Photographers in Bangkok

Bangkok rewards anyone who plans around the heat. Mornings belong to the old city on the east bank of the Chao Phraya: Wat Pho's courtyards of tiled chedis and its long reclining Buddha are calm at opening time, and the river itself is a working street of ferries and longtail boats that makes an easy moving backdrop. Across the water, Wat Arun's porcelain-studded prang is the frame everyone wants, and it is shot from the east bank as the sun goes down behind it. After dark the city changes register: Yaowarat Road in Chinatown fills with neon signs and street-food smoke, and the skyline seen from the river gives a session its big finish. The canals of Thonburi, explored by longtail, still show the wooden houses on stilts the city grew from. Temples ask for covered shoulders and knees, and shoes come off before entering the halls, which a light dress or a linen shirt handles easily. The cool, dry months from November to February are the most comfortable; the rainy season from May to October is greener, with sessions planned around the showers.