Angkor Wat - Reflecting Pool, Cambodia
licensable
Angkor Wat - Reflecting Pool, Cambodia
licensable
Angkor Wat - Reflecting Pool, Cambodia
licensable
Angkor Wat - Reflecting Pool, Cambodia
Thijs van den Broek
Thijs van den Broek www.htvandenbroek.nl
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Cambodia Angkor Wat - Reflecting Pool

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The reflecting pool at sunrise is the classic photo of Angkor Wat. Capturing it is a mission in itself. I photographed the sunrise at Angkor Wat on five consecutive mornings. If your trip allows you multiple attempts at capturing the sunrise, do it.

Get to the gates of Angkor Wat at 5 am. Not 6am, not 5:30am, but 5am. This is when the gates open. You want to get through as soon as the gates open, there is a limited amount of space by the reflecting pond, and if you aren't there within the first 10 minutes, you are unlikely to get a clear viewing position.

Try to position yourself as close to the centre of the pond as possible. The edges of the pond are prone to tourists getting in your way. During the busiest day, I saw people roll up their trousers and wade into the pond, to get in front of other people.

Photography Tips

1 - Remember insect repellant. the pond is not just a mecca for photographers and tourists, it's a mecca for bugs too and dawn is feeding time!

2 - This is by far the busiest part of the Angkor archaeological park and the busiest time of day. EVERYONE is here for this, bus loads of tourists arrive by 6 pm.

3 - Wild pigs are roaming in the woodland. I saw one push a tourist, his tripod and camera, into the pond! Be vigilant.

4 - Look at the astronomical conditions before you shoot. One morning, the moon was setting right before sunrise, which meant I could capture a dark sky with Angkor Wat illuminated by moonlight! There are only a handful of opportunities to photograph Angkor Wat this way each year, if this is important to you consider an app like Photopills

5 - Women and children are weaving in and out of the crowds to sell coffee. A wonderful idea and I desperately needed the caffeine. However, be careful that a stray foot does not knock your tripod during a long exposure!

Travel Information

Your tuk-tuk will park across the moat to the west. Alternatively, you will park your bicycle here if arriving on 2 wheels.

Ideally, you will want to leave your hotel by 0440 to allow enough time to arrive and have your park ticket inspected.
Spot Type Outdoor
Crowd Factor Lots of people
Best Timing Sunrise
Sunrise & Sunset 06:01 - 18:17 | current local time: 17:06
Photo Themes angkor Khmer Sunrise Temple

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Spot Comments (2)

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Tim L!
Tim L! 04.08.2019
Great tips, Thijs!
Edward
Edward 27.08.2018
Amazing shot. Wish I could have even tried for this but when I was there, the Khmer Rouge were still present and no-one was willing to venture out in less than a convoy. I wanted the Bayonne in moonlight.

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Thank you Mathew Browne for creating this photo spot in Cambodia and Jason Donovan, Thijs van den Broek, Mia Pflieger for improving it with additional photos or content.
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