Leo Laksi’s Bangkok And Back

Main Street

In May, my friends and I made a trip from Siem Reap, the location of Angkor Wat, to the village of Kampong Kleang on the Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.  The Tonle Sap with its reversing water flow, depending on the season, is one of the great wonders of the world.  Any visit to Angkor Wat should include travel to this lake.  On the way there we passed this hamlet that this time of year was high and dry.  By mid-June the situation changed as the lake waters rose to a level just below the top rung of the stairs.  The 18 foot rise in the water level signaled the beginning of the wet season.

Thatch house

We stopped at this village to take a quick walk through town and found that it was difficult to leave as the people were very friendly, walking with us.  Mainly it was the children who shadowed our every move, yelling “good-bye” nonstop.  On those days when you are tired of visiting temples, you might consider a trip to the Tonle Sap.  With a stop or two in a village like this one.

Photos taken with a Leica M8 and Summicron 35mm f/2 lens.

Behind Main Street

Can't miss it.

Followed us around town

Curious

Pigeons are waiting for you

Birdwatching and photography go hand in hand although sometimes the photography can be somewhat exotic, requiring longer lenses and well-developed skills to capture that perfect shot.  But you don’t have to travel to the country (or even to a park in the city) to try your hand at bird photography.  Most cities are home to flocks of pigeons, to the extent that they are considered pests.  But pigeons are easy to find and because they have become accustomed to people, one can move in and shoot away without spooking them.

But it doesn’t have to pigeons.  It can be seagulls, sparrows, really any birds that are common in your neighborhood.  For more photos, check out these photos of a child with pigeons in Vancouver, Canada.

The pigeon photos were taken with a Nikon D700 in and Sigma 150mm f/2.8 lens in Bangkok; the seagull with a Leica M8 with a Summilux 75mm f/1.4 in San Francisco.

Looking at me

Really looking at me

Slight difference

Another city bird

Dried squidman

Some of these photos were taken during the photo walk while others were taken later after a bite of food and a great foot massage.  I hadn’t had this amount of fun in a long time and I think others in my group felt the same way.  If I had my way, I would spend even more time but even the best events have to end some time.

Walking through Chinatown it was easy to find subjects to shoot.  The difficulty was figuring out how best to capture that image.  I spotted the dried squid vendor above joking around with a friend of his that was out of the frame.  Trying to figure out the best way to frame and then take the photograph, he suddenly turned his head with that grin on the face.  I couldn’t have planned that.  I gave him a big smile and a thank you and I was on my way.

During the late night walk, we decided to detour off the main street.   We suddenly found ourselves watching this older man using a hand cart in the alley.  Although he wasn’t the biggest of men, he was muscular and glistening with sweat. Then I saw the other man further along in the alley and then I took the photo.  Although the photo shows camera movement, it’s my belief it’s better to capture that moment in time then miss it forever.  [Note:  this photo was taken at 1/13 second at f/2.8.]

Hard working

The following two photos were captured during the walk and show skewered pigs before they were roasted and then one being roasted.  These photos were a fluke.  We were walking to the rendezvous point and I happened to glance over and in the thinnest sliver of an alley I spotted the pigs.  Of course, I made a beeline and then spotted another pig being charcoal roasted.

Dinner

Roasting pig

All the above photos were taken with a Nikon D700 and Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.  The following was taken with a Leica M8 and Summicron 35mm f/2.8 lens and shot from the hip prefocused at 1.5 meters.

Group of four

Streetwalker with Leica M8

[Check out my posting re: the "Think Tank "Streetwalker Pro".  For photos showing the size difference between the two, check this out.]

Over the years I’ve worked my way through enough photo backpacks to supply an army of photographers.  From practically every brand.  Lowe Pro, Kata, Crumpler, and Tenba to name a few.  I’ve even pressed some smaller non-photo backpacks into duty that rivaled some of the aforementioned.

Padded back and straps

Some of the photo packs were too small, some didn’t have enough padding and some were just plain uncomfortable.

Last year I purchased a Think Tank Streetwalker Pro.  This was my first Think Tank product and I was very impressed with its design, comfort and detailing.  In fact I had never seen a better looking photo backpack.  (The Pro is slightly larger than the standard Streetwalker that is the subject of this posting.)  The only downside of the Pro for me was its size.  Although the design is very compact, for my purposes, it was slightly too large.  Talking about inches in each direction.

The Streetwalker series comes in three sizes with the largest capable of holding a laptop but I decided against the largest simply because I wasn’t looking for a larger pack.

For me the smallest Streetwalker is perfect.  Although smallish in size and relatively narrow in width it is capable of swallowing practically most photographer’s kit.  For example, as shown in the photo below, the pack holds:

Nikon D700

Nikkor AFS 14-24mm f/2.8G IF ED zoom lens

Nikkor AFS 24-70mm f/2.8G IF ED zoom lens

Nikkor AF 80-200mm f/2.8D  ED zoom lens

Nikkor AF DC 135mm f/2 D lens

Nikkor AF 85mm f/1.8D lens

Pack with D700 and five lenses

Now normally I don’t carry five Nikkor lenses.  Either the 85mm or 135mm is left at the office.  And in it’s place is… another camera, the Leica M8 with Summicron 35mm f/2 lens.  So in total, I usually carry two cameras and five lenses in the bag.  Not bad huh?

But there’s more. The exterior of the pack has four zippered compartments capable of holding other accessories and odd and ends such as your wallet, mobile phone and keys.  In addition, the interior side of the main zippered flap also has two large zippered compartments capable of holding even more gear.  Further, the pack comes with straps that allow you to fasten a tripod vertically.  However,  note one significant difference between the Pro and this version.  The Pro has a “pocket” that unfolds from the bottom of the pack that holds the tripod feet; the Streetwalker does not.  To me this difference does not bother me in the least.

Zippered interior compartments

But you should look at the Think Tank backpack as part of a system.  You can buy optional bags and accessories that attach to the pack.  Note that another difference between the Pro and the Streetwalker is your ability to attach a fully padded Pro Speedbelt or accessory bags to the Pro while you can not with the Streetwalker.

Photos taken with Nikon D700 and 24-70mm f/2.8 lens and Leica M8 and Summicron 35mm f/2 lens.

Dancers at Angkor Wat

One of the highlights of my latest trip to Angkor Wat is the opportunity to capture people going about their daily routines.  This could include dancers working at night at Angkor Wat or monks in a tourist mode visiting during the day.  Irrespective of their activities, they were all at ease before a camera, making it much easier to slip into a photographer and start shooting.

Photos taken with a Leica M8 and Summicron 35mm f/2 lens and Leica C-Lux 2.

Guard at Bayon. With carved female "Apsara" figure below.

Three monks sightseeing

Along the river near Siem Reap

Boys wondering who we are

Single light source in the corner

The other night I was roaming around looking for something to shoot.  No quite sure where to go or what I was going to do.  Suddenly I happened upon a wildly “edgy” bar I had been to once before.

On the earlier occasion, I took a series of photographs of the bartenders.  Luckily I had my Leica M8 and the Noctilux 50mm f/1 lens.  Although my Noctilux has a slight back focus issue, it performed well, given the very dark ambiance of the bar.   And remember, with the M8, we are talking manual focus.  In a very dim bar. The photo below was taken that first visit.

Leica M8 with Noctilux 50mm f/1 lens

On the recent visit, I hadn’t prepared for a return visit.  As a result I ended up with the D700 and the 14-24mm f2.8 lens.  Because this lens is only capable of f/2.8, I dialed up the ISO to 6400, hoping that I could compensate for the lens’ relatively lack of wide aperture.  I half expected the auto focus to struggle and that I would have to go to manual focus.  Well, this didn’t happen.  After I turned off the AF assist light, I went strictly low impact.  I used the D700’s spotmeter with “aperture priority” and f-stop 2.8.

Post processing was minimal.  Noise reduction was turned off.  I took the liberty of processing some of the b&w in a high contrast style.

Bottom line, the D700’s performance, including its high ISO capabilities and the extremely fast and accurate auto-focus,  makes it a joy to use.  The only downside was the sheer size of the combination when compared with the M8.

Caged

Cropped from above

Children on a hammock

In this particular town, near Kampong Kleang, on the Tonle Sap, several of us decided to walk thru this single road village that was comprised of 80-100 houses on both sides of the road.  Normally, groups of foreigners drive straight through, heading for Kampong Kleang.

Altogether there must have been 300-400 people living here.  The children came running out of their houses, shouting only one phrase “bye-bye” which was their equivalent of hello, “how are you”, and good-bye.  Although their living conditions was rough by western standards, you couldn’t tell by the looks on their faces.  And the looks on the faces of their parents.

One got the impression that they hardly saw foreigners.  They were very ecstatic in tagging along with us.  And vice versa.

Photos taken with a Leica M8 and Summicron 35mm f/2 lens.

Sister and brother

Girl, Chinese doughnut, and hungry dog

Looking at the commotion

Checking us out

Pre Rup temple after sunrise

Pre Rup Temple is an alternative to the very popular Angkor Wat for sunrise.  In fact, climb the stairs to the top of the temple for a memorable sunrise.  On this particular day, the cloud cover was heavy so the sunrise was not as spectacular as it can be when it strikes the red sandstone, laterite and brick of Pre Rup.  An added bonus in visiting here is that there aren’t hundreds of people as there can be at Angkor Wat.  This morning, there was our small group and three others visitors.

Another thing.  Pre Rup is a very compact temple that is easy to access.  Angkor Wat is huge and sometimes loses intimacy, especially at sunrise when there are crowds of people trying to share the same expericience.

Photos taken with a Leica M8 and Summicron 35mm f/2 lens.

Looking down from Pre Rup

Two tourists climbing the stairs

Different perspective

Central tower

One early morning we traveled to Kampong Kleang, a small fishing village on the Tonle Sap.  From Kampong Kleang, we took a small boat to a floating village about 30 minutes away in the Tonle Sap.

The Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and is the life blood of the Cambodian (Khmer) people.  It is known for reverse flow of its water from wet to dry season and the rich biodiversity surrounding the lake.

When we visited, it was still the dry season, however, in another month, the rains will fall and the water may rise up nine meters.

The land surrounding Kampong Kleang will be underwater with the only high ground being the temple grounds.  As the houses are built on stilts, there is little risk from rising high water.  And the people have been living here for thousands of years.  They are well aware of how to survive in this environment.

They go about their daily lives no different than people around the world.

To visit this village travel south by motor vehicle about 1 hour south of Siem Reap.  There are other villages closed to Siem Reap, however, they have become heavily visited by tourists.

Photos were taken with a Leica M8 and Summicron 35mm f/2 lens.

Walkway from the main entrance to the temple

We visited Banteay Srei temple early one morning, hoping to catch the glow of a bright sunrise against the red sandstone.  Sad to say that the sunrise was not spectacular so we were left with the beautiful red sandstone.

Banteay Srei is a relatively recent name and means “citadel of women”, referring to its delicate proportions and intricate decor.  Banteay Srei was consecrated in 967AD and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.  The original name of the temple was “Tribhuvanamahesvara”, meaning “Great Lord of the Threefold World.

The temple is a must-see.  It’s about 25km from the main Angkor complex.  It is heavily visited so I recommend that you visit early.  You will have the temple all to yourselves.  Later in the morning, there are lots of visitors.

Second gateway

Front facade

Intricate detailing

Rear view

Main complex