This Bali sunrise photo is my picture for the week. I was in Bali for a diving trip in October 2012 and captured this beautiful shot at about 5.45 am, just before one of my morning scuba dives.

The location for this was Tulamben, in the Northeast part of Bali Island, and we put up at the Puri Madha Resort, which is located right where the famous Liberty Wreck is.

Bali Sunrise Photo

Most travellers, business or leisure, will at some point experience a Balinese sunrise or sunset, as it is mandatory when visiting the island of Gods here in Indonesia. Sunrise pictures are a little more challenging because you have to wake up extra early in the morning and find the right spot.

But if you are a general traveller, a sunrise photo from anywhere is well worth it, especially from your hotel or resort located by the beach. It gets a little tricky for professional photographers as you need to know the best location to capture a beautiful Bali sunrise.

I have travelled with some photographers before and even been on a sunrise photo trip where waking up at 4 a.m. was on the itinerary. On one of these photography trips, we ended up in the Sanur area at 5:30 a.m., parked our transport, set up the tripods and other gear, and waited for the sunrise.

The reality is that it is all luck, and does not mean that you may get a spectacular sunrise. I would call this the two-in-ten theory, where you may get a decent sunrise twice out of ten times.

Bali is one of the must-visit places if you are an avid scuba diver. This was my maiden dive trip to Bali. For this dive trip, I spent much time in the northeast part of this mystical island rather than around the Kuta or Denpasar areas.

My Bali dive operator was Bali Scuba Masters and Scubaholics Anonymous, who took our group to see the Manta Rays in Nusa Penida and Tulamben for the incredible wreck dives.

Above is another sunrise photo taken about 20 minutes later when the sun started rising slightly. Honestly, I was here for scuba diving and had only my DSLR camera with me, so I was not prepared to focus on just the sunrise photos.

After an early breakfast at the resort, I quickly took my camera out and photographed this sunrise in under five minutes, without a tripod and just handheld. Check out my Kuta Beach photos, as after my scuba diving trip, I spent a day in Kuta to explore this busy place in Bali.

Conclusion

Usually, when I capture these kinds of pictures, I spend quite some time experimenting with different lighting effects using a foreground or background. In this test, I used one of the well-known Balinese garden decorations as a foreground to capture my Bali sunrise photo. What do you think?