Orangutans are one animal I truly have been fascinated with from a young age. Seeing them in films doing tricks I never really thought of the back story of how they must have come into that place and be wearing human clothes and doing tricks for the paying public we call it ignorance but sometimes its bliss as this saying goes as it was better not to no.The cruel truth is its mother will have been killed and the baby sold into the pet/animal trade and somehow ended up alone as female Orangutans never give up there young I'm told by some of the worlds leading experts that I have met.
Ten years ago while I was scuba diving in Thailand I visited a rescue center in the forests there and that's where I saw my first Sumatran Orangutan. I never knew their was a genetic different or two sub-species. This set me on a path to find out more and after two years of planning on a self-funded trip I visited Sumatra in 2012 and lived in the jungles for two weeks shadowing experts and trackers on a two week trip called Spotlight Sumatra. Goggle it you will see the work, the talks and the money and profile of the Sumatran orangutan I helped with.
Next week Im going back again on a self-funded trip as no one would fund such a trip without major backing and I don't have that but I refuse to sit back and watch this great ape and its home vanish before we in the west say...Sumatran Orangutan..??? didn't no there was another apart from the ones in Borneo??.
For me to now help. document and speak for these apes with my images is a great honor and a dream come true which I have done all myself. I'm working alongside Dr Ian Singleton and his SOCP team from next week roughing it and speaking with my camera and some of the things out there made me cry with anger last time and I no what I'm going back too. But I wanted to post one of my favorite images from my last visit there.
I wanted to photography these Orangutans on their own terms and in their own world so the charity hired a climber and we'd trek through the jungles and the night before we make camp not far from where some orangutans had made their nests for the night to sleep in. An hour before dawn my climber and I would set the ropes up and i'd climb up into the canopy , pull my 600mm and camera up then tie myself with strops to the tree the best I could to steady myself and wait. More often or not the orangutans would go the other way but alot of the times they would pass by me as here and I would have a beautiful encounter as here with this female.
She had a young baby out of sight and here she passed by where I was as I was balancing my 600mm and praying she didnt come any closer otherwise I would have to abseil down very fast. For my personal wise and photography wise those moments in the jungle canopies of Sumatra are some of the best moments with wildlife I have ever had and I cannot wait to go back.
Im just a photographer, a guy with a camera but my hope and aim is to give these critically endangered Sumatran Orangutans a voice on the world scene with my images and that's all I hope to achieve, thank you for looking and reading.
Nikon D4
Nikon F4VR600
F4,1/800
ISO 2000,-0.3EV
Matrix
Climbing gear/Hardness,Climber,Trackers,Luck
Discussion
1 repliesTen years ago while I was scuba diving in Thailand I visited a rescue center in the forests there and that's where I saw my first Sumatran Orangutan. I never knew their was a genetic different or two sub-species. This set me on a path to find out more and after two years of planning on a self-funded trip I visited Sumatra in 2012 and lived in the jungles for two weeks shadowing experts and trackers on a two week trip called Spotlight Sumatra. Goggle it you will see the work, the talks and the money and profile of the Sumatran orangutan I helped with.
Next week Im going back again on a self-funded trip as no one would fund such a trip without major backing and I don't have that but I refuse to sit back and watch this great ape and its home vanish before we in the west say...Sumatran Orangutan..??? didn't no there was another apart from the ones in Borneo??.
For me to now help. document and speak for these apes with my images is a great honor and a dream come true which I have done all myself. I'm working alongside Dr Ian Singleton and his SOCP team from next week roughing it and speaking with my camera and some of the things out there made me cry with anger last time and I no what I'm going back too. But I wanted to post one of my favorite images from my last visit there.
I wanted to photography these Orangutans on their own terms and in their own world so the charity hired a climber and we'd trek through the jungles and the night before we make camp not far from where some orangutans had made their nests for the night to sleep in. An hour before dawn my climber and I would set the ropes up and i'd climb up into the canopy , pull my 600mm and camera up then tie myself with strops to the tree the best I could to steady myself and wait. More often or not the orangutans would go the other way but alot of the times they would pass by me as here and I would have a beautiful encounter as here with this female.
She had a young baby out of sight and here she passed by where I was as I was balancing my 600mm and praying she didnt come any closer otherwise I would have to abseil down very fast. For my personal wise and photography wise those moments in the jungle canopies of Sumatra are some of the best moments with wildlife I have ever had and I cannot wait to go back.
Im just a photographer, a guy with a camera but my hope and aim is to give these critically endangered Sumatran Orangutans a voice on the world scene with my images and that's all I hope to achieve, thank you for looking and reading.
Nikon D4
Nikon F4VR600
F4,1/800
ISO 2000,-0.3EV
Matrix
Climbing gear/Hardness,Climber,Trackers,Luck
Thanks for looking