Trogon Photo Tours

This month's newsletter is about mammal photography in Thailand.  While many people realize how excellent the bird photography is there I don't think many realize how good the mammal photography can be or that there is excellent whale photography in the Gulf of Thailand.  Chuck Gangas, Jim Heupel and I spent 10 days photographing in Thailand recently.  I will share some bird photos next month but this month the subject is Thailand's mammals. 

Bryde's Whale feeding in the Gulf of Thailand photographed November 2017, Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1/3200 F6.3, iso 800, manual exposure, handheld from boat.  The Bryde's Whale can be photographed feeding on small fish in the northern reaches of the Gulf of Thailand.  On our one trip out it took us a few hours to find the whales but after we did we were able to stay with them and follow them for a few hours of photography.  The whales would lerch quickly out of the water to swallow up schools of small fish so you had to be quick on the draw to get your camera up, Jim was able to get on them more quickly as he was using the much lighter Canon 100-400.  I set a manual exposure using the water, largely because the sky was a pale gray and we were also photographing gulls and terns against the sky.  

Bryde's Whale, November 2017, Gulf of Thailand.  Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1/3200 F6.3, iso 800, manual exposure.  For this shot the whale surfaced much nearer the boat and I was able to get some nice detail in the small fish.  There are 2 good sized boats which provide whale watching trips, one out of the Bangkok area and one out of Bang Taboon.  If you are staying on the Petchaburi coast near these areas there is also some great shorebird photography including the chance to photograph the highly endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper.  We missed it the one afternoon we tried but we had nice consolation prices of a variety of waders including Marsh Sandpipers, loads of Sand Plovers and a beautiful Painted Stork at last light.  

Lesser Mouse Deer photographed November 2017 from a blind near Keang Krachan National Park, Thailand.  Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1/125 F4.5, iso 2500, Av mode, evaluative metering -1.0, Gitzo tripod, Wimberley head.  One of the big attractions of the Keang Krachan area is there are several blinds next to water holes which are supplemented with food just outside the National Park.  These blinds attract a large variety of birds but they also attract a fair number of small mammals.  I have gotten this species there every time I have been in this particular blind, it's the only place I have ever seen this shy and reclusive species.  As you can see from my techs there is not a lot of light in the area as it's under the canopy.  With birds I will often use flash here but with mammals the eyes flash out so badly I prefer not to use it.  To compensate for the dark background I dialed in -1.0 to the evaluative metering.  This is not a true deer, it's in the Chevrotain family, which is comprised of 10 species throughout the old world.  Interestingly they have large canines which can be seen well in this photo.  This species is the smallest ungalate in the world with mature animals being as short as 18 inches and as light as 4.5 pounds.  In addition to this species and the many birds, a number of other small mammals, mostly squirrels and tree shrews visit the hides as well.   

White-handed Gibbon photographed November 2017 in Keang Krachan National Park, Thailand.  Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1/800 F5.6, iso 1250, Av mode, evaluative metering +0.7, handheld.  Inside the park the mammal photography can be good as well, particularly for primates including White-handed Gibbon.  While the lighting was not in our favor here, it was a fun opportunity to photograph this guy and a few of his friends hanging around feeding on fruit.  I added some positive exposure compensation to offset the bright light filtering through the trees.  

Dusky Leaf Monkey, juvenile photographed November 2017 in Keang Krachan National Park, Thailand.  Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1/125 F4.5, iso 1250, evaluative metering -0.3, 580ex fill flash at -0.3, handheld.  This is another species we usually get in the park.  To help offset the low light I used a fair bit of flash here both for sharpness at the low shutter speed and to light up the dark area of the canopy he was in.  Using a significant amount of flash would have helped the previous gibbon shot as well. 

Asian Elephants photographed November 2017, Kuiburi National Park, Thailand.  Canon 1DX II, 500F4 1/1000 F8, iso 800, Av mode, evaluative metering -0.3, handheld.  Kuiburi National Park which is a few hours south of Keang Krachan on the Thailand Peninsula has become the best place to photograph Asian Elephant in Thailand.  This area used to see a lot of conflict between between farmers and elephants.  But the last decade has seen conservation efforts to both provide more food for the elephants within the park and to develop an eco tour program which benefits the local population, the efforts have been successful and now the elephants and farmers live in harmony for the most part.  The program offers afternoon only open air vehicle tours of part of the park, stopping at a few locations where one can get out and walk to an overlook.  This image was taken at one of those overlooks.   There are now about 320 Asian Elephants in the park as well as about 100 Gaur and several other species of mammal.  We missed the Gaur which I was hoping to get on our one visit but we had some nice opportunities with the elephants and a few good bird photos including Great Hornbill and Black Baza.  

Yellow-throated Marten photographed December 2012 at Mae Wong, National Park, Thailand.  Canon 5D3, 500F4, 1/3200 F5, iso 1000, Av mode, evaluative metering -0.3, handheld.  Mae Wong National Park in the Northwest near the Burmese border is another good location for mammal photography.  This is from one of our previous Thailand tours.  We saw this large weasel a couple of times on our recent Thailand trip but we didn't get any excellent photo opportunities with it this time.  

Sambar doe and Black Drongo photographed January 2011 at Huai Kha Kheang Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand.  Canon 1DMk3, 500F4 1.4x 1/1250 F7.1, iso 800, Av mode, evaluative metering at 0.  Two Wildlife Sanctuaries, Huai Kha Kheang and Phu Khieo are two of the other top mammal photography locations in Thailand.  Huai Kha Kheang harbors the most Tigers left in Thailand, but the western part of the park where they are located is not accessible to most people.  When I visited Phu Khieo I saw the largest number of species of mammals at any one park in Thailand including civets, martens, flying squirrels and deer.  While they both have great mammals both sanctuaries can be difficult to visit, and sometimes the staff are unwelcoming of tourists.  Also they do not have good accommodation within the sanctuary or just outside.  This shot is a good illustration of the benefits of using the back auto focus button.  I was photographing the drongo on the middle of the back of this Sambar doe as the drongo flew down to the ground to collect bugs.  All of a sudden the doe raised her head for just a brief moment to look at me.  I quickly recomposed the photo and released my focus at the same time, which kept the focus on the drongo and took this image.  If I had needed to change the autofocus point I was using I wouldn't have had time to compose the shot by the time the doe quickly put her head back down. 

In conclusion on a trip to the Keang Krachan/Phetchaburi area one can photograph quite a few species of mammals within a short period of time including Bryde's Whales, Asian Elephants, a few species of primates and several squirrels and smaller mammals. Other wildlife sanctuaries and national parks throughout the rest of the country offer good chances for many different species as well.