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Not long ago, I received an email from the editor of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia; he was looking for a photograph to appear on the final page of his March 2012 edition, in a section called "Last Look".

The editor had seen a collection of pictures that I made at Bambu Indah, a small boutique hotel in central Bali, and he was interested in one of them as he felt the imagery would fit the March issue's "style and design" theme.

I subsequently learned that part of "Last Look" includes an interview with the photographer.  My recollection of that morning, which appears underneath my photograph, reads as follows:

I took this photograph at Bambu Indah (which means “beautiful bamboo” in Balinese) in Ubud.  The resort consists of four 150-year-old teak houses -- each, apparently, the former residence of a Javanese nobleman -- relocated to the site on the Sayan Ridge, surrounded by rice paddies that line the edge of the Ayung River.  I shot it just before 8 a.m. as the bright Balinese sun crested the horizon and burst through the palm trees behind Minangkabau (the Minang House), a common area for yoga, dining and celebration, constructed from black bamboo from the forests of Java.  The angle of the sun significantly affects

the warmth, contrast and texture in a photograph, so I am always looking to shoot in the warm ‘golden hours’ of early morning and late afternoon when the sun is low in the sky. In this case, I was waiting for the sun to rise and filter through the swaying palm trees, straight into my camera.  I like the effect of shooting directly into the sun and allowing the light to flare in my lens.

As I mentioned in a post a couple of years ago, I am drawn to the ethereal effect that is created by pointing my lens straight into the sun; it's a technique I employ often, integrating this photographic style into much of my travel and fashion editorial work.

Browse more of my luxury lifestyle photography on my website.