2012, Day 339 - Still waters

Kep is a small coastal town on the Gulf of Thailand.  Originally a French resort town, Kep lost ground to Sihanoukville in the 60s and then was largely abandoned when the Khmer Rouge came to power.  Today the waterfront is home to some large hotels and picnic sites but many of the houses are ruined shells.  Once abandoned they are now owned predominantly by property speculators waiting for the market to peak in order to get top dollar.

We arrived after a morning of playing with salt and pepper to walk along the waterfront.  The clouds were remarkable and the ocean was a startling blue; a nice contrast to the muddy rivers from all the recent rainfall. There was a refreshing breeze and took a little edge off the sun's heat and we happened upon the ruins of a pier.  I took a few pictures but continued on with Araceli and Francene but I couldn't get the image out of my mind.  When we stopped for lunch I grabbed my tripod and headed back to take a few long exposures with the help of my handy neutral density filter.  It allowed me to extend the exposure and give the water that smooth look.  I love the beautiful calm of Kep, it won't be a sleepy fishing town forever but this is how I will remember it.

Canon 1D X, Canon 24-70/f2.8L Mark II
24mm, f16, 10 sec @ 100 ISO