The best time to shoot the moon is not on a full moon as what most people think. The best nights start from tonight when the moon enters the ‘waning gibbous’ phase.
Because it is no longer fully lit by the sun, one can see the craters near the waning edge. The angle of the creeping dark side depends on whether you are viewing or photographing from the northern or southern hemisphere.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 200 f8, 1/13 sec.
The faithful junkyard dog finds a comfy spot different from the usual rusted metal, cardboard and other junk.
Saw this dog during my exploration of Hulu Bernam area recently. The junkyard dog is a popular movie trope often used to set up a scene with impending sinister activity or hostility.
For all its movie reputation of aggressiveness and alertness, it possesses a less-recognised attribute in real-life. Unconditional loyalty to owners who provide scant creature comforts.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/160 sec.
Driving on this section from Kuala Kubu Bharu to Tanjung Malim brought back some scary childhood memories. The many winding sections of Federal Route 1 saw some of the most horrific head-on crashes.
When it was the only major road to the north or south, the narrow and mostly two-lane road was also the only route for heavy vehicles. The slow, overloaded trucks and buses used to frustrate many a driver following from behind. Many impatient and weary motorists will either tailgate or overtake dangerously.
Some drivers overtook on blind corners and ended up colliding with another reckless (or innocent vehicle) coming from around a sharp bend.
There were police ‘double-line’ traps to deter such overtaking and speeding. Malaysian motorists on Federal Route 1 devised their own warning system. It started with flashing of headlights to warn vehicles on the opposite direction of a forward police operation.
The more vehicles you see flashing, the more reliable is the warning. The more intense or rapid the flicker of high beams, the nearer the cops. Some of you may say, unlike Waze, the system doesn’t identify the cause of the traffic jam in front. It could, surprisingly.
I remember traveling as a kid in my uncle’s car. There was a very long traffic jam and we had no idea of the cause and were slow crawling cluelessly.
My uncle rolled down his window when he saw a door-less timber lorry snail-crawling up the slope from the opposite direction.
Uncle: Flipped two hands and shrugged shoulders [meaning: what is going on?]
Truck driver: Knocked his two fists together twice [meaning: head-on collision]
Uncle: Curled index finger into a hook and shrugged shoulders [meaning: anyone died?].
Truck driver: Curled finger into hook followed by three fingers [meaning: 3 people died]
There you have it. A rudimentary but effective crowd-sourced social traffic information network, ahead of its time.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 1600, f7.1, 1/1600 sec.
About 5 km from Kuala Kubu Bharu town (or about 6.5 km from Federal Route 1) is the massive Sungai Selangor Dam. In this lesser seen view from a hill, one can see the brownish dam crest and embankment.
The 110 metre-high rockfill dam was designed to store and regulate a maximum capacity of 235 million cubic metres of water. The crest length or span is 800 metres. One of two water treatment plants is located in Rasa, a town I visited previously.
The dam supplies 60% of Klang Valley’s potable and piped water. Rain over the catchment area should be a good sign. Any severe water level drop (due to a prolonged dry spell) may trigger yet another crisis.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f9, 1/320 sec.
One of the things I decided from the get-go was to proceed come rain or shine. It would be impossible to find a continuous stretch of sunny days with the vagaries of our weather.
If it shines, the camera will absorb the colours. If it rains, I get to capture the wet landscape and activities. After all, this is documentary photography and I will go with the flow.
For this cinema in Rasa town, the show didn’t go on. Sad to see a building from 1957 left dilapidated and forsaken. Even sadder to see what looks like an equally old tree by its side; beheaded.
Rasa is the first town on the route that hit me as a dying town. Many of the buildings there are from 80 to 100 years ago but are are left abandoned. I have to find out why.
Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f7.1, 1/200 sec.
