Pandu Adnyana is a landscape photographer based in Bali. His passion in landscape photography began when he worked for a magazine and was amazed as he discovered the beauty of Bali.
He is self-taught and has learned most of his photography expertise from the internet. “As Balinese, I feel blessed that I was born on such a beautiful island with its wealth of culture and warm friendly people. In Bali there are abundant photographic opportunities, its mountains, valleys, lakes, rice fields, waterfalls and beaches offer endless landscape and nature possibilities and for life portraits and architectural images there is the wealth of Balinese culture.”
Pandu was selected as one of the 25 best in Tropical Life’s Online Photographic Competition. Like all true artists Pandu expresses his emotions through his photography, his feelings and moods whether it be tranquility, emptiness, peacefulness or simply the beauty of nature. In composing an image, he chooses a subject by looking for a particularly unusual foreground, pattern or natural motion. Sometimes he starts out having already formed an idea though he usually goes with the flow and allows things to unfold. Before setting out he scouts for a suitable location and checks the weather forecast, he may also read the tide chart if the location is on a beach. He loves taking candid shots of local people such as fishermen or farmers going about their daily activities.
He uses a number of photographic techniques which he has found gives him the best results including CPL, neutral density and gradual ND filters, multiple exposures and black card techniques. He uses Photoshop and Lightroom programs for computer based post processing.
Pandu graduated from the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember in Surabaya majoring in product design and currently is working as a graphic designer in a hotel in Nusa Dua. He does freelance interior and architectural photography projects for hotels and villas and also runs the occasional photography tour around Bali. He feels lucky that he loves his job and that his hobby is part of his work.
“For me having a talent is great and, with practice, it is constantly improving. However keeping passionate about my hobby is very important. Sometimes I can feel bored and it is easy to get stuck if I push it too hard and I can lose the desire to carry on. So, if you have a hobby enjoy it but make sure you spare time for your family.”