Photos of Gereja Ndata
About Gereja Ndata
Up in the Kanatang hills north of Waingapu, Gereja Ndata sits on its own along a savanna ridge. It is a plan church with no other buildings near by, it almost looks abandoned, but the breathtaking views make this village chapel incredibly photogenic. The land around is open grass, which is what makes the place worth the drive. East Sumba turns a rich green through the wet season and then changes to golds through the dry, so the same frame changes completely depending on when you go. Try to set up so you can shoot it small in a wide frame. Let the ridge line carry across and keep the building off centre to highlight how isolated the chapel is. Low sun spreads over the grass and picks out the shape of the hills behind making sunrise and sunset the ideal times to be here. Midday flattens all of it, so plan around going early and late in the day. The church is still active and holds services, so ask before you go inside or photograph anyone. Roads out this way get rough in the wet season, so using a local driver is the easy way to do it or walk in from the main roads. (Kanatang, East Sumba, Indonesia)
