Bali culture and landscape photography tour, 17-25 June 2022 – fully booked
Spots left: 0 – fully booked
June is a month of celebrations in Bali. All villages will be nicely dressed with penjor – long bamboo poles with traditional decorations. In villages one can observe processions with offerings, live Rejang dances. We will use this opportunity traveling with local experienced guides to show us the hidden culture of Bali in smaller and less known traditional villages. It is a perfect trip for those who wants to practice in multiple genres of photography: portrait, street, landscape and travel. I am sure you will bring back home not just warm memories of sacred Bali Island – island of Gods – but a whole portfolio worth a book about Balinese culture and landscape. During this intense one-week workshop we will have multiple stages with people dressed in rich traditional costumes, stages with Barong and Rejang dancers just for our group in perfectly situated locations of old temples, banyan trees and waterfalls. Besides that, you can practice street photography, Balinese people are very friendly to photographers who respect and value their heritage. We will not miss a single sunrise in Bali as well because in June they are majestic: rice terraces overviewing Mount Agung, traditional boats in endless warm ocean. Seven days we will be busy from sunrise to sunset with a little time left for post processing and critique sessions.
Enjoy luxury accommodation in one of the best hotels in Ubud area. After this intense workshop you may consider staying few days at the ocean resort enjoying sea sand and sun. It makes this trip perfect for couples and all levels of photographers – even your partners/ kids will enjoy performances, culture experience you can get during this workshop.
Day 1, JUNE 17
Arrival to Bali (no quarantine needed, visa on arrival is back for many countries). Qatar airways, Singapore airlines is the best choice, but you may arrive on any flight, we will organize a transfer for you to our luxury hotel in Ubud area, located in tropical paradise.
Day 2
Today we start the early morning from a concept (staged scene) of Balinese woman in traditional dress in one of the hidden villages in East Bali. Following by the street / genre photography of holy procession.
In the afternoon we continue to a village where we enjoy live rejang dance! This Balinese dance is a part of tradition and religious ceremony for the local people. Young woman dressed in great costumes with headdresses will appear in the inner courtyard of the ancient temple. Rejang is also one of the holiest sacrificial dances to entertain the visiting gods and spirits, it translates as “offering”. Balinese believe that the spirit of ngayah (spirit of cooperation) will guide them to perform the dance harmoniously, so dancers don’t train before performance! Rejang dance is accompanied by Balinese traditional musical instruments – Gong Kebyar and Gamelan Selonding. These instruments will add the charm and magical atmosphere of Rejang dance. We have a lot of opportunities to photograph dance in action and then staged performance just for our group.
For sunset we visit a wonderful place overlooking Mount Agung and rice terraces –Bukit Cinta.
Day 3
We start the day with first rays of light on Mount Agung exploring rice terraces of traditional Sidemen Village. We invite local people beautifully dressed to add a live atmosphere to already remarkable landscape. So you will have a choice to photograph landscape with people for the scale and a spice of tradition or close up/portraits with Mount Agung on the background.
Traveling through narrow streets of Bali on our spacious comfortable minibuses we stop to photograph penjor decorations.
Penjor is a symbol of Gunung Agung, mighty volcano mountain in eastern Bali. It is the home of the Gods and the Ancestors. It is believed to represent the spiritual Hindu Mount Mahameru, which symbolised the whole universe. So the very top of penjor pole represents Mount Agung, and the stem are all the rivers flowing down to the ocean, and feeding the earth. But it is just one of the possible meanings of penjor. In another interpretation penjor represents mighty dragon deities called Nagas. Dragons symbolise of the earthly needs of humankind or water, prosperity and safety. The sacred meaning of the penjor is in the of every Balinese person, that’s why every home in traditional villages trying to put the most beautifully decorated penjor outside in the street making it look like straight from fairy tale.
In the afternoon we visit another village for stage photoshoot at Live Rejang dance ceremony.
Day 4
Today’s “sunrise in the office” will be at one of my most favorite landscape spots – rice terraces very close to Mount Agung. Easily accessible viewpoint surrounded by flowers offering variety of foregrounds. In the afternoon we will visit one of the hidden waterfalls and arrange locals in traditional outfit in the tropical paradise.
In the afternoon we visit local ceremonies and photograph traditional Balinese culture.
Day 5
Sunrise in Kintamani at lake Batur. Pinggan Jati temple is nicely located at Lake Batur offering a great sunrise setting. Of course we will arrange a beautiful cultural scene at the temple just for guests of our workshop.
In the afternoon we will have something very special – Barong dance at the ancient Goa Garba Temple. We will use light stands, fog, rich and beautiful costumes – all in private setting of our group.
Day 6
Sunrise will start from a staged photo session at Tamblingan Lake. It is the lake in the North of Bali, often misty at sunrise. There’s a small temple at the shore often half flooded. With traditional boats in the lake we will get wonderful photographs from this misty morning. In the afternoon we visit Leke-leke Waterfall or one of the hidden waterfalls in the East Bali.
In the afternoon we will have a concept photoshoot with Balinese models at the ancient tree.
Day 7
Sunrise location for today is Pulagan – wonderful rice terraces with the view to Mount Agung. We will have a stage as an option with a woman praying at altar in the rice fields.
In the afternoon we photograph scenes with traditional Balinese Masks at Candi Tebing. This ancient temple will add the mystery feel about our images. Sunset Tanah Lot Temple.
Day 8
Sunrise at Sanur Beach with traditional fishermen boats and documenting fishermen returning with morning catch.
Afternoon we proceed to live session at Tenganan Village Festival. It’s a traditional Balinese fight. In the evening we will have a final dinner together, and share all impressions we got during this journey through Balinese culture and landscape.
Day 9, 25 June
Today is departure day. We don’t have photography activities today, so you can relax and pack or consider staying at the ocean resort for few more days with leisure activities.
Pricing:
Total price: 4500 USD per person twin share
Single supplement: 800 USD
Maximum Number of Participants: 10
Difficulty: easy
Where do we stay:
We stay at 5 star Luxury resort in Ubud – quiet cultural capital of Bali with 30 min to 1:30h drive to our locations. Traveling with spacious vans latest models – only all window seats.
Tour includes:
- Accommodation double/twin rooms sharing (singles available upon request with single supplement),
- all meals (three per day) and non-alchohol drinks,
- all transportation during the tour, including ferry to Nusa Penida
- photography tuition,
- entrance fees and all local taxes.
Not included in the price:
– Airfare to Bali
– Visas (if applicable)
– Single supplement
What to bring
Gear:
– DSLR camera with tripod and remote shutter release
– A wide angle lens. For example, Nikkor 14-24 or Canon 17-40. Best lens for use in wide-angle scenes or architecture photography
– A middle-zoom lens such as a 24-70 mm
– A telephoto zoom lens, such as a 70-200 mm. Be sure to have additional tripod mount to this lens.
– Set of filters for seascape photography: ND 3, 6, 10 stop and CPL filters
Tour leaders
Daniel Kordan
Landscape and travel photographer based in Bali, Indonesia. Partner with Iceland photo tours, instagram @Danielkordan with 1.8 Million followers, Nikon and Gitzo ambassador.
Agung Odi
Travel and Landscape photographer, local guide from Bali.
