SECRET TIPS BEHIND THE STUNNING PHOTOS IN SON DOONG

I HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT MANY CAVES IN THE WORLD, BUT EXPLORING SON DOONG IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE. IN THIS ARTICLE, IN ADDITION TO SHARING WITH EVERYONE THE EXACT EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO TAKE BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS IN SON DOONG, I WANT TO SHARE HOW THE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN AND SOME OF THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES DIFFICULTIES IN THE WORLD¶S LARGEST AND MOST MAGNIFICENT CAVE.

Name: Ngo Tran Hai An

DOB: 29/10

Residence: HCMC

Occupation: Travel blogger, photographer

APROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT

s you all know, for a good photo the subject needs to be well lit or the photo should be taken at the magic hour (golden hour and blue hour) - but for Son Doong, you can’t count on natural light. The cave environment is extremely humid, so if your equipment is not of professional quality, it will become moldy and inactive. On this trip, I used a Canon 5D Mark IV professional camera with three sets of lenses.

Lenses: I need wide-angle photos to create a sense of grandeur and majestic atmosphere at Son Doong cave, so a 16-35 mm lens is my first choice. I also love to capture small creatures, insects, dew drops, stalactites and other details, so I bring a

100 mm macro lens. In addition, I chose a 70-200 mm telephoto lens to capture beautiful photos of my companions or subjects that needed to stand out from the background. Usually very few cave explorers bring three sets of lenses because they are very heavy, but thanks to the support from my team, this did not affect my journey.

Camera battery: Because there is not enough power and time to charge the battery in the cave, I have to bring 6 batteries for backup. For a simple take or souvenir photos for my companions, I prepared two flash lights and a trigger.

Memory card: Another very important thing is the memory card. On similar trips, I brought three 64 GB memory cards to store data and change them after each shot, so if there is an unexpected problem, I will not lose all the pictures.

SPECIALIZED LIGHTING EQUIPMENT

Fortunately, I was accompanied by the cave experts and this was the first trip to survey the cave after a flood season, so I had a lot of support from the organizers. They prepared for us 12 large white lights which are required for taking photos in the cave. Also, some lower-power RX8 lights and waterproof lights allowed me to capture small details or tight spaces more easily.

OTHER USEFUL EQUIPMENT

In addition to taking photos, our team also produced some video footage about this beautiful cave, so we prepared filming equipment such as Flycam, Gimbal and professional handheld cameras. These devices are battery consuming and need to charge constantly so my team also brought a generator. The transportation of equipment in the cave thus became difficult. That is also why my team had 35 people, including 30 support staff.

In addition, I also used the dashcam and Samsung Galaxy Note 10 phone to record working moments, lighting arrangements, difficult travel times or when I had no time to use professional equipment. The devices that I brought were mostly electronic, so they need to be kept in good condition. Each device was housed in zip-pockets then all stored in a specialized backpack to be waterproof when I had to swim across rivers and streams.

THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR: SKILL & EXPERIENCE

Although you carefully prepare equipment, taking a beautiful photo is not simple when you enter a large cave like Son Doong. Setting the right lighting is the most difficult challenge. Son Doong is the largest cave in the world and there are places with a depth of kilometers so if you do not prepare the light well, your photos will be overexposed or underexposed, not showing the majestic beauty of the cave. At each location, the team stopped about 15-20 minutes for preparation, and the lights can only be lit for 10-15 minutes, so the time for taking photos is really only a few minutes, so you do not have time to rearrange the lighting or test shoot. Therefore, photographers must be very knowledgeable and experienced in shooting caves.

In addition, there must be a support team including lighting experts, cave experts and logistics staff, along with walkie-talkies to contact with each other. Through this sharing, I hope that if you see some beautiful natural shoots, you should know that behind it is an interesting story and an enthusiastic

photographer.