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When traveling on a mission to photograph things you’ll probably never see again, you tend to get very few, if not one, opportunities to capture that moment. And when you’re up at 3:30 am to photograph a sunrise of one of the most iconic sunrise spots in the world, you cross your fingers that it’s beautiful.

This time, lady luck was definitely on my side.

I woke up at an ungodly hour, met up with my guide at 4:00 am, drove out to Angkor Wat, and showed me the best location alongside the pond to set up my camera. And wow, was he spot on! In about an hour, the pond was flooded with hundreds of others trying to sneak in and get a few snapshots of the same scene (why people think their camera flash will reach the temple, God only knows). Thankfully I had the guide protecting my gear, which was right behind me on a mat, preventing tourists from pushing in too close (I didn’t want to end up in the water). It didn’t stop a woman from pushing her camera in so close that when I turned my head, it bumped into it.

But it was all worth it. This, I believe, was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen … and to compare it to all of the sunsets I’ve witnessed (which outweighs sunrises), it’s still the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

When traveling on a mission to photograph things you’ll probably never see again, you tend to get very few, if not one, opportunities to capture that moment. And when you’re up at 3:30 am to photograph a sunrise of one of the most iconic sunrise spots in the world, you cross your fingers that it’s beautiful.

This time, lady luck was definitely on my side.

I woke up at an ungodly hour, met up with my guide at 4:00 am, drove out to Angkor Wat, and showed me the best location alongside the pond to set up my camera. And wow, was he spot on! In about an hour, the pond was flooded with hundreds of others trying to sneak in and get a few snapshots of the same scene (why people think their camera flash will reach the temple, God only knows). Thankfully I had the guide protecting my gear, which was right behind me on a mat, preventing tourists from pushing in too close (I didn’t want to end up in the water). It didn’t stop a woman from pushing her camera in so close that when I turned my head, it bumped into it.

But it was all worth it. This, I believe, was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen … and to compare it to all of the sunsets I’ve witnessed (which outweighs sunrises), it’s still the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

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Nicole is a photographer, published author, and educator specializing in Lightroom, Photoshop, and photography. She is best known for her books on food photography but is widely versed in various photographic genres, including landscape, nature, stock, travel, and experimental imagery.

47 Comments

  1. Steve Boyko November 20, 2012 at 10:24 pm - Reply

    Wow – glorious indeed.

  2. Rob Hallifax November 20, 2012 at 10:25 pm - Reply

    WOW!

  3. Ari Duxans November 20, 2012 at 10:25 pm - Reply

    amazing

  4. José Carlos Gargalhone November 20, 2012 at 10:26 pm - Reply

    Beautiful reflection, quiet moment even

  5. Chris Smith November 20, 2012 at 10:26 pm - Reply

    Gorgeous! Love those sky colors and the shapes in the silhouette!

  6. Roswitha Böhmer November 20, 2012 at 10:27 pm - Reply

    beautiful light, love it

  7. Bundit Duke November 20, 2012 at 10:41 pm - Reply

    U r in Cambodia?

  8. Vincenzo D C November 20, 2012 at 10:41 pm - Reply

    Wonderful photo and such a beautiful simmetry in this reflection!

  9. nik harwood November 20, 2012 at 10:48 pm - Reply

    Beautifully serene…

  10. Rick Takagi November 20, 2012 at 10:48 pm - Reply

    wow…this is great!

  11. Lou Perz November 20, 2012 at 11:00 pm - Reply

    A truly magical place

  12. Mary Broussard November 20, 2012 at 11:12 pm - Reply

    Oh beaautiful!

  13. BEDOO O November 20, 2012 at 11:21 pm - Reply

    NICE

  14. Felipe Silva November 20, 2012 at 11:22 pm - Reply

    beautiful

  15. Michael Bolognesi November 20, 2012 at 11:45 pm - Reply

    Wow thats a truly epic shot!

  16. Diamond Jade November 21, 2012 at 12:10 am - Reply

    I love the colors

  17. Ed Law November 21, 2012 at 12:12 am - Reply

    You only go this way once and you got the moment!!

    Well done!

  18. Emilie Hémery November 21, 2012 at 12:24 am - Reply

    Amazing

  19. Gordon Jones November 21, 2012 at 12:25 am - Reply

    Glorious morning moment.

  20. Shelly Gunderson November 21, 2012 at 12:45 am - Reply

    Lovely!

  21. daniel daube November 21, 2012 at 12:50 am - Reply

    Makes those early hours worth it!
    If you are still looking for photo back-up TWIP had an interview on Mosaic Archive. Might be a tad pricey but sounded like it would handle your needs-not sure about seeding?

  22. Brian Thomas November 21, 2012 at 1:38 am - Reply

    Yes, one of the great sunsets

  23. Busarin Poolpipat November 21, 2012 at 2:08 am - Reply

    perfect reflection, very nice

  24. Jamie Harmon November 21, 2012 at 2:34 am - Reply

    love everything about it! Thanks for sharing…

  25. Erika Beagle November 21, 2012 at 2:36 am - Reply

    Love the reflection and the sky line. Beautiful.

  26. Amy Heiden November 21, 2012 at 2:45 am - Reply

    Man, what an incredible sunset. Love this shot; the colors and the silhouette. It's so awesome when everything comes together and turns out so beautifully.

  27. Nanda Linn Aung November 21, 2012 at 3:41 am - Reply

    just beautiful.. now i got an idea.. it should be taken very late or very early because the small lake is idle and sometimes the temple is wrapped with renovation linens.. hope I can visit again and at least take a beatiful photo like you did. thanks for sharing. a photo with a note.

  28. Guno Kang November 21, 2012 at 3:57 am - Reply

    Beautiful

  29. timothy butrum November 21, 2012 at 4:38 am - Reply

    perfection #myopinion

  30. Abbas Tehrani November 21, 2012 at 4:43 am - Reply

    رویایی

  31. Girish Vk November 21, 2012 at 4:49 am - Reply

    nice place………

  32. tikh ahmad November 21, 2012 at 5:35 am - Reply

    wow, very nice shot :)

  33. Edwin Tulalian November 21, 2012 at 8:37 am - Reply

    What a beautiful scene!

  34. Rakesh Thapa November 21, 2012 at 11:27 am - Reply

    Nice shoot…!

  35. sushma su November 21, 2012 at 3:09 pm - Reply

    india

  36. Nick Nieto November 21, 2012 at 3:00 pm - Reply

    Beautiful image. I love traveling and having stories like this behind me images. It makes it all the work worth it. This is on my list of places to visit in the next few years. I’ll have to get that guides information from you.

  37. Sin Ty November 22, 2012 at 4:15 pm - Reply

    Amazing! My hometown!

  38. Professional Photography November 22, 2012 at 11:32 pm - Reply

    I must say this is eye catching.

  39. Pramod Kushwah November 24, 2012 at 7:35 am - Reply

    I love my india

  40. Kamal Alkatheri November 27, 2012 at 2:48 am - Reply

    God

  41. Cihat Çelik November 30, 2012 at 7:10 pm - Reply

    woow

  42. Sondra Miller December 6, 2012 at 12:43 am - Reply

    Wow

  43. Shahzad Alam December 7, 2012 at 7:48 pm - Reply

    Gud

  44. Donald Trojanowski December 17, 2012 at 9:41 am - Reply

    Nicole that is a very good picture thank you.

  45. Direk Rerkrai January 8, 2013 at 9:05 am - Reply

    So beautiful & wonderful for human potentiality but – perspective took a lot of poor doing.

  46. Donald Trojanowski January 8, 2013 at 2:34 pm - Reply

    It is a very nice picture thank you for sharing

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