Main Entry: icon
Variant(s): also ikon \ˈī-ˌkän\
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, from Greek eikōn, from eikenai to resemble
Date: 1572
A cultural icon can be an image, a symbol, a logo, picture, name, face, person, or building or other image that is readily recognized, and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group. A representation of an object or person, or that object or person may come to be regarded as having a special status as particularly representative of, or important to, or loved by, a particular group of people, a place, or a period in history.
I’ve been in Siem Reap for about a week now – delayed initially by yet another computer problem. This one unfortunately was worse then the first and entailed four days of me banging my head against the wall.
After two days of trying to fix it myself – the purchase of a new hard drive and still not achieving results I decided to take the risk of leaving the computer at a Cambodian computer repair store – somewhat unnerving. I had a pretty good idea what was wrong when I dropped it off and tried to give them as much direction as possible – through the language barrier.
The next day I made the trek back to the computer store to find out I was indeed correct and was the recipient of crap RAM from Best Buy. Luckily the computer came with two sticks so I have been able to limp by with the remaining good one. When I say limp by – I suggest trying to do a tilt shift filter on a 250 mb psd file with half the RAM you are used to; intolerable.
Getting on to the pictures – I tried on a couple occasions to flush out some photos from Siem Reap (the city). While the city has been the most enjoyable of my Cambodia experience it didn’t deliver anything significant culture wise.
I shot all these images over four days with a rest day following the first. I covered a lot of ground the first round visiting at least four temples maybe more depending on what you consider a temple. There is no rhythm to the post structure other than chronological order.
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/400 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 25, 2009, 11:33:10 AM
I think Angkor Wat is one of those places you need to visit to get the full breadth. The gist of my thoughts: this place is astonishing; I can’t fathom what it would have been like when it was new. It’s a place that is so expansive it is genuinely hard to wrap your head around.
If you are an architect or anyone that has studied architecture you’ll be able note various design tactics all religious buildings use to impose your emotions. Angkor Wat does not stray from these devices as it has an authoritarian presence that is humbling in size and construction.
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/2000 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 25, 2009, 11:35:47 AM
This is a shot down the main entrance “west bridge” to Angkor Wat – an artery of tourists.
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/1000 second
Aperture: F/3.2
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 25, 2009, 11:48:09 AM
If you shoot a wedding at Angkor Wat – expect spectators. It was a comical scene in every regard. I think the best analogy would be a when you place a magnet next to metal filings – the second the wedding people organized the tourists polarized (in swarms). I was going to try and crash it but the photographer did a real poor job lighting them, it wasn’t even worth a shot. You can see from this photo just how hard the highlights and shadows are.
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/800 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Date Taken: Nov 28, 2009, 7:17:12 AM
This image is out of sequence but storyline wise falls about here. I knew I needed the shot after I finished my first Wat. At every major destination there are swarms of hawkers that are extremely aggressive selling two things: post cards and guide books. At first I was polite saying no thank you (at the minimum five to six times per hawker) Then I realized it doesn’t matter how many time you say no – they keep talking. So then I started jerking them around when they asked all the questions. When that got old I put in my headphones and they still talked and blocked where I was going. Then finally I decided not to do anything. That was when it got funny.
They would come up to me and I wouldn’t acknowledge them. One example I used a few times while sitting; if I was approached I would just gaze blankly away from the person. Eventually I’d get a hilarious frustrated response usually in Khmer and quite heated – the one time I got vulgar English I had my head phones in and missed most of the dialect so I wasn’t able to relish it quite as I’d wish. Time wise though I think it was the most effective way without being extremely forceful – AKA yelling. I saw one guy that used a speed walking tactic and it worked real well for him. I tried it a couple of times but for whatever reason the hawkers ran alongside me.
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/320 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 25, 2009, 1:55:51 PM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/400 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 25, 2009, 1:56:24 PM
There is some weird light bending in this image, I am sure there is a scientific explanation for it. Whatever the cause, it’s the first time I have seen it happen.
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/640 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 170 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 25, 2009, 1:57:25 PM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second
Aperture: F/8.0
Focal Length: 14 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 25, 2009, 2:09:44 PM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/200 second
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 14 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Date Taken: Nov 25, 2009, 2:15:21 PM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/800 second
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 14 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 25, 2009, 2:27:51 PM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/30 second
Aperture: F/8.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 500
Date Taken: Nov 27, 2009, 2:53:59 PM
After while I was Wat’d out and found it more amusing to shoot the tourists. Deviating from my fondness for balance, here’s a little tension piece.
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/40 second
Aperture: F/8.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 500
Date Taken: Nov 27, 2009, 2:55:06 PM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/100 second
Aperture: F/3.2
Focal Length: 14 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 27, 2009, 3:08:21 PM
I’m only putting this one “iconic” image in the mix. I have plenty more but I am less then satisfied with the light I was dealt. I’m also unsure the appeal of cliché images anyways – if you really wanted to see them just go to flikr and search Angkor Wat, there is only so much variation to the same photo possible.
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/4000 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 86 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 27, 2009, 5:16:24 PM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/1600 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Taken: Nov 27, 2009, 5:29:00 PM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/3200 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 24 mm
ISO Speed: 1250
Date Taken: Nov 28, 2009, 6:15:22 AM
This image won’t be reproduced because it is terrible and here just for the story. It appears one of the hazards of shooting early morning photography is a lack of intelligence. I’m not sure how I pulled it off but for whatever reason I was shooting at ISO 1250 for just about all of my sunrise photos.
For those of you that don’t understand the implications here is a blurb I pulled off wiki “High ISO image noise may manifest as multicolored speckles in digital images, rather than the less-objectionable “grain” of high-ISO film. While this speckling can be removed by noise-reduction software, either in-camera or on a computer, this can have a detrimental effect on image quality as fine detail may be lost in the process.”
Basically I wanted the photos to be rich and noise free – something that is currently impossible to do with any camera at that high of an ISO. Instead I got flat noise laden landscape shots, regrettable. I’m not unhappy as the sunrise didn’t deliver in the first place – the cloud cover was entirely too thick and low to get proper highlights.
I am happy however, that I made the early sunrise trip; not because of the photos, but instead because of the bike ride. There are limited if any street lights outside the city centers (or light pollution of any kind for that matter) in Cambodia. The upshot is awe inspiring nighttime travel lit by a vast array of stars in a crystal clear sky – something that is worth more than you may think.
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/8000 second
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 640
Date Taken: Nov 28, 2009, 6:32:19 AM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/8000 second
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 135 mm
ISO Speed: 640
Date Taken: Nov 28, 2009, 6:34:02 AM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/8000 second
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 640
Date Taken: Nov 28, 2009, 6:35:45 AM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/500 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Date Taken: Nov 28, 2009, 7:03:01 AM
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D3X
Shutter Speed: 1/500 second
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Date Taken: Nov 28, 2009, 7:04:58 AM
This guy gets two. The lighting was just about perfect when I shot this – I had been persistently searching for more subject matter but found little; such is the case when you get the light you want.
To wrap up Cambodia I have a short write up.
Initially I was hesitant on anything Cambodia, focused entirely on coming just to see Angkor Wat. As time progressed I began feeling more comfortable with South East Asia and decided I’d at least make an effort to visit Phnom Penh in addition to Siem Reap. By the time I was approaching the end of my Vietnam visa I had added yet another city for the Cambodian beaches.
When I first arrived in Phnom Penh I thought was in over my head – but now looking back and having talked to numerous other people about it I’ve been able to assume that the place I stayed at was in a bad location. I’ve noticed in many ways that your guest house turns into a foundation that constructs your experiences – for the better or in my case, the worse. It also didn’t help that my focus in Phnom Penh was death, destruction, and poverty with the additional food poisoning, my misery was solidified. Now that I am leaving Cambodia I wish I had planned for more stops. While I have been told that traveling outside of the tourist thoroughfare can be a bit treacherous and most likely a complicated ride via dirt roads and pickup truck – the rewards sound worth it.
The personality of Cambodia is far different than the rest of South East Asia and for me it took awhile before I warmed up to the mentalities. In a lot of cases I’d say Cambodians are a curious people. At first I was put off by what I thought was interrogation but later realized it is most often genuine curiosity. I still had to thwart the ever present “how much is that?” question – as has been the case everywhere. Expense wise I’d say Cambodia was about the same. I know I could have driven costs lower by being more adventurous with my food choices, but I think I will forever be gun shy with Cambodian food stalls.
It’s strange, at first it felt like I was spending significantly more money due to the use of American currency – that and I was, and still am, relishing the awesome breakfast place in Ho Chi Minh. In Siem Reap however, I was able to keep a running tally of all my expenses and realized during checkout that I had hit my price point, possibly having been lower then usual.
On that note I’ll say that’s the last of Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. I’m now in Koh Chang, Thailand kicking back a bit enjoying the beach life. If only there was a way to show everyone the place I am currently posting from and the view… hmm.
I think I’ll be able to manage a post, but that’s debatable.
