Indonesia: Orangutans and Volcanoes Trip Report - Tom Bol PhotoWorkshops

East Java

Indonesia is a country with vast differences between it's archipelago of more than 18,000 islands. We started our workshop in East Java in Bromo Tengger National Park. It boasts some of the most spectacular active volcanoes in the world.

We arrived before sunrise with just enough time to capture the Milky Way before watching the sunrise scroll down the calderas.

Mt Semeru coughs smoke every 15 minutes
Ellie on the grounds of the elegant Plataran Hotel
The Milky Way above Mt Semeru

Tengger Horsemen

The volcano plateau is surrounded by a sandy erg, the home of the Tengger people and their brilliant white Java Ponies. A master horseman posed for our group and demonstrated the iconic rearing display.

Photoshoot on the erg

Borneo

For our next segment, we flew to the island of Borneo to photograph the largest gathering of orangutans in the world. From our first day on the river we were dazzled by displays from a large male and several sets of mothers with youngsters.

Corona, a 30 year old male
Carol waiting for orangutans to arrive
Mother and youngster in the canopy

Cruising the Jungle by Riverboat

While cruising along narrow channels in the jungle, we photographed endemic Proboscis Monkeys, Long-tailed Macaques and Silver Leaf Monkeys. It is a primate lovers paradise. We saw 6 different wild orangutans from the boat as well.

Tom on the bow looking for wildlife
Wendy and Richard enjoying the cruise
Our colorful riverboat or klotok in Borneo

Remote Borneo

We visited a local village on the river to photograph a dance performance and meet some school children. We like to include portrait sessions whenever possible on our workshops in order to engage with people.

Teenage dancers sharing their culture
Stork-biled Kingfisher
Photographing the dance performance

Rice Terraces

After a short flight back to East Java, we explored the rice paddies near Malang during a sunrise shoot. Mt Semeru dominated the backgrounds in our photos

Alfredo taking in the rice terraces
Hand tools and traditional water buffalo methods
Preparing the rice fields for planting

Portraits at Tugu Hotel

We loved staying at the 5 Star Tugu Hotel in Malang. We used its colorful corridors for portrait shoots and did a food photography shoot at the traditional javanese afternoon tea.

Tea time food photography
The Nikon Plena created beautiful bokeh in this portrait session

Malang, East Java, Indonesia

We ended our workshop photographing the colorful buildings and markets of Malang. Using local transportation cut down on walking and helped us feel more like locals.

Rustic transportation to photograph Malang
Fresh fruit from at the market

Thank you to all of the photographers who joined us in Indonesia!

Big thanks to our trip coodinator Phil Bartlett with Capture New Zealand

Want to join us on another workshop in the jungle? We have space available in 2025

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