Nat Hab's 2024 Guest Photo Contest

Species: N/A | Location: Danum Valley, Borneo, Malaysia

Outside my cabin in the heart of the Danum Valley, a 130-million-year-old rainforest stretched into the night. I had come prepared with a lens specifically to capture the Milky Way, though I knew the odds were against me—rainforests are not known for their clear skies. On this particular night, as I stood in the clearing, the dense clouds briefly parted, revealing a partial glimpse of the Milky Way, shimmering faintly above the ancient forest.

Capturing this fleeting moment required a long exposure to draw out the faint details of the night sky, while I used a flashlight to carefully light paint the foreground, illuminating the rainforest's edge. The resulting image is a rare meeting of two worlds: the vastness of the universe above and the primal beauty of Borneo’s ancient wilderness below, both existing in a delicate balance for just a few precious seconds.

About The Photographer

Andy has always been interested in photography, but it wasn't until 2011 when he had the opportunity to borrow an underwater camera that he started to take his photography more seriously and took a number of underwater photography workshops. Since then, he has taken all forms of photography more seriously but most enjoys underwater photography, aerial photography with his drone and land-based wildlife photography. In pursuit of his images, Andy has traveled to the far reaches of our planet including Indonesia, Palau, Borneo, the Solomon Islands, Israel, Egypt, Australia, Tonga, Iceland, Greenland, the Philippines, the Galapagos Islands, Mexico and all over the Caribbean. Andy has won several photography competitions and his images have been published in magazines worldwide. His work can be found online at www.andydeitsch.com as well as @andydeitschphotography on Facebook.