Gunung Bromo Volcano, Java Indonesia

If you only travel to see one volcano, let this be it. Gunung Bromo just looks exactly like a volcano should. It's an almost perfect cone, that's surrounded by other similarly perfect cones, some of which have smoke pouring out the top.

Coming to see Mount Bromo was really only a side trip on the way from Bali to Jogjakarta. Doing it this way meant that I came through having had almost no sleep (except on a manic Indonesian overnight bus) and connecting up with a second bus and then Jeep, all before sunrise. Getting to the final ascent at the lookout point was also a little bit of a surprise - I'd been enjoying the warm tropical climate, but at over 2000 meters above sea level, the lookout point from where this shot was taken was actually very cold. Fortunately the enterprising Indonesians had established a business in renting out warm jackets for all the pre-dawn visitors!

This photo is taken with an Olympus E510 + 11-22mm lens, 13sec at f/10. The slightly surreal look is because its actually a long exposure shot using the technique described in my article about taking photos at night.

Tip: Want to see Mt Bromo from above? Click "Satellite" tab on the google map in the top left corner, ind the flag relating to this entry and keep double clicking near it until you zoom right in - the co-ordinates are set pretty accurately, and it looks pretty amazing from above too!

If you're interested in licensing this image for commercial use its availabel at iStock in the Vetta collection!