Pulau Ubin Photos
Finally got around to uploading the photos from my Pulau Ubin trip with the missus’ cousin Eddie in Singapore. Although we wished for low tide, we still managed to capture some nice photos at Pulau Ubin, the only place in Singapore where you really can get away from the city! I used my Canon 400D as usual with my 24-105mm lens.
We saw a few of these huge spiders which are poisonous. You need to be very careful that you don't walk into them... but you're alright as long as you stick to the road. Focal Length: 102mm, Aperture: F4, Shutter: 1/100s, ISO: 400
I wouldn’t have spotte any of these animals and insects had it not been for Eddie’s observation skills. We could have caught shots of wild boars as well, but apparently it wasn’t always a good idea to come face to face with them… The instruction was… RUN!
We captured a few colourful crabs coming out of hiding to gather food. I like this photo because of the crab's (or crabette) strong colours which makes it stand out even though it's very small. Focal Length: 105mm, Aperture: F5.6, Shutter: 1/125s, ISO: 200
I figured I’d make this next spider photo extra large to scare you… booh! It was really great to get so close to the spiders.
This spider "portrait" photo was taken with flash, which is what gives the harsh light with dark background. Intimidating or yucky? Depends on your preference. Focal Length: 105mm, Aperture: F7.1, Shutter: 1/320s, ISO: 200
No trip in the jungle without photos of monkeys. There was a gang of about 10 monkeys, big and small, roaming the dirt roads and scavenging the bins for food. That’s what happens when you mix monkeys with tourists! You can also check out my Long Tail Macaque monkey photos and Orang Utan photos from our Borneo trip in 2009.
We caught this monkey and its gang red handed scavenging the bins for food at Pulau Ubin. I selected this photo as it had the most personality. Focal Length: 105mm, Aperture: F4, Shutter: 1/160s, ISO: 800
On the way back we captured this little cricket crossing the road. Fortunately it stood still long enough for us to take a nice cricket photo.
This cricket photo was captured on the way back to the boat which would take us home to Singapore "main land". Focal Length: 105mm, Aperture: F4, Shutter: 1/125s, ISO: 400
It was a great trip and we captured some nice photos at Pulau Ubin. Definitely going back another time! These photos are just a selection. You can find the rest at tol.smugmug.com.
Long Tailed Macaque Monkey Photos
The long tailed Macaque are the closest to the definition of cheeky monkeys. We passed by them in a little branch of the main river and got real close for some nice shots. Just like the Orang Utans they were chilling out eating some fruit and there were about 15-20 of them in a close proximity to our boat.
This first one was sitting quite close to our boat so managed to get a good shot:
This little fella was very curious, coming very close to the boat. It's a long tailed Macaque. Click the image to get a much better view.
This second Macaque is just chilling out in the tree, putting his (or her) legs up and checking out the visitors (notice the comfy position of the legs and arms). Again I managed to get quite close thanks to the experience of our guide.
This Macaque is chilling out, putting his legs up. Again, click the image to see full size.
I used the 70-200mm lens for all the monkey shots. Generally some cropping was required when the subjects were far away, but in this instance a minimal amount was required, which I’m quite pleased with. I’m aiming to put up some photos of Mount Kinabalu plus a sunset next – a little monkey break…
Orang Utans in Borneo
I got some nice Orang Utan shots whilst in Borneo on two occasions.
Firstly, on our visit to the Shangri La Rasa Ria Resort near Kota Kinabalu we visited a sanctuary for orphaned or rescued orang utans that were in some of their initial stages of recovery, starting their road towards freedom. When ready they will be sent to the Sepilok centre where they will become fully prepared for their freedom. Here are a couple of my shots – there are more where they came from.
This little Orang Utan is well on its way to recovery, playing with the ropes at the Nature Reserve near Kota Kinabalu.
This fella is looking for some food. We got to join the morning feeding session at the Shangri La Rasa Ria Resort Nature Reserve.
Our second meeting with Orang Utans was in Sukau, south of Sandakan on the east coast. This time there was no local nature reserve. We saw a wild Orang Utan mother with her child sitting in a tree chilling and eating fruits. We managed to get quite close to get some nice shots, although I wish I had brought a 4-500mm lens (don’t have one… yet). The below photo captures the mother’s face nicely.
A wild Orang Utan mother chilling in a tree, eating fruits accompanied with her baby (didn't get any good shots of the baby)
So that’s a first taster of the shots from Borneo. More monkey photos are to follow, including Proboscis Monkey and Long Tailed Macaque. I also got some nice shots of Mount Kinabalu as well as some nice sunsets. Watch this space…
