Orangutan, Borneo

During my abbreviated visit to Borneo, I stayed at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge in the Danum Valley, considered one of the best spots on earth to see orangutans in the wild. Of the animals I had really hoped to see in Malaysia, this was the only one at the top of the list that panned out. I saw five orangutans over the course of two-and-a-half days, including two large males and one baby.

What I found is that they are really tough to photograph. I've done the rainforest thing a lot by now, and this was one of the most challenging subjects I've shot in that environment. It's amazing how easily a large adult ape can traverse the jungle canopy, rarely having to descend to the ground. Of course this means that a) they're usually obscured by tons of branches and leaves, and b) when they're in the open they're usually horribly backlit (since they're straight up, way up). Combine that with some abnormally strong humidity (based on my experience at least), and I had my work cut out for me.

This was the dominant male in the region (thought to be about 35 years old), and he proved to be somewhat accommodating by providing me with my only descent--albeit distant--view of an ape out in the open. And no backlighting... hooray!

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 800
1/500th
f/4
Fairly small portion of the original image, since I opted for the vertical crop.

Max