Time-Lapse Photography of Sunrise Over Mount Kinabalu

Structures materializing from nothingness, a flower unfolding its petals through the night, a butterfly’s metamorphosis from pupa to adult stage, the sky changing its hues while the sun rises and sets… where it is not feasible to run a video camera for a long period of time to capture these defining moments, there’s time-lapse photography.

I’ve always found this photographic technique fascinating for the photo-video it produces but have never found the motivation to try it until a stay at the beautiful Gaya Island Resort. Located on Pulau Gaya, the largest of 5 islets sitting off the northwestern coast of Kota Kinabalu City, the resort’s hillside villas offer a jaw-dropping view overlooking the South China Sea with the horizon rimmed by Kinabalu’s mountainous range. This awe-inspiring setting was the perfect muse to coax my first attempt at time-lapse photography because I wanted my first time to be special!

In this post, I’ll share my experience and tips on time-lapsing a sunrise in the hope that the information will be useful for anyone attempting this technique for the first time.

Equipment and Necessities :

- DSLR camera (ensure that your battery is fully charged)

- Tripod

- Cable release or remote control

- Torch light, drinking water, towel and insect repellent (if photographing close to nature)

Time-lapse photography involves 2 steps… The first step is acquiring the images and the second step is combining the photos to form a video clip.

Step 1 : Acquiring the Images

Before embarking on a time-lapse photography session, always find out what time is sunrise at the locale you are shooting and be there an hour early to recce, set up equipment and frame the shot. In Singapore, I am used to daybreak happening at around 6.15am but at Kota Kinabalu, the sky starts brightening from 5.30am!

4:30am. It’s pitch black during the wee hours so a torchlight is essential for knowing you are putting all the parts in the right places.

As it was very dark, it was hard to frame the scene and get the horizon straight. I used the city lights in the distance to gauge and frame my shot.

Camera Settings :

- Switch the camera’s lens focus to Manual and set it to infinity

- Use Aperture (‘A’) mode for the shoot and set F-number to 16 (F16)

- Set ISO to the minimal (the lowest for my DSLR is 200)

- Turn on remote control shooting mode (if you use a cable release to control your shutter, this step is not necessary)

- Switch on your patience if your DSLR doesn’t come with a built-in interval timer like Nikon D7000 (I’m using Nikon D90 so I stood by my camera the whole time to click the remote control to shoot)

My time-lapse photos were taken from Gaya Island Resort’s Kinabalu Villa number 852 from 5:00am to 7:00am.

5:41am. Witnessing the arrival of dawn is truly magical. The highest peak in the distance is Mount Kinabalu. Awesome!

Pano view of the scene in front of me at daybreak.

Timing the Time-Lapse Intervals

Math and I are eternal enemies so my mind went into screensaver mode the instant I tried understanding how to calculate my number of shots. Basically, you have to first determine how long you want your time-lapse video to be and decide on how many shots you want per second of your video.

For example, if I want a 10-second video with 24 photos per second, I’ll have to shoot 240 images. Shooting from 5 – 7am (7,200 seconds), the interval between my shots would be 30 seconds. Which means I’ll take 1 photo and 30 seconds later, take another. The shots continue until I reach 240 shots.

That’s a lot of calculating to do!

So I simplify. I just made it a point to take a shot every 15 seconds from 5-7am. It didn’t matter how many photos I got, I just combined them all into the time-lapse video. I wasn’t concerned with how long the video lasted either. I ended up with about 365 shots and a sunrise segment that lasted 38 seconds on the video at the end of this post.

6:17am. The fiery disc popped out from the mountainous horizon.

I had it easy with this time-lapse shoot as the location was at the balcony of our villa. During the 2-hour shooting process, a Macaque Monkey came to visit and 2 Oriental Piped Hornbills flew by while countless birds serenaded the dawn. The entire experience was pure magic!

Such a sense of accomplishment for not sleeping in and miss the rare opportunity to time-lapse this incredibly scenic sunrise.

Step 2 : Creating a Time-Lapse Video

After capturing all the images, the next challenge is to combine them all into a video. There are quite a few options with Lightroom providing a pain-free way to do the job, but since I don’t have that program, I went with Photoshop to batch process the photos for a lower resolution and Windows Movie Maker to string the shots into a video.

It is necessary to batch process the photos first to shrink their file sizes before importing them into Windows Movie Maker to cut down on processing time. In Windows Movie Maker, I set the animation duration between photos to 0.07 seconds, add in a title, music, ending message and voila! I have my first time-lapse video! Hope you’ll enjoy it…

Rustic Serendipity at Pengerang

Spontaneity ruled Good Friday 2013 as Siow Har or I made an unplanned trip to Pengerang. It was 3 years ago (also on Good Friday) that we first discovered the Malaysian coastal town famous for its lobster dishes and had wanted to revisit ever since.

Although we’ve been to Pengerang before, what we intended to do this time round bordered on madness. We wanted to cycle from Sungai Rengit (the chief township in Pengerang) to Desaru, which is 30km away, and back. Total distance : 60km.

The distance we decided to cover may be a yawn to seasoned cyclists but for leisure paddlers like us who don’t own a bike and cycled only when the moon turned blue, 60km is a killer.

But we did it anyway without worrying thinking too much into or understanding fully what that amount of cycling can do to us. We learnt the hard (and long) way that long-distance cycling is not something to be spontaneous about but requires careful research, more so than regular holiday sightseeing.

Packed for an adventure of the unexpected. Our Pengerang trip began with an hour’s bumboat ride from Singapore Changi Point Ferry Terminal to Tanjung Pengelih Ferry Terminal. The bumboat’s retro imprints felt like time had stood still.

We didn’t reach our destination, missing by about another 5-6km, but it was a personal feat nonetheless. Our return cycling tour covered a total distance of about 50km and we took 7 hours due to the many photo stops we made along the way.

That’s the great thing about being the masters of our own journey, we had control over when to stop and were able to explore many places off the usual tourist track. And also discovered parts of our bodies we never knew existed if not for the strains and cramps we endured under such an extreme physical expedition.

I will post up more info, tips and details about the experience later over at Explore Life Lah!. For now, this post will capture snapshots from the rustic-scenic ride and beautiful encounters along the way!

Leaping with energy on reaching Sungai Rengit, the chief township of Pengerang, This photo was taken in front of a small sea-facing Chinese temple off the main road.

Rode warrior! Golden wheat fields and an unbroken chain of balmy coconut trees accompanied our ride on the right while to the left, sand quarrying had defaced mother nature.

Small girl with big bag against a long road and monster trucks. I take my hats off to Siow Har who completed the rigorous trip carrying a backpack that could’ve easily weighed 10kg. We were given a lot of dust facials as cars and industrial vehicles whipped up clouds of smog as they passed us by.

Saw 2 abandoned godowns and decided to check them out. Glad we did because the aura of neglect made for a splendid bask on camera.

Relishing a chance to get upclose with the padi fields carpeting Pergerang’s countryside.

Siow Har fell off her bike and while we checked for injuries (thankfully it was just a bruise), we also surveyed the surrounding burnt field and saw these dandelions ready to seed. I’ve never seen a dandelion in the wild before.

Statuesque trees lined our route with numerous picturesque moments.

Every so often while travelling in a car or coach, such beautiful sceneries sweep past in the blink of an eye. Riding a bike, I am able to savour nature at my own pace and retain its beauty in my SD card.

When we first rode past this scene, it was high tide. On our way back, the waters have receded and revealed a web of mangroves that led to a single treeling rising above the waves.

Took a rest stop at Punggai Beach and hiding in the shade to cool off my badly burnt knees and shin. My chicken legs are proof that I hardly cycle.

We didn’t reach the more popular and touristy Desaru Beach but we found our spot on the quieter Punggai Beach about 15km away. It is not about settling for the next best thing, but appreciating where we’ve arrived at for getting anywhere required a lot of effort. Often, we’re too focused on arriving at our goal and missed being grateful for the minor successes along the way.

There were 3 things against us on the road trip – the scorching sun, state of mind and our bodies. The heat was relentless and coming face-to-face with a long winding road that stretches endlessly into the horizon was a test on determination. I’ve wanted to turn back a couple of times but pressed on. Not looking ahead and just focusing on my front wheel helped keep the mind from being overwhelmed. But alas, the body has its limits. Our legs were cramping so badly, especially after conquering a slope, to the point that I can feel every part of my leg muscles. Thank goodness we had Tiger Balm!

This was the last point we got to before turning back. Desaru should be under 10km away but it was already 4pm and we were worried that our ride back may coincide with nightfall. We didn’t want to risk being roadkill as the country roads lacked street lamps. After this shot, we cycled the 24km back to Sungai Rengit. *Pant*

Pointing to where we cycled to on a map at Tanjung Pengelih Ferry Terminal. Sungai Rengit is at the lower tip of the light green map and Desaru is where the figure of a swimmer is above my finger.

It had been one tough ride from Sungai Rengit but an awesome adventure! Will definitely attempt it again and make it to Desaru the next time!

Related Post : Pengerang – A Cycling Tour from Sugai Rengit to Desaru

Day 365 : Sexpressionists

I almost didn’t recognise them with their clothes on. LOL. It was surreal to chance upon Alvin and Vivian in front of Lot 10, Kuala Lumpur. The infamous famous Malaysian couple was interviewing people on the street about sex for an upcoming documentary on Alvivi Youtube channel.

Having gone through the whole media frenzy about their now defunct sex blog, Sumptuous Erotica, it’s great to see that they treat the debacle and critics as water off a fduck’s bareback. Then again, if one dares to post personal nude photos, genitalia close-ups and love-making videos in a public blog for all to see, especially in this conservative part of the world, what else is there that one could not stand up to? This couple has balls!

Losing his prestigious ASEAN scholarship to read law at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Alvin and Vivian are now back in Kuala Lumpur and living together. They tried to pitch a reality show about sex in Asia but of course, no studios dared to take them on and wanted them to steer away from the whole sex thing if collaborations are to be considered. Kinda like telling McDonald’s to not sell hamburgers because they are not health food. But Alvivi decided not to receive media castration and armed with their own camera and tripod, set up an interview point at the busiest shopping district in Kuala Lumpur, and got people thinking about their views about sex.

They asked if I would like to be interviewed but I was in a hurry to collect my lugguage from the hotel before heading to the airport. Besides, I won’t have much to say about sex for I hardly have any! My cobwebs are legendary amongst friends.

In the States, Sex and the City is a huge hit, in Asia, it got the couple into big shit. Meeting them was a sexciting surprise as I felt like I know them already from their nude photos and headlining news stories. Alvivi came across as sincere and personable in our brief chat and I think their self-confidence and guts are uber sexy!

Whatever the future holds for Alvin and Vivian, I wish them well and may they have a rewarding life together. Lights, camera, mirror, shoot and shoot!

Day 364 : Last Trip of 2012

A last minute decision to accompany a friend who badly needed a break brought me back to Kuala Lumpur a second time after I’d sworn it out of my travel destination in June this year. I’m so used to the place by now that I actually fell asleep instead of heading out to the clubs on a Saturday night. The roar has left this party animal.

Day 316 : Perdana Botanical Gardens

While I appreciate the vibrancy of every city I visit, I also like to sniff out scenic parks and gardens to give urbanity some rest. Close encounters with native flora and fauna really refreshes the spirit. I even enjoy that sweaty, sticky feeling after a satisfying hike that clears the mind and fills my camera’s memory card.

My hunt for nature in Kuala Lumpur brought me to Perdana Botanical Gardens today. Due to the consistent wet weather, I almost didn’t make it here during this trip if not for my very hospitable KL friend who made a stop en route to Publicka.

Previously known as Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens and renamed to Perdana Botanical Gardens in the middle of 2011, the sprawling naturescape is the city’s first ever large-scale park project. Due to its massive size, the garden has various entrances. Since my interest lies in catching sight of mousedeers, we took the entrance behind the Tun Abdual Razak Memorial which leads right to the deer enclosure.

The main building of the Tun Abdul Razak Memorial was under renovation so all I saw was rumble and debris.

Walking down a long flight of stairs behind the memorial’s main building leads to an enclosure that houses deers and mousedeers. I poked my Casio Exilim compact camera through the fence to snap their pics. I should’ve brought some treats along to get them to come to me.

Perdana Botanical Gardens seem in need of rejuvenation to relief it of neglected landscaping and get a spruce with more perennial flowering plants.

One of the few flowering shrubs I came across at the Tun Abdul Razak section of Perdana Botancial Gardens. Colourful blooms were lacking in the garden’s overbearing green.

Felt so wintry with the grey weather and this unpossessive tree. Unpossessive because it had no leaves.

The garden got it’s previous name due to this huge man-made lake within the park.

Light was very diffused with the coming rain so I decided to use the Sunset Mode on my Casio EX-ZR200 which applies a warm filter to the scenery to add some colour.

We didn’t spend a long time at Perdana Botanical Gardens although I would’ve loved to stay longer to check out the Orchid and Hibiscus Gardens as well. Within walking proximity to the city garden are the KL Bird Park and Butterfly Park as well as the Islam Art Museum and KL Planetarium that spots a mini Stonehenge replica. Will definintely come back again to check out these sights the next time I return to KL again.

Day 315 : That Changing Yellow Frame

The National Geographic store at Kuala Lumpur is my must visit place whenever I’m in the city. Really love checking out the latest prints within the yellow frames.

The collection this time revolved around water critters but most of the shots were blurred so I only have these 2 photos that are usable. Here are 2 other series of Nat Geo KL pics I took within this year too…

Day 035 : Frame Me (Feb 2012)

Day 099 : Chilling with Nat Geo (Apr 2012)

I crapped a prawn!

Day 314 : Off to Kuala Lumpur

After being robbed of my mobile phone in Kuala Lumpur in June this year, I was determined not to ever visit again but a friend needed help with marketing his newly established business venture there so I made a trip. With travel insurance bought this time.

Took the midnight Transtar coach (S$37.00) there and am pleasantly surprised by how ultra luxurious it was! The coach departed from Golden Mile Complex at 11:45pm and arrived at 4:00am in Kuala Lumpur.

It was an odd time to arrive at the Malaysian capital but the lower cost (the same coach would cost about double if travelling by slots other than midnight) and skipping traffic jams made up for the early arrival. May this trip be a safe one…

Day 155 : KL Butterfly Park

After the snatch-theft yesterday that left me phoneless, my mojo to explore and enjoy Kuala Lumpur got scared into a state of impotence. But I did come on this trip with the sole purpose of visiting the KL Butterfly Park.

So in the hope that communing with these gentle creatures of nature could uplift the spirit, we visited anyway and let the butterflies of Malaysia be my last pleasant memory of Kuala Lumpur. For I doubt I’ll come back again.

This is just a glimpse of the beauties I encountered and will post more photos and details about the park soon in my travel blog, Explore Life Lah!.

A gathering of delicate colourful sails as the butterflies extract moisture from the wet ground.

The park has lots of butterflies from a wide parentage of species. I’m seeing this emerald speckled butterfly for the first time. No idea what’s its name although I tried searching the park for write-ups on it.

Not many dragonflies in the park but caught sight of this one and a few others of the same genus perched on stems. Have to look closely amongst the bushes to see them.

Baby Bull Frogs. Other than free-flying butterflies, there are amphibians and other live insects on display in glassed-up tanks.

I have a feeling I’m walking around in a seafood restaurant with tanks after tanks of fish, crabs, turtles and frogs.

I’m glad I didn’t get thwarted from coming here. Although the park looked in much need of a manicure to its vegetation, the abundance of these jewelled kites from a wide selection of species made a visit here rather rewarding. Only grouse is that the park practise preferential pricing for its entrance fees. Foreigners are charged RM20 while Malaysians pay RM10 (I think).

Related Post : Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park – Paintings in the Wind

Day 154 : Robbed in Kuala Lumpur

Let my misadventure be a warning to you when visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The city is infested with petty crimes and safety is an illusion. I’ve visited KL many times and it’s one of my favourite place for a short holiday but during this trip, I get the feeling that people are out to rob foreigners all the time.

Tourist attraction operators charge foreigners more while locals get preferential rates, cab drivers persistently defy the rule to charge cab fares according to the meter and ask for exorbitant amounts, and the streets are breeding with snatch thieves. It’s daylight robbery on every level.

I never imagined I would encounter something like this but I was robbed of my HTC One X handphone which I got just slightly over a month ago. Here’s what happened…

My travel buddy, Ian, and I had dinner at the Cheras district and was by the roadside waiting for a cab to go to our next destination. He held on to my phone to figure out the address while I was a few steps ahead looking out for empty taxis. Out of nowhere, a bike with a driver and a rider appeared and snatched my phone from Ian.

I didn’t see it happen as Ian was behind me. According to him, the pillon rider, a fat Malay man stretched out his hand grabbed Ian’s hand before yanking the phone from him. I am just thankful my friend wasn’t hurt. Imagine if the man held on to his hand and dragged him along the road.

It was a harrowing experience. I couldn’t believe my ears when Ian related the snatch theft process. It being a new phone and losing my contacts notwithstanding, my heart aches for all those photos I’ve yet to extract to my computer. I lost quite a lot of photos taken during this trip. Bastards!

Without much that we can do, we flagged down a cab, told the driver our pedicament and asked him to send us to the nearest police station to make a report. I’m not sure if the driver didn’t know there was a police station in Cheras or that he wanted to earn more fare as he brought us to a station in the city centre. The ride was about 15 minutes. While making the report, the policeman told us there’s actually a police station in Cheras and we should’ve made the report there because even though we made the report at his station, he would still pass the case to the Cheras station to act upon. He said that the driver was just out to make a buck from us despite our misfortune.

If that was true, all I can say is I hope he can sleep well at night.

So I related the snatch-robbery on Facebook and to KL friends and a torrent of grievances about such crimes poured forth. A friend got his laptop snatched, another got his car broken into four times, yet another had his DSLR pulled off his shoulder, but the worst was the story of a lady who resisted the robbers from taking her bag and got her fingers slashed. She lost two of her digits in that incident.

After being victimised, we became very wary and jittery when we walked the streets of KL the next day. With the prevalence of petty crimes, KL has completely lost its appeal to me. Things used to be very affordable in the city and was a draw for me but that’s no longer true. Food was also no big deal now that prices have gone up and partying in KL is like watching grass grow. Topped off with this ugly robbery, I don’t think I would want to ever go back again.

Related Post : Kuala Lumpur – Watch Your Wallet

Day 153 : High on Speed

Thirty minutes was all it took to get from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to KL Sentral on the KLIA Ekspres Train, which gave my travel buddy and I enough time to jumpstart the vacation with some cranky shots.

I’ve seen and scoffed how the planking and levitating phenomena almost succeeded in replacing peace signs when posing for photos but never tried them to protest the idiocracy of putting oneself in danger of getting hurt with such exteme voguing. But we decided to give them a try.

So while other travellers were comfortably holed up on their seats anticipating the things they’ll do when being brought to KL’s city centre, we brought the fun onboard with our very first attempts at planking and levitation shots. Having done them, I now understand why they are totally addictive!

I had more planking shots taken with my HTC One X handphone but it was snatched by crooks in KL so I’m only left with these shots on my Casio Exilim ZR200. Thank goodness I took the shots with different cams!

High on speed… by car or bus, the journey from KLIA to the city centre takes around an hour or more if traffic condition is bad. With the KLIA Ekspres, it takes 28 minutes to be exact and costs RM70 (S$28.70) for a return ticket.

I call this ‘plankivating’ – planking that looks like like levitating at the same time! Not for people with fake boobs.

 

Day 099 : Chilling with Nat Geo

The Nat Geo Kuala Lumpur store at Lot 10 is officially an attraction for me in the city! When I was here 2 months ago (Feb 2012), I was fascinated with the gorgeous photo spots created with mural prints and the iconic yellow window frame.

I thought the photos would remain the same then and now but this trip, they were different! Such a pleasant surprise… It’s camwhore paradise!

Uh-oh... who's the bear?

New fragrance launch... Gorillas in the Mist.

Monkey see, monkey do... wrongly.

Day 098 : Man Behaving Badly

Since we’ve got so much room to roam in the suite and kinda still in the mood to partay after leaving the club, I decided to convince my friend to do a photoshoot.

But not just any photoshoot. He had to use 2 bath towels to create 10 different ‘dresses’ and each change must not take more than 5 minutes.

The result was a series of shots that were sooooooooooooooo funny, it’s painful to see!! And the different looks that my friend created with just 2 towels were amazingly creative!

We christened this transvetite who cross-dresses with towels as Towel Tranny. I would put up more photos but I don’t want to be held responsible for causing death by laughter. I haven’t had such a good laugh in a long time! LOL.

Day 097 : Good Friday in Kuala Lumpur

It’s Good Friday because it’s a holiday! Not wanting to miss this long weekend, I took a trip to Kuala Lumpur with an ex-travel buddy and we checked into Royale Bintang Hotel. Lucky us got an upgrade to the Executive Suite on level 19. Sweet!

And the room had a pretty decent view looking out to Times Square. So why am I wearing shades at the blue hour indoors for a photo? To hide my panda eyes.

Day 036 : 孔雀开屏

Had wanted to visit the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park during previous trips but never got to realise it. Finally made a trip there this time round and I’m amazed by the abundance of free-ranging peacocks and peahens there.

For the first time, I saw a peacock open up its tail feathers upclose and personal. I was in awe of its beauty and being in the pressence of such a magnificent design of nature. I had an out-of-body experience just basking in its sapphire-emerald glory.

Day 035 : Frame Me

Was wandering Kuala Lumpur’s downtown shopping district when I came to Lot 10 and saw National Geographic billboards and escalator decals. I thought there was an exhibition or event going on. But it turned out to be promos for the Nat Geo store there.

I was excited for I’ve always been a fan of Nat Geo and the museum-cum-photo gallery concept of its store in Singapore’s VivoCity. Though I haven’t bought anything yet, I always enjoy browsing the shop. The KL store is much smaller but I still felt like an explorer looking at its decor and merchandise.

And I totally loved the shop promo installations using beautiful photos as backdrop framed by the iconic Nat Geo yellow window. What a great way for fans to create their very own Nat Geo moments!

Hanging on for an ass inspection by a camel!

Contemplating the future of our planet's survival. Hwah... cheem ah!