Cambodia: Photographing Angkor
For years I had dreamed of photographing Angkor Wat. It’s one of those places that sits on many photographers’ bucket lists, and finally arriving in Siem Reap felt surreal. The city itself has an almost celebratory atmosphere because of the temples nearby. Travelers from all over the world come here for one reason: to explore and photograph the incredible ruins of the Angkor complex.
The day I arrived in Siem Reap I didn’t really have time to explore, so I just walked to a local temple to take some pictures. My favorite is of the young Buddhist monk on his phone. Just like my kids at home!
My awesome driver, Sornham, picked me up at 5:00am with his tuk tuk for sunrise at Angkor Wat. After imagining this moment for years, the start of the day was a bit of a disappointment. I initially went to the wrong spot, and by the time I found the right one the area was already packed with people. Thankfully the sunrise itself never really developed because of thick clouds, so I didn’t miss much.
The temple was still impressive to see, but it didn’t immediately blow me away the way I expected. Sometimes expectations are hard to live up to.
Fortunately the rest of the day turned into an incredible exploration of the Angkor temple complex. I ended up enjoying several of the other temples even more.
Ta Prohm and Bayon were both amazing. Walking through them felt like stepping into a video game world. Giant trees wrapped around ancient walls, stone faces looked down from towers, and every corner offered something new to photograph.
The next day was very full and by the end of the day we had visited seven temples and I had walked around ten miles.
Another highlight was Preah Khan. The scale of it surprised me. It felt almost endless as I wandered through corridors and courtyards looking for interesting compositions.
The heat here is intense, even though it isn’t the hottest time of year yet. One of the best parts of the day was my driver, Sornham. After each stop he had an ice-cold towel and a bottle of water waiting for me in the tuk tuk. He spoke good English and shared bits of history before I wandered off alone to focus on photography.
I decided to try and go back to Angkor Wat to capture the temple in the late afternoon light. It was the best decision I made on my trip! It completely changed my impression of the temple. The warm light brought the stone to life and suddenly the place felt far more photogenic than it had in the morning.
As the sun was setting, I photographed a group of teenage girls dressed in traditional Cambodian clothing posing in front of the temple. It ended up being one of my favorite moments of the trip and a perfect way to close out the day.
The next day I traveled out to Tonlé Sap with Sornham to visit the floating village of Kampong Phluk. The houses there sit on incredibly tall stilts because during the rainy season the lake nearly doubles in size and floods the entire area. Seeing the village in dry season made it even more fascinating to imagine what it looks like when everything is underwater.
Parts of the visit felt a little tourist-oriented (especially when they take you to the floating restaurants with gift shops), but it was still interesting to see how life revolves around the changing lake levels.
On another day I traveled to Phnom Kulen National Park, where the highlight was a beautiful jungle waterfall filled with families and kids swimming in the water. After several days of temples and city streets, it was nice to be surrounded by nature.
For my last day in Siem Reap I joined a bike tour through the outskirts of the city. We stopped at small farms, a mushroom grower, a Buddhist temple, a local market, a rice wine distillery, and a lotus farm. It was a great way to see everyday life and talk with other travelers from around the world.
Siem Reap left a strong impression overall. The temples were incredible to explore and each one felt unique.
What I enjoyed most, though, was simply walking or riding through town in a tuk tuk and watching daily life unfold. Everyone I came into contact with was incredibly friendly.
Like many travel experiences, the trip didn’t unfold exactly the way I imagined. My sunrise at Angkor Wat wasn’t magical, but the afternoon light later that day gave me some of my favorite images of the trip. Sometimes the best travel photography comes from the moments you didn’t plan at all.