Great Places To Catch The Sunset

[realthaideal]

I'd love to know where ppl around here go to catch the sunset. Look, as long as the air is bringing us these great red and orange hues for hours at a time, we ought to be able to enjoy it right ? I usually just tend to catch them by a field or out along one of the ring roads and stop for a few minutes to enjoy. But I'd rather know of a rooftop restaurant or lounge around town, a ring road restaurant with a great view, or even a peak someone takes their motosai up to in Samoeng, Doi Saket, or wherever to enjoy the view. Who's got a place to go to ?

[highonthai]

There is a great little road side place over looking the pacific school. On the Samoeng road.

Great in the late afternoon or dusk. It overlooks the little valley that the Pacific Internation schools in.

The mist and smoke from local fire comes in and its quiet and beautiful.

The place has good food and will let you play your own cd's if there mellow.

Been there a few times for sunset beers and a pink Floyd listen.

[mobile69]

and smoke from local fire comes in and its quiet and beautiful.

็How thoughtful of the local residents to fill their peaceful valley with smoke to complete the perfect sunset

My favourite place for sunset is my patio, with great views towards Doi Suthep & Doi Inthanon (on clear days), egrets coming home to roost from the surrounding rice fields - previously to roost on a large & beautiful raintree on the adjoining farmland, but that disappeared 3 days ago - I guess those wonderful wooden frogs don't literally grow on trees....

Edited January 18, 2008 by mobile69

[ollylama]

the sun also rises. or at least it used to, before the government imposed curfews on bars. hemingway's spain this ain't.

funny, i've never watched the sun set in chiang mai. probably because doi suthep is in the way. watching the sun set at 4pm doesn't really qualify, i guess.

[mobile69]

the sun also rises. or at least it used to, before the government imposed curfews on bars. hemingway's spain this ain't.

Saw a few of those in my early years here

Now I get to see the sunrise from my shower room every day. Beautiful view over the rice paddy, as the sun rises over the eastern mountain range. I'll have to have a word with the locals to see if smoke can be added at such an early hour....

[Sao Jiang Mai]

Drive up beyond Doi Suthep, beyond the National Park and beyond the Doi Pui village about ten minutes, you will see breathtaking panoramas at sunset 35-40 mins from city centre. Enjoy.

[Nienke]

Hardly ever have really the time to go anywhere during sunrise or sunset, so I have to do it with what I can catch at home, which is (while practising with my brand-new camera at that time ):

Stunning sky ... less stunning pic.

But not only sunset and -rise are breath-taking also in the night the stars and the moon. I've got a very old book (1948) that gives the different stars figures (how you call that?). On bright nights I always try to figure out what is what. So far Orion is always visible. Then there are the great or big Dog with the main very bright star Sirius, the little Dog, sometimes Cassiopeia and the Big Bear. The Twins always above Orion and next to Orion the Wagenman with Capella as brightest star and the Bull with Aldebaran. (The names are directly translated from Dutch, not sure if these are the correct English names. Probably not.) I even saw Venus, without knowing it was that planet. Found out later.

And some pic's taken from the moon without a tripod, needing a lot more practice.

Nienke

[Greenside]

Doi Suthep in sunset mode from my balcony

[Nienke]

Absolutely fantastic pic! With or without photoshop?

Nienke

[meadish_sweetball]

Nienke:

'Star figures' = constellations. Here's a picture of them, indicating their Latin names and common names in English:

http://www.sorosy.com/pictures/pictures/constellations.gif

[Greenside]

Sunset Mode = Underexpose in the camera. Crop, turn up the saturation and accentuate the blue hue a touch in Photoshop. I know, it hardly ever looks like that in real life* but it's very pretty all the same. The CMPG Photoshop Workshops (Tuskers every other Wednesday) will be covering this kind of thing in a forthcoming meeting.

Incidentally, I found my little point and shoot Pentax Optio does just the same trick in the camera when you select "Sunset" as the picture style - a lot less effort too!

*Actually it often looks like that in LA but we probably could do without their level of smog just for the sake of a pretty sky.

Edited January 18, 2008 by Greenside

[meadish_sweetball]

There are a number of restaurants located on the ring roads between the roads leadning to San Kamphaeng and Doi Saket.

One such place that I used to catch the sunset in, specializes in 'gkung dten' but also has other Thai food and beer + whiskey available. The sunset is reflected in the pond the restaurant is built upon which makes for a nice scenery.

Development out there is rapid however, and these days there is a large factory of some sort a bit too close to the restaurant, which spoils the atmosphere a little, and next to the restaurant on the other side is another, newer restaurant with a two story sitting deck.

[tigerbeer]

And some pic's taken from the moon without a tripod, needing a lot more practice.

Nienke

Nienke from the little knowledge i have about photography, you need some expensive camera and lenses to take good pictures of the moon. especially with some good zoom lenses.

sunsets on the other hand can be taken with some point and shoot's with their built in sunset modes. or if you know how to do the settings manually for exposure, colour balance, sensitivity. enjoy your new camera and thanks for the pictures.

TB..

[Greenside]

And some pic's taken from the moon without a tripod, needing a lot more practice.

Nienke

Nienke from the little knowledge i have about photography, you need some expensive camera and lenses to take good pictures of the moon. especially with some good zoom lenses.

sunsets on the other hand can be taken with some point and shoot's with their built in sunset modes. or if you know how to do the settings manually for exposure, colour balance, sensitivity. enjoy your new camera and thanks for the pictures.

TB..

Sorry Nienke, when I posted my sunset pic, your post hadn't appeared yet so I was sort of focused on the sunset rather than your moon shots. Tigerbeer is right insofar as taking pics of the moon isn't quite as straigtforward as you might think and it looks like your new lens will allow you to get it fairly large in the frame but you absolutely must use a tripod. The other problem is that using any auto exposure mode will result in no detail as the camera takes the night sky into consideration and so overexposes the moon itself.

I've never done any successful lunar pictures myself but if you Google "taking pictures moon" there are tons of great tips to be had and although I know it isn't the camera you're using, I thought this one was particularly helpful.

If you want to continue this discussion go to the CMPG website and post a question on the forum and someone who has more experience than me will help you out.

[tigerbeer]

And some pic's taken from the moon without a tripod, needing a lot more practice.

Nienke

Nienke from the little knowledge i have about photography, you need some expensive camera and lenses to take good pictures of the moon. especially with some good zoom lenses.

sunsets on the other hand can be taken with some point and shoot's with their built in sunset modes. or if you know how to do the settings manually for exposure, colour balance, sensitivity. enjoy your new camera and thanks for the pictures.

TB..

Sorry Nienke, when I posted my sunset pic, your post hadn't appeared yet so I was sort of focused on the sunset rather than your moon shots. Tigerbeer is right insofar as taking pics of the moon isn't quite as straigtforward as you might think and it looks like your new lens will allow you to get it fairly large in the frame but you absolutely must use a tripod. The other problem is that using any auto exposure mode will result in no detail as the camera takes the night sky into consideration and so overexposes the moon itself.

I've never done any successful lunar pictures myself but if you Google "taking pictures moon" there are tons of great tips to be had and although I know it isn't the camera you're using, I thought this one was particularly helpful.

If you want to continue this discussion go to the CMPG website and post a question on the forum and someone who has more experience than me will help you out.

greenside, i just happened to pass by Big Camera and picked up one of their latest brochures. i could not believe my eyes on how cheap cameras are these days, 24000THB for a Canon 400D kit. 19,900 for a 350D kit. thats totally cheap for any amateur to get into DSLR photography. one of them being me !

[Greenside]

greenside, i just happened to pass by Big Camera and picked up one of their latest brochures. i could not believe my eyes on how cheap cameras are these days, 24000THB for a Canon 400D kit. 19,900 for a 350D kit. thats totally cheap for any amateur to get into DSLR photography. one of them being me !

The entry level DSLR market is now the most hard fought sector not only because much of the profit has disappeared from the point and shoot products now being sold by supermarkets and non-specialist shops, but also because the manufacturers know that by buying their model (and being satisfied with it!) you're likely buying into a whole system with an investment in lenses and accessories that will soon dwarf the cost of the original camera.

Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus and Panasonic all make attractive entry level kits although the first two mentioned lead the pack by some way. If you're really thinking of taking that first DSLR step, feel free to tap some of the experience of CMPG members either via the website or at a meeting. I'd also advise against buying from any store that doesn't have staff with specialist knowledge and doing some homework by checking out reviews at this site.

[highonthai]

Way to hijack a thread!

[cm das]

I like to go for a jog at 700 year stadium around sunset time. There's a nice track around the football field next to the shooting range, behind the main stadium. It's a popular place for Thais to exercise in the evening, people are generally friendly & there's a great view of the mountain.

[waveydavey]

I'd love to know where ppl around here go to catch the sunset. Look, as long as the air is bringing us these great red and orange hues for hours at a time, we ought to be able to enjoy it right ? I usually just tend to catch them by a field or out along one of the ring roads and stop for a few minutes to enjoy. But I'd rather know of a rooftop restaurant or lounge around town, a ring road restaurant with a great view, or even a peak someone takes their motosai up to in Samoeng, Doi Saket, or wherever to enjoy the view. Who's got a place to go to ?

Stayed at the Montri Hotel recently. Had a great view of the sunset over the mountain from a top floor room at the back.

[Greenside]

Way to hijack a thread!

Oops....

[highonthai]

Way to hijack a thread!

Oops....

I just didn't want to have start on about my brownie camera...

[Nienke]

Only a little bit hijacking, highonthai. What is more positive then besides talking about Mother Nature's beauties also talking (or in my case learning) how to make nice pic's of these things.

For me, every evening I look at the sky and I appreciate very much the link MS gave. Thank you! Turns out my little book is really old as through the years they obviously have changed their minds about several constellations. In the early days there were no 'arms' on Orion, also the Draco and the Big Bear have more stars added.

My camera seems to be pretty good (Olympus SP-500UZ) with several options, such as a sunset/rise mode. Also brightness, saturation etc. I've got on the camera, but I prefer to do that on the computer, then I can see it better. Still learning, haven't figured out all these options yet. But my mom is on her way and she can explain.

Thanks for the advices, much appreciated.

I, for one, would like to see more pic's accompanied with the posts.

Nienke

[Rasseru]

I'd love to know where ppl around here go to catch the sunset. . . . . Who's got a place to go to ?

Happy to tell you where I go to catch the sunset, although it's one of those cases where it feels a little selfish to share.

I go nowhere. Or, rather, I simply go out on my balcony, half way up the Rimping Condominium, from where the view of the sunset is marvellous. The Ping River ranges from right to left directly below, while the city, including the old moated area and its temple spires, occupies the middle ground, up to the base of Doi Suthep, which can be seen in its entirety. The sun sets, at this time of year, slightly off to the left of Doi Suthep, almost directly behind Doi Inthanon, the distant mass of which is quite impressive too, when visible.

[tigerbeer]

i am usually anywhere around town and i happily watch the sunset so that i know its time for me to have my first beer

[realthaideal]

I'm jealous Rassereau. Yep, the people who stay hi-up in the Ping and Hillside Condo's got it good whenever they like. So... I'd like to invite myself over for a beer and to hang out and watch with you, if you don't mind. Nothing romantic, just enjoying the end to another CM day. Also of note... those condo views and those from Montri and Rydges can be great ways to get shots of the city that you never otherwise get to experience the city during the day -even say, safely during Songkran!, not just for sunsets. I always try to get up to friends' rooms when they stay in town to visit to get shots that show the outlay of the streets and the views of all the known temples and other landmarks in the background. Perhaps another meeting idea for Greenside and his CMPG thread hijacking group. Might be an interesting topic or to have a gathering and rooftop photo party even.

And Meadish, I think I know the place you mean. I think you head out to San Kamphaeng or straight out of town from Nawarat bridge, go rt at 2nd ring road, and there're two small rest's right near each other. But one is THE place to eat gung taen for all the Thais, right ? I remember most of the food there pretty hot and traditional Lanna style. Did enjoy the jumping shrimps after they got a good knocking in the bowl with the lid on, and also had some good crispy garlic frog legs. It looks out onto a rice field in my memory with even a one of the small dining areas built more like a pier that goes out onto it and allowing max exposure to rice field sunset views. Another bonus of the location...the occasional firefly that wanders by. Love 'em!

[Rasseru]

. . . So... I'd like to invite myself over for a beer and to hang out and watch with you, if you don't mind. Nothing romantic, just enjoying the end to another CM day. . . .

While it's a very thoughtful invitation, I confess I am reluctant to accept it. The problem is that you seem like quite a nice person. That in itself is not a problem, of course. The real issue is that, if you are as nice as you seem and we were to become friends, I would then have the problem of facing the real risk, indeed virtually the certainty, of losing you in an early stage of our friendship. Please understand that it is not your age as such that bothers me. I have very dear friends nearly as advanced in years as you, one of whom, for example, turns 90 in another six months or so, but they are people I have known for many years, which is a different situation entirely. My apologies, but I hope you will understand.