Photo Gallery: Koh Rong

Original Post: Koh Rong

When shooting with color film, the Diana Mini produces a very different sort of feel. Maybe it was a combination of the film I used and the rainy day, but the monochromatic photos I shot in Siem Reap seemed gloomy, dark, and kind of serious. The color images I took on Koh Rong seemed a lot more fun and artsy, with some surprisingly bright pops of color. The Diana Mini lens gives a super soft focus.

These photos were shot using Fuji Superia X-Tra 400.

The sun finally came out when we arrived on Koh Rong, and I switched to a roll of color film to try to capture the vivid tropical colors of the island. We stayed at Paradise Bungalow, a "resort" consisting of a number of rustic bungalows in the jungle just off the beach.

Bungalows on the Beach

The Diana Mini is a unique camera because it takes 35mm film, but it has two settings: half-frame and square. I shot half-frame in Vientiane, but took a bunch of square photos on this trip to experiment with that format a little bit.

The best part of the resort was the lounge, the comfortable, breezy, open-air lobby. It was the only part of the property that had 24-hour electricity, wifi, and good drinks. We spent hours here relaxing, reading, and enjoying the lazy atmosphere as they played tranquil Asian music and soft jazz.

The Paradise Lounge

I'm not sure if it's the film or the camera, but the combination seems to pick up yellow really well (like in my Vientiane gallery). On the short walk down through the jungle hillside to the beach from our bungalow, we passed a clothesline with laundry drying in the sun. I wanted to try to see if I could capture some of the bright colors.

Drying in the Sun

The Beach Bar! I wanted to try to take photos of the fun island atmosphere. This kind of photo seems to work a lot better in color than it would in black and white. Using the Diana Mini in it's square-frame mode with color film seems a lot more fun, energetic, and hipstery than it does with black and white.

Beach Bar

Another example of the vivid yellow! At first I thought this was a "bird of paradise", but when I looked it up, the petals looked a little bit different. Anyway, it's some sort of tropical flower, it's yellow, and it was right outside our bungalow.

Flower of Paradise

And one final example of yellow really popping on this film. This is my Beer Lao hat that I got in Vientiane. I was really glad for the sun, and happy that we had a few bright, clear days on Koh Rong Island!

My Hat!

This last one unintentionally turned out really cool! We were just messing around on the beach, and Pinky leaned in close while I was taking a picture. I didn't even realize that her glasses were reflective! This is our "couple's portrait" on the beach! It's amazing how different the mood and atmosphere can be so different depending on whether a picture is shot with color or black and white film.

Couple's Portrait

It's nearly midterm time. Things are busy, but this week is the "calm before the storm" here at the school. I have a little time, so I'm trying to get a bunch of posts up on the blog before the end of the year. I've got one more Photo Gallery post coming soon! Stay tuned for a series of black and white photos of Pinky and me waiting out Typhoon Chaba on Otres Beach, Cambodia.