I was the only passenger on this journey through the amazing archipelago of Raja Ampat that did not dive. I had to focus on two activities per day – dusk and dawn. To help facilitate sceneries other than what can be seen from the boat, I was swiftly transported to nearby islands I selected when we were anchored for dives or for the night. But only if tide was not low, as the captain was afraid of damaging the tender.
This beach was wild and very narrow and was not used regularly by humans. A great place to explore. My first discovery was that my camera battery indicator was on its last bar, and I did not bring a spare! Can you believe it? What to do, and how many shots did I have left? I had to shorten my session drastically and only shoot the sunset.
I did get some nice shots of the sunset, and when the light was fading fast I saw the tender come back for me.
As I still had more juice in the battery I decided to take a selfie, and as I did it they were watching and wondering. I waved my hand to say “join me”, and they ran up to join me on this huge fallen tree. Before I decided to go back, the guy with the afro hair started to sing and play on his guitar – such a wonderful in the moment expression! Not once during my Raja Ampat journey did he express anything but joy, light and positivity, and a genuine curiosity about life, and the Universe. What a wonderful soul!
On the way back I had to take some more shots of these wonderful Indonesian people against the amazing twilight sky before it disappeared. It was a short window of opportunity and I did not fail this time, as I did bring my flash!
Last updated on 13 March 2024
