Malaysia - Travel and Photography Tips (Page 3 of 4)

Malaysia - Travel and Photography Tips (page 3 of 4)

Atlas Moth, Selangor, Malaysia

A "pure flash" exposure freezes subject motion and produces a very dark background, eliminating clutter that might otherwise detract from the image. The moth shown here had a wing span of about eight inches. Atlas moths are the largest moth specie in the world.

Traveling on to Borneo

From Kuala Lumpur the flight to Kuching, Sarawak is under two hours long. It can be booked for around $125 per person on Air Asia. Borneo destinations like Kota Kinabalu in Sabah are farther away and proportionately more expensive. Once in Borneo, travel becomes more of a challenge, especially if you have never been there before. Good road maps are nonexistent and travel often depends on small boats, ferries, and small planes. On your first trip it is a good idea to have a Borneo based tour company set up travel arrangements in advance. These companies will do anything from full service guided tours to simple transportation arrangements. The prices charged for making these travel arrangements used to be incredibly cheap, but that is changing rapidly. On subsequent trips you may be comfortable making your own arrangements by telephone where reservations in advance are required, and then making ground based travel arrangements on the fly after you arrive. I find this to be much more accommodating for photographic travel. If we find something interesting we simply change our itinerary. It can waste a little time, though, so we never start out with a tightly packed schedule.
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Be aware that passage through customs is mandatory when traveling between the Malaysian Peninsula and Sarawak or Sabah. This is is probably due to the long border between Malaysia and Indonesia on the island of Borneo. This border is mostly dense jungle which is nearly impossible to control. In Sarawak, arrive at the airport very early. It is overcrowded, unorganized, and utterly chaotic. .

Mother and Son, Long-Tailed Macaque

Changing position to put the subject against a dark spot in the forest canopy eliminated bright highlights in the background and produced an image with strong side lighting. A very light overcast gives visibility of details in shadow areas. Small changes in your position can often put a much nicer background behind your subject.

Borneo's Mystery

I suppose I first heard the name "Borneo" when I was a kid. I didn't know it was an island, I didn't know where it was, and I didn't know anything about it, but the word somehow symbolized a mysterious place far away that was a bit dark and foreboding. Maybe legends of tribal head hunters had something to do with that. It's hard to know because it has been a long time since I was a kid. The name Borneo almost never came up in conscious thought during my years on this planet, but when it did it always produced a sense of mystery and adventure. In reality the place is not quite as dark and foreboding as my childhood thoughts would have me believe. You can still find tribal villages in the jungle with human skulls hanging from ceilings inside bamboo longhouses, but the skulls are old and your head is safe. They don't hunt heads anymore, and villagers are more likely to offer you home made rice wine than to ask your hat size. Although it is safe, it certainly isn't Kansas. Opportunities for adventure and photography are everywhere.

Canopy, Bako National Park, Sarawak, Borneo

Generally, the rainforest is so thick that it is difficult to see very far in any direction. This photograph was taken where a fallen tree had knocked down the shorter trees and other vegetation of forest's understory, exposing this view of the high canopy. This image was taken immediately after sunset when the sky was still bright but there was no direct light on the trees, making a classic silhouette.

The Jungle
I guess calling these forests "jungles" is politically incorrect, at least here in America where there are none. Here they are supposed to be called "rainforests". People in southeast Asia call them jungles, though, and when you are in one it feels more like a "jungle" than a "rainforest". I tend to use the names interchangeably. These places are dark and as hot and humid as a sauna. Because of the dense vegetation there is seldom any air movement near the forest floor, so conditions can sometimes be unbearable if you are doing any physical activity. Yes, it's a jungle, but it is a very unique one. Most of the world's rainforests had to wait until after the last ice age to develop. Because of Malaysia's location, these forests did not have to wait. Having remained untouched for more than 130 million years, these are the oldest and most diverse forests in the world. A twenty-five acre plot of rainforest in Borneo may contain over seven hundred species of trees - a number equal to the total tree diversity of the North American continent. In spite of the hardships required, it is a rare privilege to set foot in a place like this. When you are there all you need to do is look around to realize it.
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Among the countless and diverse flora and fauna of Borneo's rainforests are the proboscis monkey, orangutan, silvered leaf-monkey, long-tailed macaque, bearded pig, king cobra, wagler's pit viper, rafflesia, and pitcher plant. The variety of butterflies, moths, and other insects, is truly amazing, but identifying these is a big challenge.

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