PhotoYogyakarta · Special Region of Yogyakarta

Holiday photoshoot · Yogyakarta

In short

A holiday photoshoot in Yogyakarta costs from $130 for 30 minutes around where you are staying — usually the lanes of Prawirotaman, a becak ride and the southern palace square at golden hour. You receive 15+ edited photos online in 48–72 hours. Travel is included, there are no tickets to buy, and the becak fare is paid to the driver.

Starting from: $130
Duration: 30 min
Edited photos: 15+

Why here

Why choose Holiday photoshoot in Yogyakarta?

Most visitors give Yogyakarta two or three days and spend them on the big temples, which start before dawn and leave little room for anything else. The photos that come home are selfies on the Borobudur steps. A holiday session is the opposite: no ticket, no 4 am alarm, just the city around you. Most guesthouses sit in Prawirotaman, south of the palace, a grid of lanes with painted walls, small cafés, batik shops and becak drivers — cycle rickshaws — waiting at the corners. Ten minutes away by becak is the Kraton quarter and Alun-alun Kidul, the southern palace square with its two fenced banyan trees. That walk-and-ride loop shows how Yogyakarta actually feels to stay in, which is what you will want to remember in a year.

How the shoot is planned

What does the shoot in Yogyakarta look like?

The route

We meet at your guesthouse about forty minutes before sunset. Many in Prawirotaman are built around a courtyard, a small pool or an old wooden pavilion, so the first few minutes happen there, relaxed, while you get used to the camera. Then out into the lane: walking frames past the murals, a stop at a batik shop window or a coffee cart, a portrait in a doorway where the light comes in low. Around the corner we flag a becak — the driver pedals behind you, which makes for an easy, smiling frame — and ride north towards the palace walls. The last ten minutes are on Alun-alun Kidul as the sun goes, with the twin banyans behind you and the square filling with families and food stalls. If your trip is tight, the session can stay entirely on foot within two blocks of your door.

The timing

The best window is the last 45 minutes before sunset, which in Yogyakarta is between about 5.30 and 6 pm year-round: the lanes are in shade, the heat has eased and the square comes alive. Early morning, around 6.30 to 8, is the alternative, with the street still quiet and shopkeepers rolling up their shutters. Midday is harsh and hot, and best spent in a café. From November to March, heavy rain often arrives in the afternoon, so on wet-season trips we lean towards mornings. Lebaran week, the June–July school holidays and New Year bring crowds of domestic tourists to the palace area; Prawirotaman itself stays manageable, and we simply start a little earlier.

What’s included

What does the package include?

The Holiday photoshoot package in Yogyakarta covers: 15+ edited photos; One location within easy reach of where you are staying; Posing guidance for people who are not models; Private online gallery within 48–72 hours. Nothing is added to the price after the shoot. Permits worth knowing about: Borobudur — ticket for the temple grounds; climbing the upper terraces is a separate, quota-limited guided ticket; pre-wedding shoots and drones need written permission from the temple management; Prambanan — entry ticket; pre-wedding shoots with styling need a permit from the park; Ramayana ballet tickets separate; Ratu Boko — entry ticket; sunset access may be priced separately; Merapi lava tour (Kaliadem) — jeep hire per vehicle from Kaliurang; routes depend on Merapi’s current alert level; Gumuk Pasir Parangkusumo — small entry or parking fee; sandboard rental on site; Taman Sari Water Castle — entry ticket; pre-wedding or commercial shoots pay an additional permit fee.

Book online

Portfolio

Holiday photoshoot in Yogyakarta

Frames from recent shoots, to plan yours against.

Before you book

FAQ — Holiday photoshoot in Yogyakarta

Can we ride a becak or a horse cart during the shoot?

Yes, and it is one of the nicest frames in the city. We agree the fare with the driver before you get in, and you pay it directly; it is a small amount and not part of the $130. Andong horse carts wait mostly around Malioboro, further north, so they suit a session that starts there rather than in Prawirotaman.

We only have two days in Yogyakarta. Will this take up one of them?

No. It is 30 minutes starting at your door, usually in the late afternoon after you are back from a temple. Borobudur takes a morning and Prambanan an afternoon; this fits in the gap before dinner on either day.

Can the photos be taken at our hotel pool?

Usually, yes. Small guesthouses rarely mind; larger hotels sometimes ask for notice or have their own rules for outside photographers, so tell us where you are staying and we check before the day. A pool start followed by the lane outside is a good way to get two different looks within the 30 minutes.

We fly to Bali the next morning. Can we have the photos sooner?

Yes. Express delivery is a $50 add-on and puts the full edited gallery online within 24 hours instead of 48–72. The standard gallery link also works from anywhere, so if you do not need the photos on the plane, there is no reason to pay for speed.

Same shoot elsewhere