“Missed it all cause they could not have been captured with merely a 70-200 lens”
It was supposed to be a routine day – a couple hours on flight, a couple hours on the road to our destined location and then take in the possibility of endless hours on boats and on foot hiking through a pristine limestone forests deep in Borneo. That was the plan.
Though it was a short two night expedition through the Kinabatangan river, there were more than many unexpected surprises from this somewhat over 500km river. Gleaming with life, this is the most immaculate places (in my books) for wildlife photography. Countless species of aves, mammals, reptiles and amphibians found here almost resemble paradise, an untouched land depicted by ancient travellers, where wildlife thrive without knowing the existence of man. Some of the great wildlife here includes hornbills, various kingfishers, darters, raptors, elephants, proboscis monkeys, orang utans, and saltwater crocks. Truly a wildlife Photographers heaven.
Though it was a shame to have missed out photographing the star subjects – it was a spectacular delight to have witnessed a large crock splash into the river with great might, elephants grazing in the fading light and proboscis monkeys feeding in the canopy – all from the safety of our small boat. Missed it all cause they could not have been captured with merely a 70-200 lens (slap forehead!)
I’m not sure when i will be back there again (hopefully soon) – all in all, it was a great ‘reccee’ trip to immerse & sample the richness of biodiversity in the Malaysian rainforest with wildlife conservationists that truly care for the greater good of our natural heritage.
Sometime back in November 2012, some of my dreams came true – to use a medium format camera, take it outdoors and simply go wild with it! (And return it in one piece)… blown away by its image quality from my 8MP cameras – I set out to gain more from the Phase One 645AF fitted with Schneider 80mm LS f/2.8 & the P30+ digital back
I’ve always had (and still have) a fond admiration with water – its colossal force carves and shapes the earth from the highlands to the sea, and the forest surrounded by freshwater gleams with life. Its majesty in view at lakes and the ocean transcends and soothes the human mind – the endless open space. Water – the lifeblood of our heartland.
This fascinating facet that surrounds us gives not only life and provides us with the essential for everyday use, apart from the adrenalin rush to adventure seekers – as an adventurous photographer myself, it’s the movement, the sense of calmness and intricate details from which surrounded by water, eclipsed in one frame to bring home the emotions of this great force.
Registration details will be posted on Monday (18th March 2013)
Join Athena Carey (2012 IPA winner) and Sanjitpaal Singh (2012 IPA winner) for a photowalk as they discover the wonders of Malaysia’s Natural Heritage – strutting on their cameras and doing what they do best. This time around, they’re inviting you to experience photography with them. Furthermore, they will be giving away a couple of goodies.
Join Athena Carey (2012 IPA winner) and Sanjitpaal Singh (2012 IPA winner) for a photowalk as they discover the wonders of Malaysia’s Natural Heritage – strutting on their cameras and doing what they do best. This time around, they’re inviting you to experience photography with them. Furthermore, they will be giving away a couple of goodies.
THE BIGGER PICTURE ON SMALLER THINGS ~ Macro photography brings the smaller things in our surrounding into a larger picture. These often create outstanding images beguiling the minds and sooths the sights of many. For what the human eye may miss, the camera beholds.
Looking for your subjects in the forest leads to a path of many new discoveries. There are various types of flora and fauna in which, each possess the attributes and potential that never fail to challenge and astound creativity.
The forest is filled with various photo opportunities and your path to discovery begins here.
Insects, and spiders that inhabit the Earth can make some of the most fascinating and dramatic subjects. Their environment offers the photographer an unlimited amount of color, texture, and physic al architecture to explore.
Happening: macro photography workshop
When: 16th March 2013 – 9.30am-3.30pm
Where: Nature Education Centre (NEC) in the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM)
THE BIGGER PICTURE ON SMALLER THINGS ~ Macro photography brings the smaller things in our surrounding into a larger picture. These often create outstanding images beguiling the minds and soothes the sights of many. For what the human eye may miss, the camera beholds.
Looking for your subjects in the forest leads to a path of many new discoveries. There are various types of flora and fauna in which, each possess the attributes and potential that never fail to challenge and astound creativity.
The forest is filled with various photo opportunities and your path to discovery begins here.
Insects, and spiders that inhabit the Earth can make some of the most fascinating and dramatic subjects. Their environment offers the photographer an unlimited amount of color, texture, and physic al architecture to explore.
Happening: macro photography workshop
When: 16th March 2013 – 9.30am-3.30pm
Where: Nature Education Centre (NEC) in the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM)
THE BIGGER PICTURE ON SMALLER THINGS ~ Macro photography brings the smaller things in our surrounding into a larger picture. These often create outstanding images beguiling the minds and soothes the sights of many. For what the human eye may miss, the camera beholds.
Looking for your subjects in the forest leads to a path of many new discoveries. There are various types of flora and fauna in which, each possess the attributes and potential that never fail to challenge and astound creativity.
The forest is filled with various photo opportunities and your path to discovery begins here.
Insects, and spiders that inhabit the Earth can make some of the most fascinating and dramatic subjects. Their environment offers the photographer an unlimited amount of color, texture, and physic al architecture to explore.
Happening: macro photography workshop
When: 16th March 2013 – 9.30am-3.30pm
Where: Nature Education Centre (NEC) in the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM)
We’ve been busy – now that’s a great thing. Taking off could be easy but staying up is quiet a task and that’s exactly what we’ve been ‘up’ to. We’ve been up till 5am last night, had two hours of sleep and back to work once again.
Most of our passions in photography is more than clicking the shutter. And going through wildlife images for a photo competition brings back fond and frustrating memories of which were the best times in my life. Fond for the shots we’ve nailed, frustrating for the shots that got away – but it doesn’t dampen my spirit – I take it as motivation to get better in what I love doing.
Wildlife photography boasts some of the best images worldwide and much appreciated by many. Wildlife photographers such as me spend weeks in the forest seeking the most illusive and sometimes almost impossible shots to execute. This makes the entire experience worth the while.
I see myself as a mercenary for that great shot and after a week in the wild, out of reach to the outside world – I was inflicted with the ‘Doolittle’ syndrome. I have found myself silently talking to wildlife in the forest, in hopes that they would understand me for me to get that shot. ‘Tilt to the light’, ‘turn around’, ‘smile for the camera’ (though it’s impossible for birds to smile – they have beaks)
5am – I was talking to my pictures – and I just told myself to smile.
It’s unlikely to take a camera (which would have cost a lifetime of savings – or at least just mine) which has no weather sealing or any sort of protection whatsoever and furthermore a camera strap to the wild. Slippery by wet rugged terrains, unpredictable weather and every possible danger like twigs, branches and thorny bushes seem like flying daggers out of the forest tempted to make their mark on the camera – in this case, it’s the Phase One 645AF fitted with Schneider 80mm LS f/2.8 & the P30+ digital back.
Honestly, it was my sheer curiosity of how this camera would perform in wild that got me into a weekend spiral of hunting ferocious primates such as the stump-tailed macaque (Macaca arctoides) also known as ‘bear macaque’ and river landscapes.
It is my first time working with a medium format camera, which is usually tucked comfortably in a studio – now in the big ‘wild’ world.
Robin Wong is one of the fastest growing photographers in Malaysia with his notable street works. The creator of ‘Shutter Therapy’ Robin often finds himself in the nooks of the streets doing what he loves the most. With style and precision, he’s passion for photography and blogging has much to do with his success. He’s also one of the most daring (to push the limits of the camera) & technical camera reviewers I’ve ever met. After all, he’s still in his 9 to 5 day job as a Geotechnical Engineer.
