Articles

Nature and Natural History
- Bogeymen False and Real I - SnakesJeet Sukumaran - April 12, 2002 (Updated on November 01, 2004).Introduction I not only have a personal interest in snakes, but a professional one. As such, whenever I do come across them, I count my blessings and take full use of the opportunity to observe and photograph these beautiful and elusive animals. The fact is, however, to the casual observer, snakes hardly exist in the rainforest. Most snakes are secretive, shy and cautious animals. They are so well hidden and camouflaged in the bush, that it is almost impossible to see them unless one is loo ... >>
- Bogeymen False and Real II - MacrocarnivoresJeet Sukumaran - April 12, 2002 (Updated on October 30, 2004).Introduction A cousin of mine was once hiking with some friends in a forest off the East-West Highway in Northern Peninsular Malaysia. A little way down the trail, he came across some pug marks. Tiger! Without wasting any time, he and his friends quickly vacated the area. Such was the fear that these beautiful cats can instill in some of us. Predators and Prey, Carnivores and Herbivores The fact is, though, tiger or leopard, such dread of tigers is somewhat misplaced. In fact, it probably i ... >>
- Bogeymen False and Real III - The Real MonstersJeet Sukumaran - April 17, 2002 (Updated on October 30, 2004).Introduction To me, the rainforest is a retreat and a sanctum - a place of sanity and safety away from the horrors of human society and civilization. Especially at night - in the day, the heat, humidity and bugs can take a little away from the experience! To many people, however, the rainforest - night or day - is a dark and dangerous place. To different people, the rainforest holds different terrors. To some, coming across the slightest hint of the presence of a tiger in an area - pug marks, a ... >>
- Beauty with a Purpose Jeet Sukumaran - November 29, 2004 (Updated on December 01, 2004).Introduction There is a particular doctrine in the art world that holds that true art can be beautiful for its own sake, a doctrine that finds its simplified expression in the popular cliché, “art for art’s sake”. There is much beauty in the natural world, but very little that is useless (some would say that all beauty is in the natural world, and all our own art is derived from elements in nature in some way, shape or form, either consciously or otherwise; if this is true ... >>
Notes from the Field
- Encounter with Wallace's Flying Frog Jeet Sukumaran - April 02, 2002 (Updated on June 29, 2005).It is the rainy season here, in this isolated logging camp deep in the heart of the great northern rainforests of Temenggor, and for most of the past week, I have been treated to the full majesty of the tropical monsoon. For many days and nights now, we have been subjected to an uninterrupted deluge of almost mythical proportions, as a vast, single, extended downpour rages unchecked across the thickly-forested hills and valleys. The torrential rains come cascad ... >>
- Project Kodok 2005Sam Shonleben (Science Officer, Project Kodok) - March 15, 2005.Project Kodok is a student-run research programme aimed at contributing to the understanding of global amphibian decline through the study of anuran populations in the tropical forests of Borneo, South East Asia. A team of six members will spend approximately two months conducting a comprehensive monitoring survey of anuran populations, during the summer of 2005. We aim to produce a comprehensive list of Anuran species from which we can then use to conduct monitoring surveys to assess their abun ... >>
Field Gear
- Illuminating the FieldJeet Sukumaran - April 08, 2002 (Updated on October 30, 2004).A Herpetologist's Disease: the Light Fetish I have to confess that I have a serious fetish for lights. Not "light" in general, i.e. in the general sense of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in a range between 4,000 and 7,700 angstroms. But rather "lights", in the sense of those little (or not so little) devices that produce said electromagnetic radiation. I'm talking about flashlights, torches and headlamps - the first, fundamental, universal and only absolutely necessary tool of the fi ... >>
Photography
- From Eye to VisionJeet Sukumaran - April 02, 2002 (Updated on October 30, 2004).Probably one of the first things that you will learn with photography is that, contrary to popular belief, the "camera" does not "see" (or, rather, perceive) in the same way that you do. Your neuro-optical system represents an extremely sophisticated image acquisition and processing system that filters, modulates, integrates and synthesizes a broad complex of environmental information. It processes not only light input through your visual system, but other inputs through your other sensors, such ... >>
- Close-up PhotographyJeet Sukumaran - March 25, 2002 (Updated on October 30, 2004).The world of frog and toad photography is part of the fascinating world of close-photography. Leave the shots of lions and eagles and elephants to those with a NASA budget and Discovery channel equipment - spectacular as they often are, they rarely amount to much more than rough proxies or poor substitutes for the thing in nature. A close-up photograph of a frog, on the other hand, actually complements and compliments its real-life, living counterpart. Close-up photography not replace its subjec ... >>
- The Camera Body Jeet Sukumaran - March 25, 2002 (Updated on October 30, 2004).There are many who say that a camera body is little more than a light-tight box to hold your film in place, with the real magic going on in the lens. Thus, when considering a camera body, you should see the body as part of a camera system, and make the primary decision on what line (Nikon, Canon, Minolta, etc.) you wish to build into. Nonetheless, a little thought should be devoted as to what camera body to get, especially after you have made the decision as to what line you wish to get into. Ea ... >>
- The Camera LensJeet Sukumaran - March 25, 2002 (Updated on October 30, 2004).Most lenses have a minimum focus distance that limits how close you can get to the subject, which, in turn, in conjunction with the magnification of the lens, limits the size of the subject on film. The minimum focus distance of most lenses really exclude the possibility of stunning close-up images of such small subjects as frogs and toads. There are a number of different approaches that allow you to get your lens closer to the subject, and thus increase the ultimate subject size in the image, a ... >>
- The "Jeet Extension" Jeet Sukumaran - March 25, 2002 (Updated on October 30, 2004).The Night is Dark ... When shooting frogs and toads, you will be shooting at night, so lights will be a necessity. Not so much for the actual photographs per se, as illumination for the photographs will be provided by your (hopefully, fully-automatic TTL) flash, but for yourself, so that you can so you can see your way about, spot subjects, and, the subject of this article, set up the shot (compose and focus). You Need to See ... The flash takes care of your film and camera's need to see, but y ... >>