The [...]]]> This last installment of the photo series on Tasmania is about its dramatic coastline. Here are some images taken in Tasman Peninsula, with spectacular views across to Cape Pillar, Cape Raoul, a late night shot of the famous Remarkable Cave and a view of Crescent Bay and its beautiful beach from above Mt. Brown.

The first two shots used a  Galen Rowell’s Graduated Neutral Density Filter (3 stops, soft edge) from Singh Ray to tame sky highlights and balance the foreground. The Remarkable Cave shot was taken late at dusk and needed a 6 sec exposure on a tripod to get enough light and, at the same time, soften the texture of the waters coming into the cave.

This is truly a gorgeous place, with endless opportunities for landscape photography. Not very crowded, as you can see. Highy recommended!

Melbourne-based performing arts company “Stange Fruit” appeared at the Chinese New Year celebration in Singapore’s China Town on January 27, 2011. Perched atop 5-metre high flexible poles, the troupe bends and sways in the air at [...]]]> [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Melbourne-based performing arts company “Stange Fruit” appeared at the Chinese New Year celebration in Singapore’s China Town on January 27, 2011. Perched atop 5-metre high flexible poles, the troupe bends and sways in the air at pace with intriguing bits of new-agish music. The first half of their 25 minute performance at thet heart of Singapore’s China Town is shown here, captured with the EF 24L II lens wide open on the EOS 7D.

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. A prime example of true Tasmanian fauna, the famous Tasmanian Devil, is not as devil-looking as one might think, here caught sniffing out the mid morning air.

A Spotted-Tail Quoll run frantically in circles around his domain. A Koala, quite a bit calmer by nature, stared flematically at some point in the distant horizon from a vantage point by his favorite tree.

And, of course, the ubiquitous kangaroo, or at least one of the many varieties of it. Here in a close-up portrait, with his own body bokehing away in the background.

For this day, I just took my Canon EF 100mm L f/2,8 IS macro lens mounted on the EOS 7D. A combination that proved very suitable for capturing these animals at relatively close range.

Fully open, this lens allows excellent subject isolation and high speed. The Quoll shot was one frame of a series that saw the 7D bursting away at 8 fps.

An exposure of 0.5 to 1.0 seconds, like those shown here, makes the falling water silky smooth, strengthening the sense of movement. In plain [...]]]> Tasmania is truly a photography paradise. The Mount Field National Park offers endless opportunities with amazing greenery and breathtaking waterfalls. Here a few examples, starting with the iconic Russell Falls.

An exposure of 0.5 to 1.0 seconds, like those shown here, makes the falling water silky smooth, strengthening the sense of movement. In plain daylight, however, such exposures would clearly result in a totally blown-out image. A neutral density (ND) filter can be used to diminish the light getting into the camera and so allow longer exposures in bright natural light. The Vari-N-Duo from Singh-Ray combines a neutral density filter adjustable from 2 to 8 f/ stops and a warming/polarizer in a compact and convenient design. The desired amount of density can be dialed to achieve a proper exposure. The combined warming/polarizer reduces glare from sky, water, wet rocks, and other reflective surfaces and enhances color saturation for added drama. Polarization can be easily controlled by rotating the ring just behind the min/max ND ring.  A sturdy tripod is a must, obviously.

“I wanna graduate in less than five years But there ain’t no getting out of here”

“Oh oh oh… caught in a bad project”

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry [...]]]> “I want good data, a paper in Cell
But I got a project straight from Hell”

“I wanna graduate in less than five years
But there ain’t no getting out of here”

“Oh oh oh… caught in a bad project”

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Crazy mice. Smelly brain cells. Empty Western blots. It’s a bad project alright. Or… is it? There are indeed bad projects out there. Research projects begin with a question that is to be answered. If no question has been formulated, however general, and experiments are being done only because they are doable, then a bad project is on the horizon. With a question at hand, hypotheses have to be made as to the posssible answers, ideally covering all logical possibilities. Lack of hypotheses in a project is not a good sign. The question posed may not be answereable. (We’ve all heard about hypothesis-free studies. That’s okey for a group leader with 50 postdocs and lots of other projects. Not recommended  to anyone that wants to graduate and get a job in less than five years!) Hypotheses help designing the experiments that are going to distinguish between them. Experiments are typically designed to systematically disprove them one by one. A neat, key experiment to prove one of the hypothesis upfront is more difficult to come by. Some experiments may just add support to a particular hypothesis, but not prove it or disprove it outright. So far so good. But a good project should also allow for serendipitous discoveries. Paradoxically, serendipity is one of the most common ways of advancement in science. Alas, serendipity can not be planned. But it can be encouraged. In addition to concrete goals and defined questions, research projects that allow some amount of open-ended possibilites have greater chances to extend into (positively) unexpected directions. It’s a fine balance, in which informed intuition plays a vital role. (For a discussion of intuitive thinking, see Making Science Part III.) Lady Science in the video above seems to be having more problems than just a bad project. But those are topics of other discussions.

It does not require specialized skills or equipment to climb Kinabalu, as I did on May 5 this [...]]]>
Mount Kinabalu lies in the Malaysian province of Sabah in the island of Borneo. At 4,095.2 meters over sea level, its summit on Low’s Peak is believed to be the highest peak in South East Asia.

It does not require specialized skills or equipment to climb Kinabalu, as I did on May 5 this year of 2011. A good physical condition and a bit of psychological preparation will do. A guide is assigned to the climber(s) when these enter the national park. This could be avoided, I gather. My guide, a young boy from the village, was pretty useless, primarily because of his limited (or non-existing) knowledge of English. He limited himself to walk a distance behind me texting with his girlfriend on his mobile phone. It is important to climb with a light luggage and there is fine balance between having the right amount of extra cloth and carrying a really heavy backpack. After gathering some information on the web I opted for a set up that proved very good. A light water-proofed jacket is a must. Mine was from Patagonia and could be squeezed down to almost nothing. I had with me a pair of convertible trousers, two t-shirts (one long-sleeved), long under trousers, two pairs of gloves (regular sturdy gloves and liner gloves), a cotton high-neck sweater, a skiing hat and good and sturdy hiking shoes with hiking socks. I started the climb on shorts and a t-shirt. I put on my jacket when a shower came. Also important to have is a head-lamp (you’ll  really need it for the final climb!). I also packed with me 6 energy bars and a bunch of nut/fruit bars as well. A half-liter (at least) bottle for water is also necessary. It can be refilled along the way. All this, plus my gripped EOS7D with the EF-S 10-22mm wide angle zoom lens found room in the 200AW slingshot from Lowepro. The set up was perfect, as I later found out.

The climb from the entrance at Timpohon gate to the Laban Rata guest house is a 6km hike ascending from 1866m to 3272m. A photo gallery HERE will give a good idea of the ascent and what came afterwards. It took me 4 hours of non-stop climbing to get to Laban Rata… those endless steps…! The path has different levels of difficulty, vegetation changes with altitude. Lots of different plants and flowers. I arrived shortly after 1PM and took a nap at Pendant Hut, just above Laban Rata, before dinner at 4.30PM. I booked a via ferrata descent, so the training session in Pendant Hut happened just after dinner. I was in bed at 6.30PM. Aspirins are recommended to avoid headaches from altitude sickness. I got badly bitten by bed bugs, so perhaps insect repellent would have helped here. I got up at 2.30AM for the final ascent to the summit. Warm cloth on, here is where the head-lamp, hat and sturdy gloves came to good use. It was not particularly cold, and soon enough I was shedding off the sweater. Climbing on slippery rock in complete darkness is quite something. I conquered the summit at 5AM, after a 2.5h hike of 2.7km from 3272m to 4095m. The idea was to catch the sunrise at the top, but I was 45 min too early and fog and clouds were coming in, so I decided to come down ahead of the pack behind me, after the obligatory summit photograph. Sunlight appeared on my way down bringing incredible views of the mountain. A high ISO and a steady hand was needed to photograph what really looked like another world. Truly beautiful rock!

Two hours later, I was back at Sayat-Sayat for my first ever experience with via ferrata. It turn out much better than I expected and it is highly recommended. I was alone with my ferrate guide, who unlike the climbing guide, was a real professional, very helpful and knowledgeable. Very pleasant descent with astonishing views from the mountain and the valley. My legs turned into jelly during the final descent from Laban-Rata to the entrance of the national park, which again took some 4 hours of non-stop walking. The Carlson waterfall, at the end of the trail, was a refreshing sight with which to end two amazing days.