About the Photographer
 Ch'ien Lee holds a B.Sc. in Biology/Ecology from the University of California Santa Cruz. Having maintained a keen interest in nature since a child, his enthusiasm has led him to study various subjects ranging from entomology to animal tracking and ethnobotany, and eventually to work as a naturalist and environmental educator in the East Bay Regional Parks in northern California. In 1996, fulfilling a lifelong desire to live in the tropics, he moved to Sarawak (East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo) to work in a program for the propagation of native plant species.
Ch'ien studied photography while at school and has always considered it an excellent method to convey ideas and share his fascination about natural subjects encountered during his travels. His hobby became a professional endeavor in 2003.
"Borneo is a fantastic place to live if you've got an insatiable interest in nature. It's easy for a photographer to get spoiled by the overwhelming diversity of subjects every time you're out. Of course working in the tropics presents some real obstacles for photography, but it's always worth the effort."
Pitcher-plants (Nepenthes) have been a major focus of his for over 14 years, and he has published a number of papers on their taxonomy. "A lot of my travel over the past decade has been in the pursuit of rare Nepenthes and this has taken me to many really remote parts of Southeast Asia." His photographs have appeared in numerous articles and books, and are featured in "Pitcher Plants of Sarawak" and "The Fishes of Kuching Rivers". He occasionally undertakes assignment photography, although freelance work remains his main interest.
In addition to his photography, Ch'ien is currently engaged as a consultant at the Botanical Research Centre (Sarawak Forestry Corporation) in Kuching and also periodically works as a nature guide for private group tours in Sarawak and Sabah. If you are planning a visit to Borneo and would like assistance in organizing a special trip, please contact Ch'ien for further information.
About the Photos
In the production of these images every effort has been made to reproduce colors as naturally as they had appeared in the original scene. Absolutely none of the photographs have been digitally altered in any way except for standard processing adjustments such as brightness and contrast.
Due to the calibration of your monitor the colors of the image may appear different than the actual photograph (monitor calibration with appropriate software and hardware is highly recommended). Your monitor's brightness and contrast should also be adjusted so that you are able to distinctly see 9 shades of gray between black and white in the pattern below.
Nearly all the images displayed on this website were captured with the following equipment (currently used gear is listed in bold, retired gear used for older photographs is listed in brackets):
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Film Body: | Nikon F5 [Nikon FE2] |
| Digital Body: | Nikon D2X |
Lenses:
(all Nikkor) |
10.5mm fisheye DX
17-35mm/2.8 [24mm/2.8]
60mm/2.8 micro [55mm/2.8 micro]
105mm/2.8 micro
70-200mm/2.8 VR [80-200mm/2.8]
200-400mm/4 VR [80-400mm/4-5.6 VR]
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| Film: | Fujichrome Velvia 50 |
| Scanner: | Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 |
Please refer to the links page for suggested resources on equipment reviews.
© Ch'ien C. Lee (1996-2006). By using this website you agree to the terms of use.
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