Komodo photos without a drone

If you are bringing a drone and a plan, you can leave both at home, because on the open trip the plan is taken care of. A photographer sails with the group, drone and cameras included, and that work is part of the fare; you neither book it nor pay for it separately.

So this page is written for the phone in your pocket, and three habits do most of the work. Wipe the lens before each stop, because sunscreen and salt spray leave a film you cannot see until the picture is on the screen. Hold the phone level, because a tilted horizon is the first thing anyone notices in a photograph of the sea. And at midday, when the sun stands overhead and the light is flat, put the phone away and sit in the shade; the side deck has two canvas deck chairs.

On a private charter the photographer and the guide are not in the fare. They come on request and are quoted separately. The rest of this page goes place by place, in the order the days run.

Princess Lala photographs well, and you will take more pictures of her than you planned. Four places repay a few minutes of your time.

• Cabin 1, upper deck. Windows on three sides, so the morning arrives from three directions, and a private balcony with a bean bag.
• Cabin 6, main deck. The other private balcony, with a bench, lower and closer to the water.
• The bow sundeck. Green turf, bean bags and a sofa under the awning. It is the place for wide pictures of the sea and for the sunset, and it is open to everyone on board.
• The stern table. Open to the air under a timber roof, with the sea beside it. Grilled fish and a mortar of sambal look best here with the bay behind them.

You do not need a balcony to see the light. Every cabin, Cabin 3 included, has a sea-view window, so you know what the sky is doing before you stand up.

Pink Beach comes after the dragon walk, so the sun is already higher than it was on Padar. The sand is pale pink, not bright pink, and its colour shifts with the light and the tide. Keep the sun behind you and the horizon level.

Taka Makassar is a sandbar with shallow reef around it, and the sandbar shows only at low tide. At high water it can lie under the sea. There is little shade on the sand, so wear a hat and reef-safe sunscreen, and keep the phone in a bag on the tender between the boat and the beach.

On Komodo a park ranger leads the walk and sets the distance. Guides advise keeping at least two metres from a dragon, so use the zoom and not your feet. The dragons are wild: sightings are common and never guaranteed.

For anything wet, let the photographer's GoPro do it. You have a mask and a snorkel from the boat and no fins, so bring your own if you plan to shoot while you swim.

You can pack a drone. Flying one inside Komodo National Park needs a permit, and both the permit and the fee for each drone are yours to arrange and pay for in advance. Neither is part of any fare we sell. Flying without it is not an option, even from the deck on a quiet bay.

Our park-fees page sets out the drone fee and the permit. For most guests the photographer's drone is the better answer: it is part of the open-trip fare, it is flown by the photographer, and it leaves your hands free for a mask and a snorkel.

If one particular frame is the reason for your trip, tell us which. We will say what the sea, the park quota and the schedule allow, and whether the open trip or a private charter gives you the better chance of it.