Lankayan Island sunset
A Sunset to die for at Lankayan Island

Three banded anenome fish while scuba-diving Lankayan Island
Underwater scenery with a three banded anenome fish

“You guys should put some seats up there” shouts Kev. 32 years old, Australian, tourist, but personal trainer at home with the appearance of a well-tanned dive instructor from the average tourist brochure. “I could have watched this I for hours, I’ve never seen anything quite like it”. His wife Denise nods and I can only agree, we just made a dive that went straight to our personal top-3′s.

Lankayan Island
A green dot in blue waters

Snorkling at Lankayan Island
Even if you’re not a diver, Lankayan is a great place to be

Place of action is a small island off the coast of Malaysian Borneo that is so blatantly beautiful that you could live there. Anyone who has ever Googled “Lankayan” knows what I’m talking about: pictures of a small green postage stamp surrounded by the most beautiful blue waters one can imagine. Upon arrival, it turns out to be much more beautiful than the pictures, how often does that happen? When we walk the wooden pier, it is just clear waters all around us, full of corals with tiny shark fins cutting though the surface. It looks like an aquarium but it is real! The young sharks, not more than fifty centimeters long are a sign that the reef here is healthy, says the leader of the island resort. “Almost nowhere else in the world you see something like that in a touristy place” he explains, “Lankayan has been heavily protected since 2001, it’s all take nothing, leave only bubbles”.

Anenome fish while scuba-diving Lankayan Island
Underwater scenery

Hawksbill turtle while scuba-diving Lankayan Island
Common sight at Lankayan Island: Turtles!

That is why the place is still very popular among turtles, loads of them still come ashore to lay eggs, during certain periods it’s even a daily occurrence. And the hatching can be watched too as the eggs are dug up and placed in a protected area. There is nothing that beats the sight of baby turtles making a run for it during sunset. Truly magic!

Baby turtle at Lankayan Island (during counting)
Baby turtle portrait (during counting of hatched eggs)

Short photo-opp with the newly hatched green turtles. Lankayan Island
Quick photo-opp before release

Adorable, shame less than 1% makes it to adulthood. Lankayan Island
Off they go! Shame only less than 1% makes it to adulthood

 

Baby Boy Luc
Our little baby boy Luc, at six months. A very happy smiling little fellow who’s looking great in Blue!

Shot with my 50mm (the cheap-ass one from Canon f1.8) at f2 and an exposure bias of 1 full stop in order to keep the dark bits as they should be. I took the quick, lazy option of shooting Av because I didn’t want to risk losing the moment. After setting things up quickly it was just a matter of focussing properly (not always easy with this lens: it is rather poorly built, but so is the 5 times more expensive f1.4), getting the right frame and start clicking away!

Afterwards it turned out there was no need for hurry, Luc loves smiling and took plenty of time to pose for the camera. Out of 30 shots this one came out nicest.

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Luc Steven Geerling, May 23rd 2010…

Mum and Luc

Balancing our new family life...

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