About Andi Regen, the Photographer Behind Wildaya
I'm based in Tabanan, between Canggu and Ubud, and I've shot professionally since 2015, across the island and beyond.
I'm Andi Regen, the photographer behind Wildaya. I'm based in Tabanan, between Canggu and Ubud, and I've shot professionally since 2015, across the island and beyond. By now I've spent more mornings than I can count on a cliff edge in Uluwatu, a black-sand beach in Nusa Dua, or a bamboo bridge in Sidemen, waiting for the first good light.
Weddings are the biggest part of what I do, but the full count is broader: over 800 photoshoots so far, weddings, engagements, couples sessions, elopements, proposals, and one-off shoots combined, plus studio time on portraits and post-wedding milestones. I've also judged photography competitions and taught workshops for photographers who want to shoot weddings this way. The work is award-winning, and Rock My Wedding is one of the names I've collaborated with. Even so, I've never wanted to be known only for weddings. I'm fluent in English and Indonesian, so I work with couples from Bali and well beyond it.
When I started, I chased exact composition: straight lines, symmetrical frames, everyone positioned just right. Eventually I realised couples don't remember symmetry, they remember how the day felt. That single shift changed how I photograph weddings.
Eight hundred shoots taught me a few things that don't show up in a portfolio: every wedding runs late somewhere, every couple worries they're awkward in front of a camera, and almost nobody asks for the posed portraits first when they're choosing what to print. I don't chase trends, because trends date a photograph faster than skin does. I've learned that a striking location matters less than relaxed people in front of it, and that the best photograph usually happens five seconds after everyone thinks the moment is over.
Bali is part of the work, not just the backdrop
After this many years here, the island isn't scenery to me, it's a set of places I know the way you know a neighbourhood. Part of the job is matching the place to the people, not defaulting to whatever's popular that season. Some of what I keep coming back to:
- The rice terraces of Tabanan and Jatiluwih
- The cliffs of Uluwatu and Nusa Penida
- The temples near Ubud, and the valleys of Sidemen
- The beach stretches of Canggu, Seminyak, and Nusa Dua
- The Gili Islands and Lombok, when a shoot calls for it
How I actually work
Most people tell me they aren't photogenic. I don't try to convince them otherwise. I just give them something to pay attention to besides the camera, because genuine interaction photographs better than confidence ever does.
If I can, I go back to a location the evening before, just to stand where the couple will stand. I always arrive before the couple does too, so I get a few minutes to read the space before the nerves and expectations arrive with them.
One wedding still sticks with me. The groom insisted on carrying his own tripod up a ridge in Sidemen before sunrise, refusing help from anyone, because he wanted to set up the one shot he'd promised his bride himself. I let it happen instead of stepping in. That shot became the one they printed and hung in their home.
So the way I work comes down to a few things:
- Real feeling first. Given the choice between a tidy frame and a true one, I take the true one.
- Comfort before anything. The less you notice me, the more like yourselves you look.
- A documentary flow. I follow the day as it happens instead of bending it into a shot list.
- Reading a moment before raising the camera, because the best version is usually the one that comes just after.
- An enduring, organic look, so the images still feel like you in ten years, not just this one.
The people behind Wildaya
I don't work alone. Raditya joined Wildaya in 2023, coming from visual arts and creative media, with a real eye for atmosphere, movement, and the details most people miss. Around us is a small circle of collaborators I trust on set: make-up artist Cherish, stylist Natasya, and gowns from Michelle Ann Bridal.
Andi Regen
Photographer, Founder
Raditya
Visual Arts & Creative Media
Cherish
Make-up Artist
Natasya
Stylist
Michelle Ann Bridal
Gowns
A quick word on gear
I shoot on a Fujifilm X-H2 with fast prime lenses, plus a drone for aerial frames a place like Nusa Penida is built for. I keep the kit small on purpose so I can move fast when something real starts happening.
Away from work, my life is fairly ordinary. I travel when I can, I take my coffee too seriously, and family gets most of what's left. I photograph other people's biggest days the way I'd want my own remembered: with care and no fuss.
If I sound like the kind of photographer you want quietly beside you, you already have a sense of how I'll treat it. Reach out any time. I'm always glad to talk first.
Andi Regen