Campuhan Ridge Walk | Photography Guide
Campuhan Ridge Walk is a small hike in Ubud, Bali. Campuhan Ridge Walk stretches roughly one kilometre and is accessible via stairs leading to the path. Campuhan Ridge Walk overlooks dense jungle foliage and rice terraces on one side and villas, hotels and other accommodation on the other side. Campuhan Ridge Walk is perfect for a small outdoor walk or in our case, it is a stunning photography location on the island of Bali.
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Campuhan Ridge Walk Photography
Price / Costs involved - Campuhan Ridge Walk is free of charge. It is a public walkway with no tickets, guides or local people trying to haggle you out of your money.
Drone friendly - Campuhan Ridge Walk is very drone friendly. It is the best way to shoot Campuhan Ridge Walk but we will dive deeper into that later.
Tripod - If you are looking to take self-portraits here a tripod will come in handy. Keep in mind that while there is a lot of space for a tripod, many runners, walkers and sometimes cyclists can use this track so having your tripod set up in the middle of the path might not be the best idea.
Crowds - Nearly every morning and afternoon this place is busy. Regardless of the season, this is like the beach walk of Ubud so not only do you have the tourists and photographers but the locals also use this as a place to work out.
Best time to visit - Right on sunrise. Sunrise seems to have a lot fewer people moving around which is perfect for photography. In the afternoon you will simply have the light on the west side of Campuhan Ridge Walk which will make it easier to see Mount Agung if the conditions are clear. My personal preference is to visit Campuhan Ridge Walk at sunrise and then head to another photography location nearby. You can find nearby photography locations in Bali here.
Best Conditions - You want to have either clear conditions or high clouds with little no low cloud on the horizon. this way you will either have very clean light or the sky will burst open with colour and really put on a show. Clean light here is my personal choice but either will work well.
Time of year - Selecting the time of year to visit Campuhan Ridge Walk is not really important. All year long you will get very similar conditions and crowds so there is no way to beat that. If you want the absolute best conditions, I would recommend visiting just after rain season. This way all the greens in the grass, trees and bushes will be very vibrant and you might get lucky with some early morning haze on either side of Campuhan Ridge Walk.
The Lightroom Presets I used for my shots at Campuhan Ridge Walk -
Shooting at Campuhan Ridge Walk
What gear to bring - I would strongly suggest bringing a drone with you. There are no viewpoints or lookouts at Campuhan Ridge Walk so the only way to get a full view and perspective is via a drone. While drones are great here I would still recommend bringing your stills camera as there are many palm trees, birds, sun bursts, and if you're really pushing it, some rice terraces you can snipe out with a long lens. Since the walk isn't very long, I would suggest bringing nearly all the gear you have to Campuhan Ridge Walk to make sure you don't miss out on any shots.
The gear I took to Campuhan Ridge Walk -
- Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
- Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 L ii
- Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS L ii
- Canon EF 50mm f1.4
- DJI Mavic Pro 2
You can find the exact gear I shoot with here -
Shooting Suggestions - While Campuhan Ridge Walk is a stunning location, there are not a great deal of photography opportunities. The drone will be your best friend here as you can unlock the perfect viewpoint which is the drone looking north with both of the palm trees in the frame. Aside from this angle, there are a few other shots I had in mind but nothing much else with Campuhan Ridge Walk. I did fly my drone a little bit off to the east but apart from some average looking rice terraces, I did not find much.
Things to keep in mind - Campuhan Ridge Walk is a very peaceful place until you get your drone up. It is very quiet at Campuhan Ride Walk so taking your drone off can get a little awkward if there are a few people around. I try to go as high as I needed right away and then adjust my composition from there. Try to keep the flight time of Campuhan Ridge Walk as short as possible to minimise any annoying drone noise.
Getting to Campuhan Ridge Walk
Parking - You can park on either side of Campuhan Ridge Walk but, if you want to get to the best photography spot the quickest, which usually means a longer sleep in, the pin on the map below is the best location for parking. You will pull into a driveway and then into a seperate parking area where there is a lot of parking available and I have never seen it full at sunrise.
The walk down - The Walk to Campuhan Ridge Walk is very simple and straightforward. After you park, you want to keep to your right and take the small stair case on the right of the bridge, pictured below. Follow that track and you will be on your way to Campuhan Ridge Walk, the walk is about 5 minutes before you reach the best parts of the walk.
Facilities - Campuhan Ridge Walk does not have any facilities on it at all. If you need a drink, the toilet or food, the walk is not long enough to get stuck on so either walk turn around and walk back or, depeneding on what side you entered on, just continue walking to the end of Campuhan Ridge Walk until you reach what ever facilities you need.
Campuhan Ridge Walk Parking Location -
My overview for the Photography Campuhan Ridge Walk.
Campuhan Ridge Walk is a stunning location on the outskirts of Ubud. Promising peace and quiet and a lovely walk to start or finish the day it is a great location to also take photos of. If you don't have a drone, I would advise against coming to Campuhan Ridge Walk as the handheld camera opportunities are fairly average. nonetheless, it is a lovely location to go for a walk and take your camera with you!
Enjoy Campuhan Ridge Walk!
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