Malayan Moth Madness

I seem to have neglected to post anything about my second foray to Fraser’s Hill in Peninsular Malaysia. That must be remedied.

I went without Mrs Ha because a) she doesn’t like moths, b) she likes sleeping and c) the road up to Fraser’s Hill makes her car sick. She went shopping somewhere, Seoul I think. Fraser’s Hill is a wonderful place for mothing but I should have realised that the weather would be rather inclement by night. Sadly, that’s when moths get up to most of their mischief. I think it is fair to say that I spent 4 nights dodging downpours. The white sheet turned a soggy grey colour. The lawn was muddy underfoot favouring leeches more than humans. On the 4th night the wind ripped through the moth sheet and put an early end to the mothing. Was the trip worth it? You decide. Let’s start with Loepa siamensis ssp. malayensis and a host of hangers on.

Very similar to Loepa lampei!

Don’t shoot Aspara radians, he’s only the piano player.

Glanycus coendersi is a very scarce and sought after moth at Fraser’s Hill

Brahmaea hearseyi – my 3rd in 20 years

Sarcinodes vultuaria on a stick – lovely

And let’s finish with a lesser atlas moth, Samia kohlli,

These are the some of the larger and more exotic moths but I can easily see 300+ species in 4 nights. I am due to go back at Easter and I sincerely hope it will be possible as the coronavirus is starting to restrict travel in and out of Hong Kong.

All photos shot with a Canon 5D3, a Tamron 90mm macro lens and a Canon dual-headed flash with tailor-made diffusers. Huge thanks to Stephen Hogg and family for their wonderful B&B hospitality,

Painting by camera

It is not uncommon in photography to create your own frame. Here are two examples.

The first is a statue of a Buddhist figure set back in a niche at Angkor Wat. The top half was almost invisible in the dark but I have used the magic of Lightroom to solve that problem. The stone surround and the top of a fence formed a natural frame when I looked through the viewfinder.

This is the old ‘through the window’ trick. A little Lightroom trickery was used here too. I exposed for the distant steps and used software to lift the deep shadows and enhance the natural frame. The dynamic range of a modern sensor is remarkable.

I’m back at work for a while and my evenings are spent reading an 800 page biography of Van Gogh. Until anon.

Bakheng sunrise

A 5am start for Bakheng to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat. A reasonable reward.

A beautiful morning. Sadly the temples are hugely overcrowded even with a dramatic drop in Chinese visitors because of the coronavirus. It was like conveyor belt tourism. Move. Stop. Here is where you take the picture. You have 20 seconds. Next. I gave up and left. Another reason why I loathe group tours. Bakheng isn’t (yet) commercialised and was very quiet. Except for us.

This is me flouncing out of Angkor Wat.