Deer Cave & the Butterfly

(1/13, F4, ISO1600, 10mm)

This is Deer cave. Actually a little overhang with a (hiding) butterfly and in the back (half of) the biggest cave passage in the world, at least until 2009 when Hang Son Doong, or “Mountain River Cave,” was found in a remote part of Vietnam.

After an hour hike through the primary rainforest of Mulu National Park in the middle of Malaysian Borneo we arrived at the biggest cave entrance I´ve ever seen.

The magnitude of the cave passage was unbelievable and because of its height of around 150m and width of 90m it is a safe haven for over 3 million bats of 3o different species whom swarm out at dusk in beautiful circling ribbons (see a video here) to avoid predators like hawks.

I hope to publish a photo of the immensity of this cave passage soon…

Tags: adventure, Borneo, Cave, jungle, Light, Malaysia, Photo

33 thoughts on “Deer Cave & the Butterfly”

jonacua on October 15, 2015 at 15:10 said:

amazing photo :D!!

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- Ron Hillmar on October 16, 2015 at 17:55 said:
  
  Thanks, such a beuatiful place as well,
  Saludos, Ron
  
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westendstorie on January 9, 2015 at 22:15 said:

Oh Ron, your pics are beatiful. I’am very glad to find you. Best saludos, Mia

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sheldonk2014 on October 30, 2014 at 02:20 said:

This something that you see once in a lifetime or my case in national geographic magazine. Your being there and taking this picture must of been mind blowing. Now for as the way you shot my hat goes off to you. It’s beautiful, the color and texture. It’s the kind of image that you want to come close and touch it’s so real. Great stuff ,it’s a keeper

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noellevignola on October 22, 2014 at 21:55 said:

Yum…..

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Jet Eliot on October 10, 2014 at 01:09 said:

What a lovely cave, and your photos captured it very well.

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Linda Arthur Tejera on October 9, 2014 at 22:28 said:

What a beautiful photo. Caves are so fascinating! 🙂

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- Ron Hillmar on October 16, 2015 at 17:54 said:
  
  Sorry it took me so long, but thans a lot for your comment, this cave was something else, never seen one this size!
  Hope youre doing well, greetings,
  Ron
  
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steviegill on October 9, 2014 at 19:24 said:

What a fantastic place. Would love to go there.

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the dune mouse (CybeleMoon) on October 7, 2014 at 00:28 said:

Beautiful lighting. I love caves!

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Louis on October 5, 2014 at 19:05 said:

A superb image with excellent lighting and atmosphere – even though the scale is difficult to fully appreciate.

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oururbanwilderness on October 5, 2014 at 17:51 said:

That’s pretty impressive, and for 3 million bats….that’s an extraordinary bat heaven.

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erassima on October 5, 2014 at 03:54 said:

Surrealistisch met die metallic kleuren van het gesteente.

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Lisa Gordon on October 4, 2014 at 05:34 said:

How truly beautiful this is.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

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- Ron Hillmar on October 16, 2015 at 17:53 said:
  
  oops, totally not responded too some comments here, sorry, hope all is well and thanks for comment and wishes, i guess it was a good one 😉
  Warm greetings from KL,
  Ron
  
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My Heartsong on October 4, 2014 at 05:08 said:

Great colour and shapes of the triangles.

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Patti Kuche on October 3, 2014 at 22:32 said:

Oh wow, what to say!

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- Ron Hillmar on October 16, 2015 at 17:52 said:
  
  Hi Patti, sorry for missing this so long ago, but i guess you said it already 😉
  Hope all is well, greetz,
  Ron
  
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dave on October 3, 2014 at 12:10 said:

I expect cave photography would be quite a challenge. Will that take lots of special lighting equipment? I’m guessing in this image that daylight is entering from the right? And the butterfly is not at all the same, a flashlight?

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- Rondje on October 3, 2014 at 14:31 said:
  
  Hello Dave, thanks for stopping by and showing an interest!
  The light on the background was indeed coming from the right from the huge entrance and the rock was lightened by a lamp, the butterfly was just sitting there by coincidence 😉
  I didnt use anything but my handheld SLR, you can see I had a steady-hand day with 1/13, but had to use iso1600 to get something decently lit out of it!
  This cave was a bit of an exception I think because of the huge entrance bringing in enough light to make this possible.
  Thanks and hopefully i was clear, have a great weekend,
  Ron
  
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  - dave on October 3, 2014 at 23:34 said:
    
    Good luck with your spelunking project down the road.
    
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sedge808 on October 3, 2014 at 11:26 said:

this is amazing.
Love the colors.

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- Rondje on October 13, 2014 at 11:42 said:
  
  Thanks, Gav, was lucky the cave was lit and the huge entrance brought enough light to photograph it 😉
  Have a good week,
  Ron
  
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The Passion Dew on October 3, 2014 at 03:28 said:

Prachtig!

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- Rondje on October 13, 2014 at 11:41 said:
  
  Dank je, Della, hier is het vooral jammer dat je niet groot genoeg kan zien, want de contradictie tussen die kleine fraaie vlinder en die immense grot was grappig contrast 😉
  Fijne week,
  Ron
  
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Cardinal Guzman on October 3, 2014 at 01:34 said:

Awesome cave and the video was nice.

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- Rondje on October 13, 2014 at 11:36 said:
  
  The bat exodus was really one of nature´s wonder, impossible to photograph interestingly, but amazing to witness!
  Thanks for showing such interest, Cardinal, hope you have a great week!
  Ron
  
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Amy on October 2, 2014 at 23:27 said:

What a great photo of this incredible cave! Looking forward to seeing more… Thank you for sharing.

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- Rondje on October 13, 2014 at 11:34 said:
  
  Thanks a lot, Amy, it was so immense, seen some caves, but this not by coincidence labelled the biggest cave entrance in the world!
  I thought the butterfly in its tiny beauty and then the huge beauty of the cave was a nice combination 😉
  Have a great week,
  Ron
  
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The Kadee Experience on October 2, 2014 at 22:14 said:

Like a diamond wanting to be found!

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- Rondje on October 13, 2014 at 00:10 said:
  
  Yep, bizonder vlindertje, toen we terug langs kwamen was ie weg, wat deze foto nog bizonderder amakte, vond ik 😉
  Groet, amigo!
  
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Alli Farkas on October 2, 2014 at 20:56 said:

I don’t say “stunning” very often because the word is so terribly overused, but really….!

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- Rondje on October 9, 2014 at 11:22 said:
  
  Hola Alli, so true, thanks for making the exception here 😉
  I have the same, also with the word awesome, which a musician I loved made fun of on stage and since I tried to avoid it!
  It was so hard to capture the immensity of this cave but with the tiny butterfly and walkway in the back I thought you get an idea of the size, although it´s always better to see this big, I suppose!
  Hope all is great, saludos
  Ron
  
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