The second most popular spot inside of the Angkor Wat complex is Angkor Hill. Compare to the reflection ponds, this place is almost empty. high on the hill on top of the Phnom Bakheng temple, you’ll a nice view of the main temples of Angkor with the sun coming up behind it. This view point gives you a much different perspective of Angkor Wat surrounded by trees and the early morning haze. This temple is also popular for sunset where the temple is front lit.
Buy tickets late in the day, the day before you plan to head to the sunset, this allows you access to the temples for sunset that day. Take the opportunity to look at the temple and plan where to stand.
During my last visit, the pond on the right side was very low barely filled with water and would not give the reflection you are after. But this is the reason for scoping it out, it’s very dark that early in the morning so you need to know where you are going so people don’t get there first! Also, have a backup plan if for some reason you get there late and ‘your’ spot is gone.
Most people come to Angkor Wat for sunrise to get a picture of the beautiful temples with the swirling colors of the dawn. However, most people leave with grainy or blurry photos of a wonder of the world. Here our guide on how to photos to be proud of and that you could actually print of Angkor Wat at sunrise.
BRING A TRIPOD FOR SUNRISE
Some of the most interesting and colorful shots you will not be able to hold your camera for. During the early light, you will need to have your camera set to an exposure length that requires a tripod. I have a mefoto travel tripod which is sturdy but folds up small so it’s not a hassle to carry around the rest of the day at the temples.
I find the easiest way to take long exposure photos when you are first starting out is to use the “A” or Aperture Priority Mode if your camera has one (most DSLRs will).
- Set your camera on the tripod
- Se the Aperture to a medium aperture like 7.1 or 8, or a wider setting like F3.5 or lower in the very early morning.
- Use As low of an ISO setting as possible ISO100 is best, but you may need to raise it for the camera to focus. The higher the ISO the more noise or grainyness your photo will have.
- Be sure to switch off any lens stabilizers (“VR” or “OS”) switches ar usually on the lenses
- Set the focus point
- Take the photo – The camera will adjust the settings for shutter speed.
- Review the photo and make any corrections a needed
If you haven’t used the “A” – Aperture Priority mode you should play with it before standing in front of the temple.
SET YOUR FOCUS ON A HIGH CONTRAST AREA
When it’s very dark out some cameras have trouble focusing, so if your photos look out of focus, then move your focus point to an area of the shot where there is high contrast. The best is something dark and something bright, like the edges of the temple spires. Most cameras use contrast to find focus, so help them out use high contrast areas.
USE A REMOTE OR BUILT-IN CAMERA TIMER
Just because you are on a tripod it doesn’t mean you are out of the woods… You still need to minimize shaking when you are pressing the button to shoot. This is done a few ways, the cheapest is to learn to use your timer function, giving the camera a few seconds to settle after you press the button. Another way is to use a remote shutter, either a plug in or wireless remote can actually snap the picture so you don’t have to touch and shake the camera. This is important in low light and long exposure situations because that camera is actually taking the picture for, in some cases, several seconds and any movement in the camera will cause blurring in your shot.
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