Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Landscape Photography Locations => Topic started by: collum on November 12, 2005, 12:43:34 am

Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: collum on November 12, 2005, 12:43:34 am
Back from 3 weeks in SE Asia.

While i was there i posted some images.. but very little processing done. Most will end up being platinum/pigment prints made from digital negatives

http://collum.omniblog.com (http://collum.omniblog.com)

As i finish processing of some of them, i'll post the updated images, as well as a trip report.

All was shot with a Betterlight scanback/Ebony view or a 1dsmk2

             jim
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Jack Flesher on November 15, 2005, 08:56:02 am
Great images Jim!  Care to share any thoughts on traveling with a laptop and tethered DB?
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: neil on November 15, 2005, 12:08:16 pm
Do you do your own printing or use a service.....


....if there's a service out there I'd like to know where.  
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: collum on November 16, 2005, 01:09:11 am
Quote
Do you do your own printing or use a service.....
....if there's a service out there I'd like to know where. 
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=51353\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


i do my my own.  I read an article by Dan Burkholder on the process, and started playing around with it. I like the look a lot. you print the CMY of the image onto watercolor paper (with registration marks). you then take the K layer and make a digital negative (there's a lot of calibration and work behing the "make a digital negative").  you coat the paper with platinum/palladium salts (sensitised), and then expose the paper to UV light with the negative in registration.  I use a Printing out process for platinum (called Ziatypes), that allows for a minimum of darkroom work (actually, most of it can be done in low room light.. as long as you dont' have a strong UV source in with you).  

You end up with the blacks/contrast/detail all in platinum, with the color in inkjet (pretty mute since it's not being printed on coated inkjet paper) . Since the platinum ends up in the paper, you get a depth to the prints that can't be reproduced with just inkjet.

I've started giving one-on-ones on how to do it. the interest seems to be growing in the alternative processes, so i may end up giving workshops as well.


                  jim
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: dsawchuk on November 29, 2005, 02:47:16 pm
I'd just like to chime in to say I am eagerly awaiting your trip report.  

I'm heading to Southeast Asia for a few months starting early January and I'll be going to both Cambodia and Thailand. I have about 9 days with Siem Reap as a base to explore temples and the surroundings. In Thailand, I'll have close to three weeks, but this portion of the trip is a lot less planned at this point (I really need to get going on that). So any advice you have is going to be very welcome.

And thanks for sharing your photos!
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: acorreia on November 30, 2005, 08:13:25 pm
Quote
Back from 3 weeks in SE Asia.
...
http://collum.omniblog.com (http://collum.omniblog.com)
...
Jim !
I am going there the 8th december but only for 15 days.
Do you have more pictures ?
Thank you.  
Antonio Correia
http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com (http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com)
I just saw your site but no trace of Cambodia pictures ...
The other pictures are VERY nice.
I'll be back.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Bobtrips on December 01, 2005, 01:13:56 am
Quote
Jim !
I am going there the 8th december but only for 15 days.
Do you have more pictures ?
Thank you. 
Antonio Correia
http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com (http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com)
I just saw your site but no trace of Cambodia pictures ...
The other pictures are VERY nice.
I'll be back.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a] (http://index.php?act=findpost&pid=52524\")

You might wish to visit [a href=\"http://www.trekearth.com]Trek Earth[/url].  Follow the Gallery links to Cambodia/Thailand/Wherever.  

You will be able to see a large number of images from many different photographers.  It's a very good way to get some shot ideas.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: katemann on December 02, 2005, 07:25:42 am
Fabulous Collum! Thanks for posting them. I confess I know nothing about betterlight.

I do hope your wife loves photography!
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: acorreia on December 02, 2005, 07:43:32 am
  = Thank you =  
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: BlasR on December 02, 2005, 02:14:44 pm
If you like to look some of my pic from cambodia go to my website

BMRWorldPhotos.com

BlasR
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: jdlevy on December 02, 2005, 05:54:18 pm
Quote
Jim !
I am going there the 8th december but only for 15 days.
Do you have more pictures ?
Thank you.   
Antonio Correia\

Here are some from my trip in Feb, 2004:

Ankor Wat Pix (http://home.earthlink.net/~jdavidlevy/index2.html)
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: freewayhuang on December 09, 2005, 03:37:05 am
Cambodia is a great country. I have been to there one year ago. And the SIHANOUK port is a wonderful relax city.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: acorreia on January 08, 2006, 01:30:01 pm
Please have a look at some under
http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/ (http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/)
Please navigate throught the keywords.

Have you been in Burma ?
Fantastic country to visit !...
Dictatorship and no observation of the Human Rights, unfortunally.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Ray on January 09, 2006, 09:10:11 pm
Hi Collum,
Looks like we both recently returned from Siem Reap. I see that some of our shots are similar. Angkor Wat is truly a photographers' paradise. If the weather had been better, I would have stayed longer. During the 5 days I was there, not once did I see a sunrise or sunset. It was so overcast a lot of the time, I had to use fill flash. It's the sort of place where one feels one needs to return to certain spots at different times of the day to get the lighting right. A bas relief with the evening sun shining at a particular angle can be so much more interesting. However, I didn't see much sun.

December might be the coolest time of the year and therefore peak season, but it doesn't seem to me to be the best time for photographers. Also, trying to get a shot of some of the ruins without  at least a few Japanese and Korean tourists moving in and out of the scene was a real problem for me. Sometimes it was more than a few; maybe a large tour-guided group, each person waiting his/her turn to be photographed in front of a thick tree root splitting apart the ancient stonework. I felt like shouting at them to get out of the way and let a 'real' photographer get a shot, but I'm far too polite for that   . Waiting for them to disperse was often worse than waiting for a break in Bangkok traffic to cross the road.

Cheers!
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Lisa Nikodym on January 09, 2006, 10:29:15 pm
I was at Siem Reap about two years ago (during December peak season), and found that the temples mostly empty out during the "siesta", between about noon and two, when the tours all go back to town for their lunch break.  During those couple of hours, it's pretty easy to get photos without other tourists.  You just have to be willing to brave out the hottest time of the day and either skip lunch or take a quick picnic with you.  (It was too hot for me to feel like eating during the day, anyway - all I had between breakfast and dinner was many, many cans of cold drinks...)

Lisa
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Ray on January 10, 2006, 01:19:30 am
Lisa,
Did you not get driven around in a tuk tuk (open carriage pulled by a motor cyclist)? That's a very effective way of cooling down. I used to carry a coat with me. At the end of the day's shooting it began to get a bit chilly for just an open neck shirt.

Being able to employ a personal chauffeur from 6am to 9pm for around US$15 a day was one of the great experiences for me at Siem Reap. Bit bumpy at times though. The roads could do with some improvement.  
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: steffi on January 10, 2006, 09:12:15 am
Just be careful where you step in Cambodia as landmines are still a big issue there.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: steffi on January 10, 2006, 09:27:03 am
>Dictatorship and no observation of the Human Rights, unfortunally

Isn't this what we have in the US at the moment? I mean when was the last time Bush did anything about the house arrest of the democratic leader in Myanmar?
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Lisa Nikodym on January 10, 2006, 12:19:08 pm
Quote
Did you not get driven around in a tuk tuk (open carriage pulled by a motor cyclist)? That's a very effective way of cooling down. I used to carry a coat with me. At the end of the day's shooting it began to get a bit chilly for just an open neck shirt.

Being able to employ a personal chauffeur from 6am to 9pm for around US$15 a day was one of the great experiences for me at Siem Reap. Bit bumpy at times though. The roads could do with some improvement.

It must have been a great dealer cooler when you were there.  When I was there, it was about 100 F (38 C) during the day, and even at night never got below about 85 F (29 C).  We also like to walk a lot, so we were in the guide's car only a very small fraction of the day, to get between far-flung sites.

I hear you about the roads!  We took one morning excursion to a place outside Siem Reap with Angkor-era carvings on the streambed (called something like Kbal Spean, I think?), and we were going down the very rutted dirt road at something like five miles per hour the whole way.  Of course, when we got there, there were several bus loads of Japanese and Thai tourists...

Quote
Just be careful where you step in Cambodia as landmines are still a big issue there.

Land mines are no longer any problem if you stay in the main tourist regions.  (Though the occasional unscrupulous guide will try to tell you otherwise to justify their existence, from some things I've heard...)

Lisa

Re "steffi's" second message:  This web site is about photography, not politics, and the regulars here prefer to keep it that way.  If you want to complain about political issues, please do it elsewhere.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Ray on January 10, 2006, 01:14:28 pm
Quote
It must have been a great dealer cooler when you were there.  When I was there, it was about 100 F (38 C) during the day, and even at night never got below about 85 F (29 C).  We also like to walk a lot, so we were in the guide's car only a very small fraction of the day, to get between far-flung sites.

I hear you about the roads!  We took one morning excursion to a place outside Siem Reap with Angkor-era carvings on the streambed (called something like Kbal Spean, I think?), and we were going down the very rutted dirt road at something like five miles per hour the whole way.  Of course, when we got there, there were several bus loads of Japanese and Thai tourists...

Lisa,
The climate must be quite variable. I was there 5 days before Christmas and had no problem with the heat, but that might have been because it was overcast most of the time. I'd like to return in October shortly after the end of the monsoon when everything is very green. I expect it would be very hot and humid then but fewer tourists. I hear April/May, around the beginning of the monsoon is also a good time. After a good shower the air is beautufylly clear.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Lisa Nikodym on January 10, 2006, 04:14:53 pm
Ray -  It must be variable.  I was there around Christmas too, but it was beautifully sunny and clear, which must have warmed it up.  It would indeed be nice to see it when it's green (and with fewer tourists), but I don't know if I could stand that sort of heat.

Lisa
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Mark D Segal on January 10, 2006, 05:00:20 pm
September/October is good for Siem Reap - hot but not oppressive, and green. If you hire a photo-savvy tour guide  (with driver), they know the best times of the day for each structure, because they have guided previous rounds of photographers and know what photographers want. This makes photographing so much easier and more rewarding.

As for hoards of tourists - there are two choices: (1) be patient, (2) use them creatively in your photographs. Which to do depends on the circumstances. Get used to it, because that's the game. There are just a huge number of people in the region with disposable income and the same curiosity as we have to see such places. Siem Reap is facing major challenges (relating to environment, energy and water) for dealing with the huge growth of tourism, but that is another story.

Crossing the street in Bangkok - sorry - no solutions to that one - put on your armour and hope for the best!
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Ray on January 11, 2006, 01:11:34 am
Mark,
 
Quote
September/October is good for Siem Reap - hot but not oppressive, and green.

That's really useful information. A combination of humidity and high temperature can be devastatingly oppressive. My 5D is not sealed. I'd hate to think that a profusion of sweat dripping from my face might seep into the controls. (Only kidding   ).

Quote
If you hire a photo-savvy tour guideĀ  (with driver), they know the best times of the day for each structure, because they have guided previous rounds of photographers and know what photographers want.

I'm a bit ambivalent about that idea, but I had the experience. I was visiting a temple for the second time because on the occasion of the first time the place was swamped with tourists, each and every one insisting on having his/her photo taken in front of every tree root. I simply didn't have the time to hang around.

On the second visit, an unemployed guide saw me walking around a feature looking for an interesting angle. He jumped at the opportunity to make a dollar, approached me and said, 'Look! Just come over here. Stand here. See?'

The perspective was interesting, so thinking he was perhaps an expert photographer, I allowed him to show me around, realising of course I'd have to give him a tip. But most things are so inexpensive in Cambodia, I'd long since stopped haggling over trivial sums of money. (Not entirely, though   ).

At every point, the guide said 'Stand here!' 'Come over here!'. Most of the perspectives were quite interesting. This was a great time saver. To find these perspectives I realised I'd be wandering around for a considerable time at each spot.

After an hour or so, as we'd completed the circuit, I said, 'So you're into photography?' ' No', he replied. 'I've just observed photographers taking photos at those spots'. My ego was deflated. My Gawd!, every Tom, Dick and Harry has got those shots, I thought.

Here's a couple of them   .  [attachment=156:attachment]    [attachment=157:attachment]


By the way, I'm never quite sure what degree of sharpening is appropriate for small jpegs. The above images look a bit oversharpened to me. What do you think?

Bear in mind, these are not finished images. Conversion from RAW in ACR was completely automatic. I did a tweaking in levels, a slight bit of 'local contrast enhancement' and a couple of passes in Focus Magic. That's all.

Feed back would be appreciated.

ps. These images are not even cropped.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: acorreia on January 11, 2006, 07:21:18 am
Quote
>Dictatorship and no observation of the Human Rights, unfortunally

Isn't this what we have in the US at the moment? I mean when was the last time Bush did anything about the house arrest of the democratic leader in Myanmar?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=55608\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
I could remember this and some other US actions around the World but I thought it would not be nice of me. But as you said yourself ... I agree!...  
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Mark D Segal on January 11, 2006, 08:41:14 am
Steffi and acorreaia, I think there are rules on this Board about keeping politics out of the discussion. Unfortunately, politics aren't pretty in most of the world, it being a matter of degree and specifics how bad what is where; anyone who absolutely can't stomach the politics of country X should just keep out, regardless of the photo ops.

Ray, yes Angkor Thom - you got good angles, lighting and nice composition. Composition is tricky there - too many possibilities so brutal choices need to be made about what to emphasize and how to emphasize it. I think you succeeded. I agree with you that they are a bit over-sharpened. If you want a very well-controlled sharpening workflow, I am on the whole very pleased with PK Sharpener Pro (www.pixelgenius.com). In case you haven't yet, you can also read Michael's review of it on this website.

I had a very knowledgeable guide for two days running who just knew where to photograph when, and that was a tremendous assist. Without his guidance I just wouldn't have had access to the right places at the right times as efficiently as I did. That allowed me to concentrate on trying to maximize the opportunities of time and place in what I photographed. In the coming weeks I hope to build a website and post a selection of stuff.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: acorreia on January 11, 2006, 09:14:42 am
Quote
Steffi and acorreaia, I think there are rules on this Board about keeping politics out of the discussion. Unfortunately, politics aren't pretty in most of the world, it being a matter of degree and specifics how bad what is where; anyone who absolutely can't stomach the politics of country X should just keep out, regardless of the photo ops.
Will you please tell me where those rules are ? Thank you.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Mark D Segal on January 11, 2006, 09:22:02 am
I am talking from recent memory. Michael has informed us at various times of posts removed for political content and made the point that discussion of politics is off limits. Since he runs this operation, I assume those are the rules. As to whether or where these rules are separately published as such, best you ask him.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Ray on January 11, 2006, 09:40:00 am
Quote
I agree with you that they are a bit over-sharpened. If you want a very well-controlled sharpening workflow, I am on the whole very pleased with PK Sharpener Pro (www.pixelgenius.com). In case you haven't yet, you can also read Michael's review of it on this website.


PK Sharpener Pro is too complicated for me. I'm striving to keep things as simple as possible. I have enough to worry about with choice of aperture, ISO and shutter speed. The oversharpening has resulted from sharpening twice with Focus Magic, once with the full size file and again after the file size had been reduced for the web. If I miss out the second round of sharpening, those images will probably be just right.

I like the automatic process of Focus Magic; the fact that the program automatically detects a 'blur width' in pixels that seems appropriate for each image. It also seems to add less noise to the sharpening process than PSCS2's Smart Sharpen.

Quote
In the coming weeks I hope to build a website and post a selection of stuff.


I'll look forward to checking it out. I'd like to do the same myself but have too much on my plate right now.

So next September it is. Did you travel in an air-conditioned taxi with your photographic guide, and how much did it cost? I believe there's a temple similar to Angkor Thom but bigger and much further out, about 60km, probably the one that Lisa visited along bumpy roads. I decided to skip that 120km return trip in a tuk tuk, but maybe next time in a more suitable vehicle I'll make it.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: francois on January 11, 2006, 11:01:16 am
Quote
I am talking from recent memory. Michael has informed us at various times of posts removed for political content and made the point that discussion of politics is off limits. Since he runs this operation, I assume those are the rules. As to whether or where these rules are separately published as such, best you ask him.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a] (http://index.php?act=findpost&pid=55736\")
[a href=\"http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=9283&view=findpost&p=52180]Here[/url] is a reference...
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Mark D Segal on January 11, 2006, 02:55:32 pm
Ray,

I was there in 2004 and given the time that has passed I forget how much I paid for the arrangements. The deal was an air-conditioned car, driver and himself for the two days. One thing I do remember is that it was very good value for money - not really expensive. But amounts elude me.

I looked-up my email files and I have the name and then valid email address of my guide. His name is Sideth, and his email address is:

Sideth_855@yahoo.com.

He told me at the time he checks his email "periodically", so response could take a while.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Lisa Nikodym on January 11, 2006, 04:56:44 pm
Ray -  We arranged through our hotel to hire a car with a guide and driver (I think it was air-conditioned, but I'm not sure), and, if I remember correctly, it was all $40 a day.

Lisa
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Ray on January 12, 2006, 07:36:07 am
Lisa and Mark,
Thanks for the information. $40 a day! That's nothing to complain about is it! I guess the main reason I hired a tuk tuk driver is because the bus arrived at a destination some distance from my booked hotel and an affable tuk tuk driver offered to take me to my hotel free of charge if I agreed to hire him to drive me around the temples for just $10 a day. I'm a sucker for a bargain   . However, I did end up paying him more than that because of extended time and additional petrol.

Yes! I travelled by bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap. That was an adventure in its own right but not one I want to repeat.  

I've made up my mind to return this September. I'm not happy with some of my shots. Even one of the pair of thumbnails above (of Ta Prom, if my notes are not garbled) shows a lot of dust on the flat stones lying on the ground (the image on the right). Whoever's heard of a dusty jungle? Those stones should be damp and covered with lichen. They should be dark grey instead of light brown. Siem Reap in December is a very dusty place in general. I'm going to start arranging my return trip right away   .
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: acorreia on February 23, 2006, 07:27:54 pm
http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/keyword/cambodia (http://antoniocorreia.smugmug.com/keyword/cambodia)
Go and see please.
Tell me about them (the photos)

Antonio Correia
 
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Mark D Segal on February 23, 2006, 08:21:40 pm
You should have a word with your web-hosting service (SmugMug). I started to view your very interesting photographs, and got interrupted because the website at first wanted to keep putting Cookies on my computer every time I opened an image, then it simply stopped working - operation time-outs. I'll give it another try later.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: Ray on February 23, 2006, 09:12:34 pm
Caused my system to jam also. Had to hit Ctrl+Alt Delete to end the program.
Title: Back from Angkor/Thailand
Post by: neil on April 04, 2006, 04:13:38 pm
collum, looks like you're getting great tonalities out that printing process.  How long does a single print take?