My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

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MaartenSFS
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Location: Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

Post by MaartenSFS »

It's true.. I haven't worked very hard this year - at herping. Here is why:
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I have also laid the groundwork for starting my own adventure travel business over the past half year, which will hopefully be taking flight next weekend!

And now a peak at what I've been up to this summer (summer starts earlier in South China):
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Amphiesma stolatum
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Me.. uh.. enjoying myself?
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Heteropoda sp.
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I have been finding awesome place after awesome place this year and verturing as far as possible.
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Hyla simplex
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This is where I will be taking the first group (never more than five) next week! Can you guess why???
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My friend Cory knew why!
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Odorrana schmackeri

As I was photographing the above frog in the sun several drops fell (you can see them in the image), which I assumed came from the massive waterfall (not pictured) that it was sitting beside. The force of the falling water suddenly increased by about five times and a flash flood in a jungle canyon is no joke, so we began the 800+m trek up earlier than expected. On the way back I realised that I didn't get a photo of the rainforest, so I quickly shot this:
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One final note:
I have discovered that there are native species of poison ivy in China! The last time that I did a search for this I turned up no results and until now I had never run into any. Then, last week, I got some mud on my hand and didn't have any water to wash it with. I grabbed some leaves off of a nearby plant (that looked nothing like poison ivy) and started cleaning my hand with them. AFTER I had finished a local man that was passing by mentioned that that plant would cause itching. Sure enough, it appears to have been this:
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Toxicodendron sylvestre

Of all the leaves to grab in a rainforest full of thousands of species.. Anyways, you have to get pretty damn deep in there before this stuff becomes a hazard in China, but it's there!

I also saw several mystery herps and missed several snakes, including Naja atra (the Chinese cobra). =S

I hope that you all enjoyed that mini post. If everything goes well with my business I should be finding more herps soon, as I will be in the field almost every weekend, including at night.
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justinm
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Re: My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

Post by justinm »

That plant reminds me of Poisonous Sumac, more than it would Poison Ivy.
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MaartenSFS
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Re: My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

Post by MaartenSFS »

Yes, both are in the Toxicodendron family and evil as f***. :P
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Very nice, Maarten - congratulations! Your photography has made much progress.; I'm very much looking forward to your future posts! But please don't fall into that trap of shooting every waterfall and fast-flowing stream as if it's made from sour cream (you know, that long-exposure softening effect), just because you can :-)) It was because this kind of stuff that I cancelled my subscription to Nature Photographer Magazine :-)
MaartenSFS wrote:Yes, both are in the Toxicodendron family and evil as f***. :P
What's it called locally?
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MaartenSFS
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Re: My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

Post by MaartenSFS »

Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:Very nice, Maarten - congratulations! Your photography has made much progress.; I'm very much looking forward to your future posts! But please don't fall into that trap of shooting every waterfall and fast-flowing stream as if it's made from sour cream (you know, that long-exposure softening effect), just because you can :-)) It was because this kind of stuff that I cancelled my subscription to Nature Photographer Magazine :-)
MaartenSFS wrote:Yes, both are in the Toxicodendron family and evil as f***. :P
What's it called locally?
Damn, I was going to redo the waterfall shot better next year! But I prefer my shots to be just a little silky. As I don't use a tripod, I can't expose for too long, usually.

As to the plant, I didn't believe the man until several days later (so I didn't ask him). He was wearing an almost business suit-like jacket and those leather shoes with pointy toes and just mentioned it casually as he was walking by - in the forest..
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reptilist
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Re: My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

Post by reptilist »

Great to "hear" from you again!
Congrats on your new fatherhoodship.... :)

Beautiful environment you have there, I hope your business is fruitful!

PS> I agree with Hans about the overdone rivers of sour cream !

Fare well!
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MaartenSFS
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Re: My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

Post by MaartenSFS »

reptilist wrote:Great to "hear" from you again!
Congrats on your new fatherhoodship.... :)

Beautiful environment you have there, I hope your business is fruitful!

PS> I agree with Hans about the overdone rivers of sour cream !

Fare well!
Thanks, mate! Unfortunately, my business never took flight. The people I was supposed to work with decided that it wasn't worth the effort after I spent my entire summer preparing the business and was set to go. =S I suppose I'll continue enjoying the areas by myself, as no tourist will get out there by themselves!

Fatherhood is going much better, although is quite demanding.

I'll try my best to lay off the silky waterfalls, but I need to get some under my belt before I can rest! :P
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

The people I was supposed to work with decided that it wasn't worth the effort after I spent my entire summer preparing the business and was set to go.
Shit, man, really sorry to hear that. I can only imagine how that feels....were they locals?
Fatherhood is going much better, although is quite demanding.
I'm going to tell you now what people told me 14 years ago when my kids were at the age yours is now: "You think it's bad now? Wait until they're teenagers!" :-)
I'll try my best to lay off the silky waterfalls, but I need to get some under my belt before I can rest!
Don't go there, man, I implore you. No matter how creative the rest of your oeuvre (and I find it quite creative), all the good photographers will brand for life as the Silky Sour Cream Poser :-) :-) :-)
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MaartenSFS
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Re: My Non-Diligent Summer in China 2012

Post by MaartenSFS »

Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:
The people I was supposed to work with decided that it wasn't worth the effort after I spent my entire summer preparing the business and was set to go.
Shit, man, really sorry to hear that. I can only imagine how that feels....were they locals?
Fatherhood is going much better, although is quite demanding.
I'm going to tell you now what people told me 14 years ago when my kids were at the age yours is now: "You think it's bad now? Wait until they're teenagers!" :-)
I'll try my best to lay off the silky waterfalls, but I need to get some under my belt before I can rest!
Don't go there, man, I implore you. No matter how creative the rest of your oeuvre (and I find it quite creative), all the good photographers will brand for life as the Silky Sour Cream Poser :-) :-) :-)
The worst part is that they are Americans. They acted enthusiastic and seemed like upstanding fellows until it came time to invest the slightest bit of effort. I spent countless hours travelling this summer, even right up to and after the birth of my daughter, to photograph these places and make local contacts. In the end they decided they didn't want to be liable for these "crazy" tours and it wasn't worth it to them. A real low point in life for me. I really don't know what to do anymore now. Despite it being nice here, it's not as nice as Borneo or Australia and I'm in a bit of a dead-end as far as work or business goes. If only someone could make use of my work ethic and language ability..

I'm really not worried about my daughter. The older she gets, the more fun it will be. She also knows that I'm a martial arts teacher and will dish out damage if she doesn't remain the little angel that she is now. ;)

As to the silky waterfalls, don't worry.. I have a lot more creativity left in me.
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