Shooting in the stark midday sun
We’re told the best time for photography is during the golden hours, but I often find myself shooting at midday. This is not out of choice but because it takes a long time to get to Mataram from the boat. I talked about this in a previous post and it can be frustrating, especially when it comes to street photography. In the tropics, by midday most people are tucked away, hiding from the heat.
One place where you will see a hive of activity throughout the day is the market. Although the best time to shop is early morning, most stallholders stay until the afternoon. This makes for some interesting photography, with stark beams of sunlight filtering through the broken roof.
It’s a busy place, so when you find a spot to pause and line up your frame, you can expect to get knocked, shoved, and tutted at. This being Indonesia though, most locals politely duck out of frame for fear of ruining your shot, not realising that they are supposed to be the subject.
I only stayed for half an hour before asking our driver, Sappi, to take me to the ‘old town’ of Ampenan on the coast. This is a heavily populated area of tight backstreets but, because it was midday, few people were outside.
It’s one of the frustrations of being based so far away from civilisation. Right now we’re anchored in a beautiful spot between three islands but in terms of street photography, there isn’t much going on, so I’ll take whatever opportunity I can to grab just a couple of shots.
