This picture of an orchid was taken in Sukhothai, Thailand before visiting my wife’s family. While probably far from my best picture of an orchid, I do like the colors of the orchid very much. Before visiting SouthEast Asia for the first time years ago, I didn’t know that there are more than 20,000 types of orchids that are widely accepted.

You will find no shortage of orchid farms in Thailand, so I highly recommend visiting the many you will find in all of the major tourist areas. I’ve been to ones in Chiang Mai, Nong Khai & Phuket that were very cool to go to, and they are definitely great places for accomplished macrophotographers to take some pictures of these amazing flowers.

Note: Sukhothai is still one of my favorite places to take pictures in Thailand. While the temples don’t have quite the same splendor as the temples of Angkor Wat, you could spend a few quality days checking out one of the original kingdoms of Thailand during your stay.

A Buddha photo taken on a trip to Sukhothai, Thailand with my wife and brother a few years ago. While I don’t consider myself to be a spiritual person, at least in the traditional sense, I do have to admit to feeling a sense of wonder walking amongst the various artifacts of one of the old Thai Kingdoms (a lot of people don’t realize that Bangkok hasn’t always been the center of activity for Thailand).

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Sukhothai, while not quite having the scenic splendor of  the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia , is one of my favorite places I’ve been to in Thailand. Getting around to the many temples is at least a full-day affair, and I could definitely spend more time there taking pictures.

Sukhothai, Thailand

Originally uploaded by dbillian

Now this picture was obviously modified a fair amount. Since the photo was taken in the middle of the day – which means the sun tends to wash things out and/or contribute to overexposed pictures – I had to do a lot of tweaking to get the picture the way I wanted it (I liked the composition enough, so I just needed to take a little time to adjust other aspects of the photo). If you have a chance to visit Sukhothai in Thailand, I can assure you that you will have many opportunities to take a lot of your own quality images (Sukhothai is kind of like Angkor Wat in Cambodia, just a bit smaller and not quite as grand).

I personally don’t use Photoshop at this time, largely due to the fact that work historically takes up a great deal of my time and learning a fairly complex piece of software would chew up the little free time I do have. Picnik, at least for now, fulfills most of my needs because I am not trying to become a professional photographer (I have nowhere near the consistency required to be a pro, nor do I *think* like a photographer would when looking for a shot).

Buddha at Sukhothai, Thailand

Originally uploaded by dbillian

The primary picture was taken by doing a zoom by zooming the SLR lens in & out, and then I did some very basic modifications on Picnik.com (via Flickr) to get the picture to color the way that like it (I tend to be attracted to deeper colors and hues).

Sukhothai, Thailand is a fantastic place to visit for photography & the weather is generally a little cooler than other parts of Thailand. While I was rushed there my first time visiting, my next trip to Sukhothai will not be as hurried (I was traveling with two other people).