Portraits of local people can often tell more about a place than a landscape.  It’s so important to be respectful and take the time to make your subject relax before taking a photo. When visiting a monastery in Cambodia, I met a monk I wanted to photograph, but did not feel it respectful or professional to just rush up and ask him for a shot. I decided to spend some time there first; I removed my shoes, received a water blessing, and gave an offering before asking the monk if he would mind if I took his photo. His face and compassionate eyes told of a deep and complicated history of life in Cambodia. I achieved the nice bokeh or fall off behind the subject by my low aperture but also by zooming all the way out in order to compress the subject against the blurred background.

Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. ISO 800, f/3.2, 1/100th. Focal length: 70mm