Borneo Bootcamp 2015: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Day 3 of the Borneo Boot Camp had us hiking up to the world’s tallest tropical tree, as well as posing for several group photos of the entire squad of macro shooters. We had to stop ourselves from shooting during the hike there or we’d probably cover less than 400m. The trail was only 900m away, but most of us didn’t expect an uphill climb and it took much longer than expected! Despite the shorter shooting time, we still had many significant and unique finds and just as many photos to show in this post!
Moth
Moth (Geometridae)
Moth
Moth
Moth
Moth
Moth
Anterior view was really cute with imaginary eyebrows and ears!
Hawk Moth (Sphingidae)
Complemented by a little stink bug in the corner.
Moth
Moth ©2015 Tom Astle
Majestic view of a moth with combed antennae by Tom
Moth
Dorsal view of the same moth
Moth
Found two of these pretty little fellas hiding under the light trap shade.
March fly (Bibionidae)
One of the families of flies with the eyes taking up bulk of the head.
March fly (Bibionidae)
Last shot on the light trap, and we were off to breakfast!
Our Cabins
Quick shot of our cabins in the morning, separated by a little pond. The water level seems to be lower at this time of the year!
Stick insect (Phasmatodea)
Tiny and insignificant-looking stick insect, but it had itself covered with moss!
Stick insect (Phasmatodea)
Dorsal view. Unfortunately I forgot to take a full body shot.
Straight-snouted weevil (Brentidae)
Highly reflective weevil but a very cooperative subject.
Ladybird mimic leaf beetle (Chrysomelidae) ©2015 Tom Astle
A fuzzy looking leaf beetle mimicking a ladybird shot by Tom!
Flat-backed Millipede (Platyrhacidae)
We found a large flat-backed millipede that wouldn’t stop moving!
Flat-backed Millipede (Platyrhacidae)
Upskirt view of the legs.
Flat-backed Millipede (Platyrhacidae)
After everyone was done with this millipede, I had my gear setup for a wide-angle shot using the Venus 15mm macro lens. Took really long as the millipede moved everytime I had the composition set up!
Stick insect (Phasmatodea)
A stick insect was found nearby, and I tried another wide-angle shot before changing back the lens.
Mossy moth ©2015 Tom Astle
Amazing camouflage of a mossy looking moth by Tom!
Looking for bugs ©2015 Dorota Polaczek
Dori caught us squinting hard for bugs.
Tiger beetle (Cicindelinae) © Seawei Ying
Seawei got a shot of this small but lovely tiger beetle.
Jumping spider (Salticidae)
A jumping spider with thick bushy eyebrows. 🙂
Jumping spider (Salticidae)
Classic portrait wit the spider looking straight into the camera.
Jumping spider (Salticidae)
Dorsal view, shows a slightly faded exterior.
Story telling! ©2015 Dorota Polaczek
Dennis sharing his adventures in the trails.
Long horn orb weaver (Macracantha arcuata)
The long horn orb weaver was still around! And still ridiculously popular, I took a record shot and went on in the trail.
Katydid (Tettigoniidae)
An inconspicuous katydid at first glance, but it had a vibrant yellow-green netted pattern
Katydid (Tettigoniidae)
Closer view of the katydid
Mantis (Mantodea) ©2015 Tom Astle
Bark mantis or moss mantis?
Huntsman spider (Heteropoda sp.)
One of the many huntsman spiders roaming in the foliage, even in the day!
Big-jawed jumping spider (Parabathippus sp.)
This big-jawed jumping spider had a distinct purple iridescence on the dorsal abdomen and legs.
Big-jaw spider (Mesida sp.)
This big-jaw spider had small golden patches on the abdomen, possibly attributed to guanine crystals.
Big-jaw spider (Mesida sp.)
Started lifting up its abdomen to balloon away!
Weevil (Curculionidae)
An interesting looking black weevil flanked by red patches on each elytron.
Weevil (Curculionidae)
Lateral view.
Jumping spider (Salticidae)
We found a tiny jumping spider that was consistently flipping its abdomen up. We only wished that it was a peacock spider instead.
Jumping spider (Salticidae)
It had a very curious look, always staring at us.
Stick insect moulting (Phasmatodea) ©2015 Tom Astle
A delicate scene of a stick insect moulting, with a tiny red mite hooked onto its back.
Lunch! ©2015 Dorota Polaczek
This was how our meals looked like. It was buffet-style, so to be specific, this was what Dori had. 😉
Our Gear! ©2015 Dorota Polaczek
Our cameras usually took a separate table to have lunch on their own. Do you recognise any?
Marching out for the hike
We gathered everyone by the suspension bridge for a group photo before embarking on a short hike up the hill, towards the world’s tallest tropical tree.
Borneo Bootcamp Tawau 2015
And here’s everyone, each crazy about every small living creature we find.
Borneo Bootcamp Tawau 2015
Always take multiple shots for such group photos! 🙂
Borneo Bootcamp Tawau 2015
We couldn’t help it. Had to look for bugs!! MORE BUGS!
Bridge ©2015 Dorota Polaczek
Dori took a fisheye view of the suspension bridge, gets really wobbly!
The hike begins!
I thought we were not supposed to shoot til we reach our destination??
Wild boar mud tracks
The wild boars liked to kick up the mud, leading to what looked like remnants from the movie Jurassic World.
Siew Li at work
Showing the man how it’s done. 😛
Shoot shoot shoot
Stopping to shoot again!
Andy
One of the hard core participants who wouldn’t stop shooting!
Up up and away!
It was a slow, uphill climb.
Taking a break! ©2015 Dorota Polaczek
We took a break where several strangler figs were crossing the path.
Strangler figs ©2015 Dorota Polaczek
The strangler figs would look curly on its own after strangling the host plant.
Posing with strangler figs ©2015 Dorota Polaczek
Took some group photos while waiting for some of the rest to catch up.
World’s tallest tropical tree (Shorea faguetiana)
Finally reached the tree. Barely able to fit the tree in with the 15mm macro lens! 🙂
World’s tallest tropical tree (Shorea faguetiana)
Siew Li & Sea Wei
World’s tallest tropical tree (Shorea faguetiana)
Chris by the tree
World’s tallest tropical tree (Shorea faguetiana)
Managed to squeeze everyone in!!
World’s tallest tropical tree (Shorea faguetiana)
Looking up at the tree again.
Giant shield bug nymph (Tessaratomidae)
While we took at break by the tree, this exotic little shield bug nymph had followed us all the way up! We brought it back down to where we found it near our cabins.
Spider webs
We found more of the weird looking horizontal orb webs inside a hollow tree trunk.
Spider web
Close up on one of the orb webs.
Spider web
We managed to shoot a vague lateral view of the spider behind the orb web.
Spider web
Also managed a clearer ventral view!
Tarantula exoskeleton (Theraphosidae)
On our way back, Dori found a huge tarantula’s exoskeleton.
Tarantula exoskeleton (Theraphosidae)
Close up on what used to be the fangs.
Tarantula exoskeleton (Theraphosidae)
Anterior view of the chelicerae.
Tarantula exoskeleton (Theraphosidae)
Finally, a close up on the foot.
Tarantula exoskeleton
Joanna was pretty fascinated by the exoskeleton!
Dori hard at work
Dori was busy finding subjects along the way, even as the sky darkened and threatened to rain on us.
Ant-like sac spider (Utivarachna sp.)
We found a lanky ant-like sac spider in the foliage.
Lynx spider (Hamadruas sp.)
One of the more vibrantly coloured lynx spiders!
Lynx spider (Hamadruas sp.)
This was a juvenile, barely 5mm long.
Stick insect (Phasmatodea)
One of the stick insects that many of us skipped. Aschiphasma sp?
Stick insect (Phasmatodea)
Lateral view of the stick insect.
Big-jawed jumping spider (Parabathippus sp.)
Another jumping spider with impressive jaws!
Big-jawed jumping spider (Parabathippus sp.)
This view shows it all.
Big-jawed jumping spider (Parabathippus sp.)
Took a while, but got him to look over at me.
Big-jawed jumping spider (Parabathippus sp.)
Many of us knew what would happen next when the jumping spiders started looking up.
Big-jawed jumping spider (Parabathippus sp.)
HE JUMPED AT ME AGAIN!
Harvestmen (Opiliones)
A row of harvestmen lining up along a tree trunk.
Crab spider (Epidius sp.)
Record shot of a crab spider, probably an immature one.
Leaf beetle (Chrysomelidae)
Highly reflective leaf beetle but well worth the effort to photograph!
Leaf beetle (Chrysomelidae)
Lateral view
Big-jawed jumping spider (Parabathippus sp.)
The big-jawed jumping spider was still there!
Lantern bug (Pyrops sultanus)
Before sun down, we were alerted to lantern bug sightings, but they were too high up in the tree.
Lesson 3: Advanced techniques
We covered stacking, ultraviolet photography and back-lighting in this session.
Stacking practice
Practising the steps in stacking… while Dennis had a beer in hand for a jolly night.
Sharing sessions
After the presentation, we had an informal sharing session of the photos taken during the trip.
Longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae) ©2015 Seawei Ying
Some of the rest found a longhorn beetle near to the cabins and took some awesome ultraviolet shots!
Wrap-around spider (Dolophones sp.)
Tom found a magnificent specimen of a wrap-around spider right in front of the cabins.
Wrap-around spider (Dolophones sp.)
Posterior view appears more cryptic.
Big-headed bark spider (Caerostris sp.)
At the trail entrance, Tom and John spotted this big-headed bark spider. This was an 11-shot handheld stack in the field.
Big-headed bark spider (Caerostris sp.)
View from above shows a cryptic view resembling the stump of a branch.
Big-headed bark spider (Caerostris sp.)
Posterior view does not reveal much of the spider also.
Big-headed bark spider (Caerostris sp.)
This shot shows how the spider clasps onto a branch when at rest.
Big-headed bark spider (Caerostris sp.)
Close up on the spider’s tubercle-lined crown.
Terrestrial crab ©2015 Seawei Ying
Seawei found a terrestrial crab resting in the foliage.
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
Chris showed me this tiny huntsman spider carrying her egg sac.
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
On closer look, the spiderlings had already hatched and were running about!
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
Posterior view
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
One of the spiderlings was wandering about.
Katydid (Tettigoniidae)
Found an interesting mossy looking katydid with spermatophores attached!
Katydid (Tettigoniidae)
There were 2 spermatophores! It was flying around, and we lost it quite a number of times.
Katydid (Tettigoniidae)
Under ultraviolet, it exhibited an eerie tone of green and blue.
Katydid (Tettigoniidae)
Dorsal view of the katydid
Katydid (Tettigoniidae)
Close up on the spermatophores.
Giant black forest scorpion (Heterometrus sp.)
Many had already retired to their cabins by 3am but on our way back, we dropped by to visit the black forest scorpion again. Sure enough, it was waiting at the same spot.
Giant black forest scorpion (Heterometrus sp.)
It fluoresced brightly under ultraviolet.
Giant black forest scorpion (Heterometrus sp.)
With fill flash, we were able to light up the background as well.
Giant black forest scorpion (Heterometrus sp.)
Up close, a bluish green tint could be observed on the scorpion.
Giant black forest scorpion (Heterometrus sp.)
This was the closest I could get with just a Raynox DCR-150.
Giant black forest scorpion (Heterometrus sp.)
Dual flashes were placed just beside the scorpion to reduce the harshness of the highlights.
Cabin star trails © Seawei Ying
Late into the night when everyone went horizontal, Seawei stayed up to capture the star trails from outside the cabins!
Before breakfast, we had a quick check on the light trap. It didn’t have much as the “street lights” were still shining brightly the night before, but there were still a few moths around for some pre-breakfast warm up shots!
After the sharing session, everyone got themselves into the trails again in no time! This time, we ventured across the large bridge in hopes of finding something new.
Borneo Bootcamp 2015: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
