Tag Archives: history

Unmade Stone Temple in Siem Reap

Many stones laid out in the jungle that used to make a stone temple

When I was visiting Siem Reap there were numerous locations where work was going on to put temples back together. That included less know smaller temples but even Ta Prohm had quite a bit of stones being arranged to rebuild parts of the temple complex.

Related: Leper King Terrace, Angkor Thom, Siem Reap, CambodiaBanyon Tree Overgrowing Temple, Siem Reap, CambodiaBayon Temple, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand

large reclining Buddha (in gold) with inscriptions on large feet

The Reclining Buddha statue at Wat Pho is 15 meters tall and 46 meters long. The statue and the building that houses it were created in 1832.

Related: Statues, Grand Palace, Bangkok, ThailandNational Museum of Korea in SeoulBorobudur in Java, IndonesiaGetting An Early Start Traveling Around the World in Bangkok, Thailand

Wedding Photo Shoot – Hoi An, Vietnam

Wedding photo shoot with Hoi An Japanese Bridge in the background

Wedding photo shoot with the Japanese Bridge in the background, Hoi An, Vietnam. Hoi An has a very touristy but still nice and picturesque old town (it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The bridge dates to the 16th or 17th century.

Related: Rice Drying on the Street, Hoi An, VietnamTemple of Literature (Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám, 文廟) Hanoi, VietnamCircumhorizontal Arc (Fire Rainbow) in Hoi An, Vietnam

Vietnam War Memorial, Washington DC

Vietnam War Memorial reflecting visitors, trees and the Washington Monument

Photo of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. Most of the photo shows a reflection in the shining granite of the memorial. The memorial has the names of those Americans killed during the war engraved into the face (which can be seen in the photo if you look closely).

If you look closely you can see a reflection of the Washington Monument.

Related: Arlington National CemeteryRice Drying on the Street, Hoi An, VietnamWhite House West Wing Entrance

Leper King Terrace, Angkor Thom, Siem Reap, Cambodia

stone carvings of people on a wall

I think this areas is called the Leper King Terrace on the North end of the Terrace of the Elephants in the Angkor Thom complex, north of Bayon temple (Siem Reap, Cambodia). There is a narrow pathway that winds between the wall of the terrace.

Related: Buddhist Temple Adjacent to Bayon TempleBayon Temple, Siem Reap, CambodiaCarving at Angor Wat

How to Frame Photos of People Well

Most of the posts on this blog are just photos. This post is a bit different in that it is a post about taking photos.

I actually owned a camera that used film. The barrier to talking multiple photos was much greater then – not only the cost but also you only have so many shots left so you can’t “waste” too many. Digital cameras are great for quite a few reasons but one of the best is how easy it is to just snap a bunch of photos and hope some are great.

You really can make quite a bit better photos without much effort. Just paying a bit of attention to good photos can help a great deal.

John Hunter at Bryce National Park

John Hunter, Bryce National Park

One thing I find amusing is selfies actually take advantage of something good photographers knew a long time ago. To get good photos of people put them in the foreground. You still see it today, but it was much more common (like 98% of these type of photos), where the people are tiny dots next to some tourist attraction. Selfies go a bit overboard with putting the person in the foreground (most of the time) but they are often better than the tiny dot people photos.

I still remember the photo a professional photographer took of my grandparents at their house where I saw this lesson and have remembered it since. The people were put at the front of the yard so they took up a good 50% of the photo but it was staged to capture their home of 40 years. So often this type of photo is with the people little dots in front of the house with the framing of the house nearly the same.

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