What is it about a pylon that attracts people with cameras? Is it the intricate patterns formed by the tower and high-voltage cables? Or is it the silhouettes that form in front of the sun? There is even a Pylon Appreciation Society.
As for me, I like the stringed glass insulators light up from from behind by the sun, as seen in this picture.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 50, f16, 1/2500 sec.
Nice coincidence that the song was playing on my car radio when I was shooting this. And it was a Saturday night.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f 5.6, 1/5 sec.
I have been in Slim River town and surrounding areas, on and off, for the past three weeks. I wrongly presumed the town is named after a river that is slim and narrow. It wasn’t, it seems.
The river and town were named after the eponymous Captain Slim from the 19th century. The British explorer allegedly discovered the river by accident when he got lost.
There is not much info online, except the same info repeated everywhere as fact, when there are no citations or references.
How can someone who had a town and river named after him had no records? Maybe I was looking at the wrong places but is still odd.
Many British sailors would have kept detailed logs and diaries, even if the captain didn’t. Could this be a romantic anecdote morphed into an urban legend?
It is also quite strange as Slim River, the river, is shallow and rocky. Today, it is a white water rafting location, upstream. He’ll be lost today too, as the river is not on Google Map.
I decided to drive alongside the river and talk to village elders to see if they can recall anything they might have heard pass down from their ancestors.
If the good captain existed, and if he got off his boat at this juncture, he would have seen this amazing sight (minus the rails and gazebo).
This is the Ulu Slim hot springs I visited the other day. It is magical today as steam shot up high because of the downpour.
Surrounded by rolling hills and rainforests, this is one of the most beautiful natural sights in Malaysia. Slim River, the river, is about 50 meters behind me.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f11, 1/160 sec.
I saw a lovely setting sun in the mirror while stuck in a horrendous traffic jam today. Decided to shoot through the wing mirror while waiting at the lights.
Deliberate under-exposure kept the bright sun in check. That, plus factors such as micro-vibrations and dust on an already optically-imperfect mirror created some funky effects.
I like the surreal effect in which different shades of red and orange dominate; that of the sun, the street lights and tail lights of cars going in the opposite direction.
Many Cantonese-speaking photographers refer to such a sunset as “kai tan wong” or egg yolk.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f4, 1/1250 sec.
The calming sight and soothing sounds of the river belie the ferocious battles that was fought beside it during the Second World War. The road outside was littered with casualties from the British Indian Army attempting to thwart the invasion.
It was on this road that invading Japanese tanks rumbled through in its drive to capture Singapore in the south. This was the old road going north or south until the tolled-Slim River highway was constructed in the 1960s.
74 years later, the actions of the brave men are mostly forgotten or ignored. The river that bore witness remains as stoic as the giant, mossy boulders.
The stoical stance lessens the pain of indignation, I guess. Its banks are now littered with styrofoam boxes from disregardful picnickers.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 50, f22, 1/2 sec.
