A Tree-Dweller’s Curiosity

An orangutan looking intently at the camera in the local zoo. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

One Happy Snack

An orangutan enjoying a snack with a neighbour in the local zoo. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

Moments later, she would look at the big male and apparently was given the permission to walk away with the whole clump of snack.

Taken at ISO 5000, the noise – colour noise – came out in the double-digit level out of this full-frame sensor. That was left alone as we didn’t want details to be impacted if we were to fix it.

Thinking Ape

An orangutan in deep thought in the local zoo. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

This was captured with the exposure biased 2/3 stop darker to preserve highlights, and then cropped a little to compose in post. Perhaps, details could’ve been better if the sensor were larger.

Lead Us Not Into Extinction

A critically endangered Orangutan pondering over the future prospect of its species. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was as it was captured at the equivalent focal length of 1200mm. I love the reach as it meant that the whole sensor area could be exploited to the fullest, as opposed to cropping in post.

The Plumb Line Posture

A Pongo pygmaeus feeling comfy on its playground in the local zoo. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

A Delicate Situation

A young orangutan finding itself somehow entangled in the air. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Photographing in this sort of lighting situation, the camera would tend to be fooled by the bright sky into underexposing the image. To counter this, the exposure for this capture was biased 1-1/3 stops brighter.

It worked because it was a cloudy day. Had the sun been behind the ape, the job might’ve to be done with a strong fill-in flash, unless it’s a silhouette I was going for.