Solitude in a bit of Shade, a photo from Siem Reab, West

Photographer's Note

The major temple site which had recently emerged from the Cambodian forest is the great Preah Khan at Kompong Svay, known locally as Prasat Bakan.

Preah Khan is one of the few monuments to have kept its original name. A millennium celebration at Preah Khan attracted hundreds of locals and vegetation was cleared from the site for the occasion, but it remains a complex very much in its natural state, inundated with trees, scrubs and dense foliage throughout.

Preah Khan was built in 1191 during the reign of King Jayavarman VII. He was a warrior king celebrated for reconstructing the Khmer Empire after a period of fragmentation.

The King commissioned Ta Prohm and Preah Khan temples as monuments of his rule. Preah Khan was probably built on the same spot where previous kings had kept their palaces. Preah Khan was more than just a monastery—it was an entire city enclosing a town of 56 hectares. About 100,000 farmers produced rice to feed about 15,000 monks, teachers, and students. Subsidiary buildings included a hospital, rest house, and rice granary.

As the January afternoon Cambodian sun beat down on us, the ruins of Preah Khan offered no shade....but in the rear part of the complex, there was this 'Lonely Traveller' with excerpts of Lonely Planet enjoying the bit of shade.

Two strangler fig trees had grasped the building into a stranglehold, as you may see in the BG..one of them had been chopped off during restoration process...while the other soars up into the sky. I've cropped off a bit of the top of this picture (the OE sky) and adjusted levels.

ribeiroantonio, siolaw, james-r, pablominto, ramesh_lalwani, vinicio, papagolf21, imrek, ChrisJ, Henryk_Bilor, John_F_Kennedy, Cretense, cunejo200, plimrn, josepmarin, emjleclercq, sayan, atus, zeca, berek, TeresaT, pranab has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ribeiroantonio (22618) 2006-11-14 22:47

It must be a very beautiful temple, preserved by the forest and now re-discovered by their own people. The composition is very good with the man just sitting there and looking at his book. It seams very peaceful. Congratulations.
Antonio

siolaw (37568) 2006-11-14 23:00

Hi Angshu,
Nice compo showing a westerner's bad habit of being in such a nice spot for such a short time, wasted by reading a guide instead of filling his eyes and soul with these spectacular surroundings!! ;D
Nice greenish tones, difficult light well managed

Have a nice day
Laurent

james-r (676) 2006-11-14 23:54

:-) Oh, I've been there! And images like this make me want to go back as soon as possible.

I get a feeling of peace from this image, you've captured that sense very well.

partha (13775) 2006-11-15 0:40

Nice supporting note. The background and its colour tone gives the feeling of its age. The inclusion of the person is a nice idea to give tha sensetion of scale.
Good work.
Regards.
Partha

leo61 (0) 2006-11-15 0:42

Hi Angshu!
Good composition with this interesting temple and the strange tree.When I was there lat year I was always fascinated seeing those root on the ancient architecture.The reading man is perfect placed and you managed the light well.
Regards,Leo

pablominto (53744) 2006-11-15 1:42

Hello Angshu,
The combination of rain forest and ancient architecture is awesome! The jungle finds its way and will take over in due time unless some intervension is carried out...
Well composed image with good details!
Greetings,
Pablo -

ramesh_lalwani (3211) 2006-11-15 2:20

Hi Angshuman
Ancient temle and ancient tree give lovely colors to this photo.TFS
Ramesh

Graal (88852) 2006-11-15 2:50

Hi Angshuman,
another interesting a place with the fragments of the old architecture. Pity that it's only ruins. Good note and your job. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

vinicio (23415) 2006-11-15 2:55

Good and interesting composition and note, I find in this image some digital noise, probably due to the little light and the image resize, hovewer compliments.
Ciao
Vinicio

papagolf21 (76515) 2006-11-15 3:27

Bonjour, mon ami Angshu,
Ce que j'aime chez vous, c'est que vous avez un talent fou pour nous faire découvrir des endroits extraordinaires.
Ici, le dépaysement est garanti et l'intérêt de cette prise de vue est manifeste.
Amitiés.
Philippe

jasmis (57596) 2006-11-15 3:40

Interesting and exotic place (imo). Fine composition and detailed note. Well done. Regards.

vincz (19099) 2006-11-15 4:12

I remeber this place as if it was yesterday. The place was so pleasant and quiet that we stayed a long time with my daughter doing drawings of the very interesting scultupres. We did not have much sun that day so light was not as strong as the one you got! You were able to do well with the walls and the mosses and restore the very intersting atmosphere of the place.

imrek (4) 2006-11-15 4:17

HI Angshu,
what a huge tree, very nice composition and the men is very good measure here...a powerfull shot!!! Thanks for sharing!
regards,
imre

ChrisJ (86854) 2006-11-15 4:45

Hi Angshuman

Fantastic capture of the ruins of Angkot Wat. I've been there in 2002, & this is an excellent result, considering the harsh tropical sunlight. Tfs!

sabyasachi1212 (19739) 2006-11-15 4:58

Hi Angshu,
This is exactly as I saw this place. I was comparing this pic with the ones I had taken, almost similar angle but not half as good as this. The tourist looking at his guide book is really the key to this picture. We were the only ones around here. I don't know why most tourists restrict their Angkor expeience to Angkor complex, Bayon and maybe Ta Prohm. There are lots of other places to be discovered as well.
The problem here as I realised, in early morning due to thick vegetation around there isn't enough sunlight and by mid-day it is simply too strong. You have done the right thing by cutting off as much of the sky which I guess anyway was OE. Did you consider going B&W with this? I tried one for your ready reference and have mixed feeling about it.
Best Wishes
Sabyasachi

[workshop] [compare] +

John_F_Kennedy (41368) 2006-11-15 7:08

Very beautiful composition. The presentation is very good. Great idea and good work. Light and colours are excellent. I like how you captured the man in the blue trousers which is a nice contrast to the temple.Achim

pierrefonds (48335) 2006-11-15 7:27

Hi Angshuman,

A good POV of this section of Preah Khan and of the lonely person reading, a lot of details can be seen. The photo has a good composition, perspective and nice colors. Thanks for sharing.

Cretense (68663) 2006-11-15 7:40

Hi Angshu!

Great picture from this very impressive monument. Great composition (nice positioning of the man) and beautiful colours. A small problem of definition of the photo, doesn't make less atractive. Congratulations!

Best regards,
Hercules

clic (10991) 2006-11-15 9:14

Bonjour Angshuman
A fight opposing gulped down architecture and nature's strenght and finally won by man for the pleasure of tourists!
A mysterious ambiance.
Cheers
Robert

prumod (8300) 2006-11-15 10:31

hi angshu,
your composition reached a high level here... the tonality which give some cooling to eyes is really appreciated...
greetings
pramod

cunejo200 (7281) 2006-11-15 11:07

Hi Angshu,
The Cambodian ruins and temples are perhaps the most desired places for TE members to travel. Beautiful perspective of Prasat Bakan and people who have visited this area is almost always awed. Well framed with many engaging details. TFS and regards. Danilo

plimrn (21344) 2006-11-15 12:21

Hi Angshu,
You captured a nice moment here with the man seemingly meditating or praying - but to the tree and not the temple.
I have this moment that makes me wonder if the heiritage of the fig was mosre valuble than the temple, of course my home is basically a desert country where 15 neighbors call the police over a tree cutting - (someone was pruning a friend's tree while they were out of town to improve their view) As to the WS, I prefer color.
Regards, Pat

markstaples (15670) 2006-11-15 12:58

The composition is good and the reader is the icing on the cake. He really does seem to be engrossed in this solitary moment. I prefer the colour version too.
Best wishes
Mark

josepmarin (55023) 2006-11-15 13:12

Hi, my friend,
Amazing image of the tree that has broken the wall of this temple, which seems that it is going to disappear devoured by the jungle.
The seated man reading it adds a human and daily detail to the composition. The soft light and the colors with gray and green tones it works very well.
Good work.
Regards, Angshuman,
Josep

emjleclercq (15778) 2006-11-15 17:33

Excellent note again and a strange blue-green color of the moss or vegetation of the temple, which make it look like a turquoise (do not no the Englsih work) semi-precious stone. The roots of the tree deeply anchored in the stone show the vivacity of the vegetation, all the more since part of te tree has been cut. But the roots make like natural pillars mixing with the stone ones. Potential sharpness improvement in my opinion though.

All the best,

Emmanuel

Gerrit (43743) 2006-11-15 17:55

Hi Angshu,
fantastic how that enormous tree mingles with the stones and the man just reads about what he can see when he looks up I suppose.
Good shot.
Regards, Gerrit

sayan (2617) 2006-11-16 3:37

Dear Angshuman da,

I like the atmosphere here. Though I am not sure about the top part. I think there is some problem with OE and colours. Otherwise I find it as a nice compo and your pov as always is wonderful.
regards
Sayan

Henryk_Bilor (20797) 2006-11-16 4:34

Hi Angshuman
I like here the colours and details of the ruins and the big roots. So I wouldn`t prefer it in b&w. Impressive. Nice composition with a reading man.
Regards

feather (51128) 2006-11-16 5:42

Great shot Angshu. I think you probably made the right decision to crop the sky. Often we become exasperated if we have a tourist blocking our shot, but here he adds an extra element to make this a most successful image.
Kath

Budapestman (82620) 2006-11-16 12:11

Dear Angshu!
What an interesting and fascinating place! Details are stunning and very spectacular. Its an impressive POV and very good theme. This is a very peaceful moment and superb observation! Splendid shot, once more!
Thank you, nice days
George

Stepan (27210) 2006-11-16 12:39

The scale is what I enjoy the most here, with a tiny man in a big nature world. The size of the tree is incredible compared to the temple. Interesting shot.
Stéphane

berek (31921) 2006-11-17 3:46

Hi Angshuman,
very interesting tree's root. well framed picture with person. have a nice weekend.
Burak
my overall evaluation -> ***

atus (15808) 2006-11-17 5:35

Hello Angshu,
very well captured and nicely framed shot of a fabulous atmosphere. Well managed light, good sharpness and nice colours, The compo with the man is vsry useful because adds vitality and scale to the shot. We can appreciate better the dimensions of the roots and consequently the power of the nature.
Very nice one! Tfs and best wishes.
Attila

sayat (2944) 2006-11-17 6:12

Very nice compo Dear Anshu. I like a lot the trees in the background and the light coming throught the upper left corner. Great shot. The colors look a little oversaturated to me.
Sayat

Kenny10pin (19301) 2006-11-17 15:04

nice shot, I like the shot with the person, very good work, well done

zeca (19762) 2006-11-18 23:19

Hey Angshuman!
Another nice shoot from this wonderful temple, with your trademark of saturation and contrast! It´s always nice to see your pictures!
Regards,
Zeca

TeresaT (10806) 2006-11-19 9:47

Hello Angshuman,
Nice cpature of these ruins with the lonely man reading.
i relly like this strange tree.
The textures and sharpness are perfect.
The desaturated colours are great too.
regards
teresa

capthaddock (28790) 2006-11-19 21:00

Hi Angshu - difficult light, but the image is a pleasant one, the way the tree is devouring the ruins is interesting.

pranab (5354) 2006-11-20 3:35

angshu,
i looked at sabyasachi's ws, it seems ok but in my opinion it could use a bit of darker sepia tone.
anyway, here the color seems so natural. good contrast. placement of the human element off center was a great idea.

devimeuxbe (58557) 2006-11-23 3:00

Hi Angshuman
beautifull picture of this magic place. i have in my galery a similar picture from the same place with a woman. But i took 1 year before and i see that they cuted one of the 2 trees.
What a pity !
have a nice day
Bertrand

arjun_das (1851) 2006-11-23 5:18

excellent capture of the ruined art work. it is very ironical that the man reads book intensely sitting in a surroundings full of destructions. i like the compo and tfs.
regards,
arjun

zizzer77 (721) 2006-12-08 4:14

your cambodian shoot are fantastic.

this shoot is perfect for this moment of study.

tfs