Travel Diary: Alor Archipelago, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia: Part 1

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you’d know how special this place is for me. Alor sits to the far east of Indonesia and while I first started going here for diving (and still do, really) three years ago, I’ve come to appreciate everything above water maybe just as much as the incredible underwater vistas that initially drew me to this awe inspiring place. I only had maybe 30-40 minutes to shoot before hopping on the dive boat each day, but that allowed for morning strolls right when the light was getting good. I ventured out on some afternoons right at golden hour to see what I could find and had a couple of surface intervals on little local islands that provided for some amazing opportunities to meet some incredible craftspeople. That said, shooting wasnt my priority on this trip, but even with the small windows where I could take some images, the opportunities were abundant. Right around the dive shop in Alor Kecil was my main area of shooting and after only a couple of days, I quickly noticed I was recognised as the hellos and handshakes started to emerge. I absolutely love this aspect of shooting when I travel. Using that magical little picture box as a way to break bread and meet new people is probably my favourite part of photography. It becomes not so much about taking photos for photos sake, but more of a record or documentation of all the amazing moments I get to share with people along the way.

For my fellow photo nerds, all of these were on my little Fuji x100v coupled with the two little 28mm and 50mm equivalent adapter lenses. It really is the perfect set up for quick and easy travel photography for what I love to shoot.