6D5N Borneo Photography Workshop on Bird, Macro and Landscape Photography In Sarawak

Photographing in the rainforest is not easy because there is very little light and subjects are elusive. The tropical rainforest is one of the most diversified environments with more than 50 % of the world species. Unlike the normal wild life in the open area in Australia or Africa, light in the rainforest is very dim and subjects are not exposed. Good knowledge and skill are the key ingredients in locating and photographing the subjects

This is no ordinary trip to Borneo, it covers terrains from low land rainforest to coastal and montain forest to photograph nature. During the trip, John will guide participants on how to capture and create powerful images. When time allowed, dinner photo critique will be conducted among the participants to gain further insight and knowledge into the image, the subject and the environment. The 6 day workshop will be packed with daily & nightly outing plus invaluable learning experience. The ideal group will be a small group of photographers who have the basic photography knowledge and keenest in learning how to shoot in the rainforest. There are still two more vacancies for the workshop. See details here

5 Day 5 Night of Sun,Sand and Sea in the narrowest strip of Thailand

Photography Trip to Southern Thailand

5 Day 5 Night of photography,sun,sand and sea in the narrowest strip of Thailand 358 KM south of Bangkok near the Burmese border. The wind was strong, the air was cool ( 22 deg at night) and weather was mostly sunny with blue sky. We spent time at the Myanmar border, Dan Sin Khorn.near the narrowest part of Thailand only 10.9 km wide. The actual isthmus of Kra Buri connecting the Asian mainland and the Malay Peninsula is 48 KM wide separating the Andamand Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.

Spending time on the beach every morning facing the Gulf of Thailand we were greeted with spectauclar sun rise. How many days in a year do we see sun rise in Singapore ?

We travelled to 2 national parks in Thailand phographing birds.The two parks were;

1. Hat Wanakon National Park ( a small coastal park )
2. Kaeng Krachan Ntional Park ( the largest in Thailand with mixed deciduous and evergreen forest).

At Kaeng Krachan, we stayed at the edge of the 45 square KM reservoir near the park head quarter with scenic view of the water.. The higlight of the trip was the drive to the top of the mountain at Panorn Thung ,about 970 m above sea level, stopping brieftly at Ban Krang camp ground. The road up is one way from 5:30-7:30 am. We left the lodge about 6:30 am and reached the gantry at 7:15 am.

Sawadee, Southern Thailand

I am now trying the wiresless connection

Borneo Bird Festival in Sandakan Sabah Malaysian Borneo

The first Borneo Bird Festival was held at RDC ( Rainforest Discovery Centre ) in the city of Sandakan near the world's famous Sepilok Orang Hutan Sanctuary from 10 October to 15 October 2009. The occasion was graced by Datuk Masid manjun, Tan Sri Dr Salleh Mohd ( president Malaysian Nature Society), YM Tenku Adlin, Richard Grimmett, Head of Conservation, Birdlife International, Dr Geoffrey Davidson, Sabah Tourism Board and Sabah Forestry Department of the Rainforest Discovery Center and other bird enthusiasts from the region. The event was also a platform for launching two new books on the birds of Borneo; Phillipp's Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo by Quentin & Karen Phillipps and A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo by Susan Meyers. A wide range of topics were discussed during the seminar ranging from bird tourism, conservation, where to see birds in Sabah , bird watching ethics, how to photograph birds along with activities for the school children on conducted bird tours and art contest. Last but not least was the Borneo Bird Festival Bird photography contest with the winning prize of US$1000 for the top slot. I had the privilege to be one of the panel judges along with Cede Prudente and Dr Geoffrey Davidson to pick the thirteen winners.

Why bird watch in Sabah ? The state of Sabah in Borneo has a record of 622 resident and migratory birds which 32 species are considered endemic to Sabah. The few sought after birds in Sabah are Whitehead's Trogon, Whitehead Broadbill, Bornean Brown Cuckoo, Blue-headed Pitta and the Bornean Bristlehead. RDC near Sepilok is considered a lowland rainforest. It is one of the known locations to see the Bornean Bristlehead. While I was in RDC, I saw the BBH a few times but did not have the chance to photograph it.

After spending a few days in Sukau at the Kinabatangan River photographing wildlife of the floodplain forest. I spent the next 5 days at RDC . There, I met many new friends coming from peninsula Malaysia, Sarawak, Japan, Taiwan, UK and local birding communities from Sandakan and Tawau just for the festival who had the same interest and preservation of the welfare of birds and wildlife in general.