About 14 months ago we had a short break in Siem Reap in Cambodia, temple bashing. At one stage I did know the order in which we visited the temples but now they are just a blur and a lot of DNGs in my Lightroom catalogue. Occasionally I go back, review, delete a few and wonder, hmmm, I wonder what the would like if I processed it. Perhaps my PP skills have moved on in the last 14 months. Maybe not. And of course, Reap may not be pronounced Reep but Ray-app, which is what I heard at the airport. It could be one of those cunning foreign names designed to trip up unsuspecting aliens. Like Phuket, which before you get agitated is Poo-kett. So there.
To get to the point, as they used to say on Blue Peter, here’s one I made earlier.
Golden light
You can tell that the builders almost certainly didn’t have proper qualifications, no City & Guilds in brick-laying or window installation. Aha! But did they have C&G in 1200? I suspect not. But even so, fancy building a temple next to a tree like that. Any fool knows that the roots will play havoc with your foundations, madam. It is a bit like building Cologne Cathedral next to the main railway station. Bonkers. Fire the architect.
What I wanted to capture here was a sense of the scale, hence allowing an intruder to feature in the image, the wonderful way the natural and the man-made have intertwined over the centuries and of course the sensual light that bathes the site. Look at the rich chestnut glow of the tree boles left and right. I think this is the Ta Phrom temple, but I am not 100% sure.
Yet I also have a sense that the stone and timber should be well-suited to black and white. So I processed another shot in both colour and monochrome.
I have a marginal preference for the B&W frame but frankly I am relaxed – both please me.
I would appreciate thoughts on the colour versus B&W debate and indeed any critique you wish to offer. We are here to learn, even at my age and I am happy to sow differently if I reap a better harvest.
As a bonus, here is another B&W frame, processed in LR / CS4 rather than in Silver Efex Pro. Can you tell the difference between Stork and butter?
Ta Phrom
All downhill from here 
Both have aspects to offer. I like both. 🙂
laughing without a clue why. hahaha
These are good Andrew. I like both, the b&w and the color. I’d like it more if I could travel to see some of these fab places. Phuk (that’s pook to you) 😉
Pook? I thought was what Geordies did after too much broon.
fabulous pictures if only i could take pictures half as well i would be happy!, thank you for sharing this and though i love black and white in this instance i also appreciate the colour, not only is it such lovely colours but helps me feel as if i could be there, have a great day ^_^
Reblogged this on kizzylee and commented:
oh my this is brilliant turns out in response to my post i have a friend who has actually visited and has the most excellent pictures on his blog so reblogged for you all andrew and his visit and excellent pictures, enjoy-
I like the warmth of the colour image, but I’m not averse to the odd daguerreotype, either !
daguerreotype is that something like a gargoyle?
Some very nice shots here, well done. I personally prefer the b&w’s and I think b&w shows more detail. Although this temple is ancient compared to photography, b&w seems to better reflect the age.
Thank you, Kaushal.
Hi Andrew, i love the image of the tree trunk. And i prefer the b&w by far.