Photoshoot at Greensboro C C

Greensboro Country Club has two courses, one in Irving Park, designed by Donald Ross in 1909, and the other is The Farm Club.   I was hired to photograph the Irving Park golf course for the book commemorating their 100 year celebration.  The Farm club is under total renovation and will be ready in October.  I hope they hire me to shoot it.

The weather was glorious the day I arrived, sunny and warm.  I was given a cart and was scouting the course an hour after I arrived.  The golf course is not very long by todays standard, but has plenty of elevation changes and slick greens. The Bermuda rough is not quite there yet with many brown patches, but the fairways and greens are in great shape.  It was a choice between having lots of azaleas and dogwoods to accent the golf course and shooting it now or wait for the Bermuda rough to grow in but loose the azaleas and dogwoods.

I must admit that I was a bit disappointed with the look of the golf course due to the fact that it winds through neighborhoods.  I am used to golf courses that has no homes and I can photograph from any angle.  However, this neighborhood has been around for more than 100 years, and the homes are mansions and very well cared for, it did not matter if they are in the shot. My disappointment quickly evaporated.

The director of golf, Mr. Jim Deaton was a perfect southern gentleman.  He gave me a very warm welcome and a rundown of the golf holes. In case some of you remember, Sergio Garcia was very verbal with him at a PGA Championship where Jim was a rules official.  There was a signed photo on Jim’s wall from Sergio, with the inscription, “To my Best Friend”.

I drove around for 3.5 days ( 2 were gray and rainy) and due to the rain and  time schedule, decided to capture as many shots as I can in the middle of the day and hopefully catch more images at sunrise and sunset if things go well.  The sun was helpful for one morning and a couple of evenings where I took advantage of the low warm light.

The most amazing thing to me at this photoshoot are the azaleas and the dogwoods.  There were pinks, purples, brilliant reds and white azaleas, so vivid that my camera has a dificult time rendering the correct colors on my computer.The dogwoods are smallish trees but they “decorate” the fairways and backs of greens.

The course is definitely a Donald Ross course and it reminds me of The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis.  Wish I had time to play it, but with over 650 golfing members, it would be difficult to make a tee time.  Next trip!

To see photos of the Greensboro Country Club, please visit http://gallery.me.com/peterwongphotography#gallery   and click on the Greensboro CC album.

Next assignment/travel:  Sandhills Golf Club in Nebraska.  June 6th through 9th.

Frank’s diving experience at Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort

The next few paragraphs are written by Frank MacMurray, one of two divers from the reunion group.

DIVING AT SIPADAN

I had the good fortune of diving 2 consecutive days in the waters of Sipadan, one of the world’s “must dive” locations after its discovery by Jacques Cousteau over 40 years ago.  It’s located in the Celebes Sea, a few miles off the east coast of the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. In recent years, the site has been overused, and the Malaysian government now strictly limits to 120 the number of divers who may visit the site, and, more significantly, the island itself is now off-limits to all persons except resource managers and the military, who maintain a small encampment on the island.  (This is the island from which some German tourists were kidnapped in 2000 by some activists from the Phillipines.  They were released unharmed after 4-5 months.)

The diving was very good:

On day 1, the visibility was clouded by the effects of rain and wind the night before, but the underwater sea life was abundant and varied.  Particularly memorable were white tip sharks, lots of turtles, barracuda and schools of huge Napoleon wrasse, a striking fish I’d never seen before.  We enjoyed 4 morning dives of about 45 minutes each at  moderate depths, and we were back at our very comfortable accomodations at the Sipadan Kapalai Dive Resort by 1 pm, in time for lunch and a nap!  What a life.

On day 2, we enjoyed most of the same dive sites as day 1, but the visibility was much improved after a quiet night.  Especially interesting was the South Point site, where we searched without success for hammerhead sharks, but saw a lot of all the other usual suspects: turtles, shark, barracuda, abundant reef life.

My only regret is not having time to dive some of the other sites in the area, Mabul, for example, but that’s a reason to go back.

Final Destination at Kapalai Dive Resort

March 25th to March 28th:
Location: Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort

The next destination is the Sipadan-Kapalai Dive resort (http://sipadan-kapalai.com/). Five of the twenty two classmates were not able to make the journey so seventeen of us continued onwards. There was a surge of anticipation for the new adventure. Other than my wife and I, none of the others have been there before.  We arrived at the jetty in the coastal town of Semporna, the jumping off point for out boat transit to Kapalai. Two speedboats were ready to whisk us to the resort. Rain clouds were gathering to the starboard side as we sped full throttle, wave jumping through the Celebes Sea towards the resort. I kept my fingers crossed hoping that no one got sea-sick and, more importantly, that they would not find Kapalai to be a bore.

The journey took 40 minutes. As we were passing Mabul Island, I stood up in the bouncing boat and saw Kapalai straight ahead. Smiling staff members of the resort were at the dock helping us off of the boat.  Some helped with the luggage, some handed us cool towels and mango juice and some herded us towards the dining hall. We were quickly briefed and lunch was served. A wonderful lunch of everything fresh from veggies to fish to fruits was served. After lunch we were shown to our chalet – VIP 1, a personal chalet for one of the resort owners. WOW! was my reaction when I walked into it. Party tonight at this chalet!!! I instantly pulled out my cameras to capture it before it got too “lived in”.

This resort was built on top of a reef using a certain wood found only in Borneo. It is called Belian. This wood is so dense that it does not float, nails cannot be pounded into it and is immune to termite attacks. It has a service life of more than 100 years even though it is in seawater. Due to the over harvesting the Sabah government has since banned the use of this wood.

This is an eco resort. Being in a government designated protected area, nothing can be disposed of into the sea.  The waste water is recycled for secondary uses such as watering the beautiful and extensive plants and flowers that fill the whole resort. Fresh water is delivered by barges each morning, while solid waste is returned to the mainland each evening for proper disposal. There is absolutely no fishing, no touching and/or damaging of the coral, no taking souvenirs from the sea.

Besides celebrating with my classmates, I am here to capture images for the operators/owners for advertising and marketing purposes. I LOVE MY JOB. As in Lankayan, a helicopter was hired for the aerial images. The classmates will be “models” doing activities while I am up in the air.  As I look down from 500 meters, all I am able to say is “HOLY MOLY”. My cameras are my voice to tell you how I feel.

Images were forming in my head since my last visit a year ago. How will I capture the perfect “Corona” styled image or the image of a beautiful woman (ala Cindy Crawford) in a white one-piece bathing suit, sitting on pure white sand in the lotus position, facing the turquoise sea?  These are some of the thoughts that busied my mind through the year. I am here now and the thought of being able to accomplish these images excites me.

Every angle I point my cameras, there are beautiful images: high tide, low tide, pure blue/cyan skies, white billowing clouds, turquoise waters….. Unfortunately I have not learned how to dive yet (next trip). It is totally another world underneath the surface and another profession to be an expert in underwater photography. Therefore, for now, I am content to stay above the waves photographing the above-mentioned images and the activities of my classmates snorkeling on the surface of the sea.

There are hilarious moments with my classmates. Some have not been “wet” for 30 to 40 years. For example, Ruby, one of our esteemed organizers, a beautiful, sophisticated, Singaporean executive of substance and means, had a memorable moment. She does not swim, she does not go into the sea, but to her credit, she decided “when in Rome…”. She was fitted with mask, life vest and fins at the dive centre, then proudly marched off, loudly flapping her way the fifty yards down the slotted dockway leading to the sea. The rest of us were bent over laughing at the sight of her alien-like walk, as she occasionally caught her flipper toes in the slots of the dockway. She proudly paraded on as the rest of us trailed behind, trying to hold onto our gear as we laughed, knowing that it was easier to put our gear on in the water. By the end of our stay, she was proud to say that she had snorkeled nine times.

As incredible as it may seem, though we were born here, most of us do not know how to swim, me included. WE ARE AT A DIVE RESORT WITH NO SOLID LAND! Vincent, our resident accountant, co-organizer, was most concerned about water issues ever  since the previous destination at the Kinabatangnan River, where he feared that the equatorial rains would create danger for our river safari. He donned his life vest and inched himself slowly into the water to see if it would support him. When satisfied, he eased himself into the sea and thoroughly enjoyed viewing the marine life under the surface. By now many of the classmates were snorkeling and splashing in the water and squeals of laughter pealed through the air. “Aiiyaa”, a common Chinese expression, in this case denoting amazement, filled the air. I felt relieved that they fell in love with Kapalai, as I have.

As an aside, I have mentioned that the sun was intense. Vincent was aware of this and his wife sent lotion along with him. However, the lotion that she sent was moisturizing lotion instead of sunblock. He had a bit of a sunburn sting the next few days, but that did not stop him form snorkeling again and again.

There are two divers in our group of seventeen, Frank MacMurray and Daniel Ho. Dan is a classmate while Frank, a retired attorney, came with Lillian.  They had the most fortunate luck of being able to dive at Sipadan Island. Apparently there is a daily quota for divers at Sipadan Island, a twenty minute boat ride from Kapalai.  Hopefully Frank and Dan will be forwarding their experiences to me soon for me to post.

This trip has been a wonderful and meaningful experience. The destinations are simply exotic. However, they will not be as fun if not for sharing it with the classmates. Catching up with their lives and making sure that we stay in contact, making plans to visit each other and just being friends again.

To view more images of this trip please go to this link:

http://gallery.me.com/peterwongphotography#gallery

A sunset and a corona!!

Yau Man’s commentary on the Sabah Rainforest.

This is from Yau Man Chan, one of my classmates from All Saint’s School.  He has graciously agreed to write a couple of words on the Rainforests of Borneo. For those who do not know Yau Man, he was in Survivor Figi, and is one of the all time favorites, self described “geek”.  Here it is:

The RAINFOREST

One of the greatest discovery of modern science is the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection.  But like many other important scientific work, Charles Darwin who was credited with the formulation of this theory, did not do it alone. He benefited from the work of many who came before him and contemporary naturalists of his day including one Alfred Russell Wallace. Wallace spent a lot of time collecting and cataloging specimens and making observations in what was then known as the Dutch East Indies.  In fact, he spent two years (1854-1856) in Borneo doing field work, gathering botanical and animal specimens to send to Darwin back in England.  One of the first thing I noticed on this trip back to my old home town of Kota Kinabalu was that Wallace’s seminal work “The Malay Archipelago” (dedicated to Charles Darwin) was prominently on display in many bookstores.  I had to buy a copy right away and started reading it.

While growing up in Borneo, we took our jungle backyard for granted.  We did not realize what treasures the “big clump of trees” held; how much they have contributed to the understanding of our world today and how important they continue to be for the survival of our species.  So, 40 years after leaving this forest, we had the opportunity to reassembled at the Kinabatangan Jungle Camp of our classmate Robert Chong to re-acquaint ourselves with our jungle heritage. www.kinabatangan-jungle-camp.com

When the British colonized North Borneo, it was for the hard-wood lumber and to grow rubber trees.  These ecologically disastrous economic activities continued after independence.  Renamed “Sabah” when it became a state in the Federation of Malaysia, the state continued to depend on forest-clearing hard-wood lumbering as the economic base when synthetic rubber made natural rubber plantations obsolete.  Then someone came up with the idea of growing Oil Palm for the oil – another unfortunately very successful forest-clearing agricultural activity which the Sabah government undertook with gusto.  Fortunately for all of us, some very concerned and smart politician in the government was paying attention as the world became very concerned with the depletion of the equatorial rain forests all around the globe and the effect this depletion had on global climate and wild-life.  About 20 years ago, with help from the WWF and NGO’s from concerned industrialized nations like Canada and Australia, a concerted effort was launched to stop the madness and preserve as much of the rain-forest of Borneo, and the wild lives in it, as possible.  Our classmate Robert was in the forefront of this activity with his Kinabatangan Jungle Camp.

So, yes, Virginia, there is still rain-forests left in Borneo.  The three days and two nights we spent at the Kinabatangan Jungle Camp was not just a memorable time for a bunch of old school buddies to get together to reminisce about our good (or bad) old school days – it was an amazing experience to see for ourselves jungle lives we only read about in National Geographic Magazine or watch on the Discovery Channel on TV.  Every boat ride down the Kinabatangan River and its tributaries gave us a front-row seat to view hundreds of species, including Orangutans, Proboscis monkeys, Hornbills and Borneo pygmy elephants in their natural habitat.  Yes, we have seen Orangutans in the zoos; we have see them in movies; we have seen pictures of them in magazines – but the joy of seeing one wild in the forest, swinging from branch to branch, from tree to tree is a moving experience like no others.  Sitting quietly on a boat by the banks of the river, watching a troupe of Proboscis monkeys grooming each other above our heads, one cannot but feel the awe and magnificence of their world, and yet feel like voyeurs into their lives.

That the rain-forest in Borneo and other regions are important to the survival of the human species cannot be over-stated. It affects global climate and its preservation is one of the key ingredients in our fight to slow the rate of global warming. Many botanical species hold pharmacological compounds yet to be discovered which may hold cures for many currently incurable diseases. Observation of animal behaviors in the wild, especially those of the great ape are still giving insights into human behaviors and our evolutionary past.  I applaud the Sabah government for taking a giant step to preserve this valuable and unique resource for the world at large. Transforming their economy from selling timber and agricultural products to eco-tourism must have been tough – but they did it, and did it with enthusiasm and grace. My heart felt thanks to Sabahans like our classmate Robert who have taken on the role as docent for the forest, to show us and the world what magnificence are held in their trust – we owe them an eternal gratitude.  If there is one place in the world you all should make a point of visiting before you take leave, it’s the rain-forest of Borneo.  Make your plans now.

Second destination

March 23rd to 25th :
Location: Kinabatangnan Jungle Camp, Kinabatangnan River.

As much as we dislike leaving Lankayan Island, we needed to meet up with my classmates from All Saints high school graduating class of 1969 at the Sepolik Orang Utan Sanctuary. We are celebrating our 40 years class reunion. We are a group of 22, including spouses and significant others, heading off to the rainforest jungle. We are heading to classmate Robert Chong’s, Kinabatangnan Jungle Camp ( www.kinabatangan-jungle-camp.com ), as he says “his own little piece of paradise”. His specialty is guiding bird watchers to view rare birds and all the birds of this rainforest, as well as other wildlife indigenous to this part of the world. He has a brilliant staff of guides to aid his guests in viewing pygmy elephants, orang utans in the wild,  (found only in the Borneo rainforest), crocodiles, proboscis monkeys, monitor lizards, hornbills, and countless birds. The guides have very keen eyesight and hearing and can spot small colourful snakes curled up in a tree overhanging onto the river from yards and yards away. Twenty two of us piled into 4 boats, heading upstream in hopes of catching glimpses of wildlife. Our enthusiasm, laughter and chatter gave warning to the wildlife warning as we approached. Following afternoon tea, Robert wisely sent the boats off in different directions. One for the serious birders, one for the photographers, and a couple for the “social” groups. His experienced decision netted us multiple views of wildlife. We shared our day’s photos that evening. Interestingly, some of the best photos were taken by the social groups! Way to go Vincent!!

Jungle Camp is a very rustic place, yet very comfortable, with running hot water (though not needed for showers), and comfortable rooms and beds. It can be compared to a rustic cabin/fishing lodge in northern Minnesota but without mosquitoes (at least during this time of the year). The heat and humidity can be quite intense, as I rediscovered during the noon excursion in search of crocodiles. As we headed to the usual haunts of the crocodiles, the breeze created by the speeding boat cools me. While we drift silently, the heat was the hottest that I have experienced in a very long time.

There is a dining hall/gathering area for meals, conversations, singing and just plain catching up. We reminisced recounting stories from our school years of our many escapades, much to the embarrassment of some. Observations of our physical changes were jokingly pointed out, accompanied with great howls of laughter. Surprisingly, the Caucasian spouses and significant others laughed along with us, due to the infectiousness of our laughter. The stories and jokes were told in English, but then due to the excitement and the descriptiveness of the Chinese language, the punch lines are delivered in Chinese. “Sorry, lost in translation” was the only explanation we can come up with for those who cannot understand Chinese.

The main claim to fame of our class of ’69 is for one particular classmate, Yau Man. He is the lovable “old geek” (self described) on Survivor, Fiji, season 14.  He is now residing outside of San Francisco with his family, wife Jennifer (my model with the umbrella), and two lovely daughters Penelope and Ione, and works at UC Berkerly. Besides regaling us with the experiences he encountered in Fiji, he also captivated us with his knowledge of things ranging from the workings of the internet to the super collider in France/Switzerland where physicists bombard particles to figure out the universe (he participated at the similar Fermi Lab). Yau Man truly is a wonderful teacher, as he took complex issues and explained them to us in a clear and understandable way. Now I will be able to view the programs on the History and Discovery channels with a better understanding! In addition, my wife now understands the reason for high and low tide. During our school years, there were 4-6 of the classmates who were constantly at the top of the class. Yau Man, Dr. Liew (Australia), Daniel (Toronto), Maggie (Edmonton) and Yee Sim (Kota Kinabalu) are the ones I remember, constantly juggling for the top spots in every test and exam. I told my mother that there is no sense in me trying to be the best in the class – I can leave that to them.

The food at the jungle camp was delicious, all fresh ingredients. The vegetables were picked from the wild, fresh fish, lamb, water buffalo and venison. There is a large variety of local fruits that are unfamiliar and “foreign” to the western world.  I don’t get to see these wonderful treats at my local grocery store and I am eating as much of them as I can. All thoughts of eating smaller portions were banished and put on hold until I return to the US.

Unfortunately the days are too short and time passes too quickly, it was time to depart. It will be hard pressed for me to explain the fragility of the rainforest. Yau Man has graciously offered to do the explaining in the next post.

My trip to Malaysia: 40 year high school reunion. Visiting the rainforest. Photographing 2 dive resorts.

My trip to Malaysia: 40 year high school reunion. Visiting the rainforest. Photographing 2 dive resorts.

March 18th to March 22nd, 2009
Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan to Lankayan

My wife and I left on the 14th, March from MSP. Spent a night in Hong Kong.  Flew to Kota Kinabalu then to Sandakan where a speed boat took us to the island of Lankayan. One and a half hours later we docked. A total of 22 hours flying time.  The temperature is 30 C, but the sea breeze is keeping us cool.  It is indeed a tropical paradise. My cameras were working constantly, and there were so many things here, that I cannot photograph them all. Schools of fishes that swim together and form a huge “eye” to protect themselves, colorful starfish, etc are a few examples.

March 19th:  The morning arrived with a spectacular sunrise, had breakfast with other guests.  They got ready for the 8 am dive. I walked around the 5 acre island during high tide which was quite arduous compared to low tide. There were a squad of Malaysian marines settled in a bunker, with machine guns and other weapons. They are there to protect us against pirates that are based (I’m told) in Philippines waters, which is a few miles away.  I am also told that there has never been an incident and I am glad about that.  Since we are east of the mainland (Borneo island), sunsets are not as spectacular as on the west coast of Borneo.  Clouds formed over the land and rains in the evening and night (during rainy season), thus blocking the sun.  But there are some colors to be had, I cornered a couple from New Zealand to be my models, promising them images.  We were surprised, when we returned to our chalet, there was a table set up, dinner for two, on the patio.  The dinner was a Mongolian hot pot feast, shrimp, scallops, beef, veggies, chicken, tofu cooked in a chicken broth.  Since this is a Muslim country, no pork. There was a bottle of red wine, but that does not go well with Asian food. But hey it was good after the 3rd sip. We were about to retire to our chalet when the waiter informed us that they spotted a couple of turtles that came on shore to lay eggs. Flash photography is strictly forbidden. We followed the biologist to the 3 sites and watch the turtles digging the sand and covering the eggs. The turtles were much larger than I had imagine, the shell was 3 feet wide by 4.5 feet long.  The eggs were just a bit larger than a ping pong ball with a soft shell. After the turtle left for the sea, the biologist gathered up the eggs and brought them to the hatchery where they will incubate for 50-60 days. A batch of newborns will be released tomorrow or the day after…  One in a thousand baby turtles will survive to adulthood in 20-30 or 30-40 years, depending on the species, Green or Hawksbill turtles.  It was quite amazing to see this happening. I hate to admit it, but when I was a kid growing up in Kota Kinabalu, I had eaten turtle eggs. Now I know better…

March 20th: The day started just like the previous, it is paradise afterall.  The manager and I were debating whether the skies were good enough for an aerial shoot.  The helicopter will arrive at 9:30 am, while the tide is still low to show the white sand beaches. We decide it is a go.  It was quite a process to get me situated for the flight. The engineer weighed me and all my gear, 90 kilos, took off the door behind the pilot, double strapped me, made sure I can move to shoot, gave me instructions, hand signals, headphones, and we took off.  I felt a rush, then slight panic when we banked hard right and climbed to 2000 feet.  Things looked quite small and even smaller through my 17 mm lens. I had 2 cameras with me, a 17 to 40 mm zoom lens in one and 24 to 105 mm in the other, with 4 GB cards in both, and 2 other cards in my pocket.  We circled around the island at different heights.  The view is awesome, the different colors of aquamarine, greens, yellows,dark blues and contrasted with white puffy clouds… We circled about 20 times at different heights, shot from every angle, total of 12 GBs of images. I signaled that I am done to the pilot.  He informed me that I should capture one more image, comparable to a satellite photo, and proceeded to turn the helicopter sideways.  My heart almost came out of my chest. I screamed into the mic, something unintelligent, and I heard him laughing in the earphones.  Ass****. Tomorrow will be more mundane, out on a boat, shooting at sea level.

March 21st: Saturday, been here for 4 days.  Thank goodness I am photographing the resort, apparently I am not a good relaxer. It is paradise for most people but I need a golf course to complete it for me.  Laying out on the beach is not my idea of relaxing, my mind gets too busy and I have to “do” what I have been thinking.  However, lounging on the beach is no problem for my wife and she assures me that she is in paradise.  Even though I am not much of a water person, I snorkeled every day for at least 20 minutes.  There is another world under the surface, swam with a group (must be 2-3 thousand) of fishes, saw a cuttlefish, nemo, black tip sharks and others that I cannot identify that zigged and zagged beneath me.  Must have got near to the “nest” of a little fish that is brillant in color, it charged at my mask at least 5-6 times until I moved away. I admit that I used a lifevest for the snorkeling, my legs are so heavy that I swim at a 45 degree angle and will sink without the lifevest, even in the bouyant saltwater.

The sun is blazingly hot, the bottoms of my feet felt like I had 3rd degree burns walking on the gangway to the dive center. Got into one of the dive boats to shoot the island and chalets from sea level.  Not quite as breathtaking as yesterday’s helicopter shoot, but still a sight to behold.  The clouds are just wonderful assets and they help to add interest to the otherwise “standard” island shot.  Amazing to call these vistas “standard”!

Evening arrived and I am keeping my fingers crossed for a brilliant and colourful sunset.  Sadly, the clouds are too thick at the horizon.  Well, lets hope for a great sunrise tomorrow.

March 22nd:  Woke up at 5:00 am by the sounds of bats fighting over bandan fruits.  Fortunately they do not come into the chalet, since we have the doors and windows open all night for the gentle breezes, instead of using air conditioning.  There is a huge bank of rain clouds overhead and will probably block the sunrise.  I quickly set up my tripod and telephoto lens and catch just a few shots of the muted colors. The blues are magnificent and it well may be a postcard for the resort.  Went out on the dive boat, the tide is out and the boat cannot get to the area I need to be without damaging the coral reef.  Then came a drenching and warm morning rain.  Stowed my gear to keep it dry and stood outside the canopy of the boat for my morning shower.  Off to breakfast, I hope there’s Black Black Noodles…

To view more images please visit  www.peterwongphotography.com