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the larger apertures in this series. I like it in some places and others I don’t but that is a subjective thing.
Mark V – I agree about the larger aperture comment. That is one area, among many, that I need to work more on. I’ve become accustomed to shooting pretty much wide open, when it really doesn’t always serve the scene to do so. I’m looking over some photos I took this past weekend and there are many photos where the depth of field is much to shallow for what I wanted to capture and convey.
That’s what I created this site to do… to help me learn and grow through practice and helpful critiques. Thanks!
I’m happy this site is doing its job! It would be nice if others would contribute.
We should invite some more friends as I like the rather honest and yet friendly tone of the feedback.
I love to shoot wide open but when it doesn’t enhance the scene you leave a LOT on the table. While your 5D Mark II make beautiful photos with that 24-70/2.8 at F/2.8 it would produce MUCH more resolution at F/5.6. High contrast borders between the sky and objects would be handled with a little more grace too.
But I’m still a sucker for a wide open shot up close. I’d like to see you shoot that 50/1.2 more. That floating in space look that the 50/1.2 can do, even when focused at a moderate distance, is a great effect. Just don’t lean on it to much like I would.