My first 3 month in microstock photography

Well, maybe not exactly the first 3 month... as i already have an approved shutterstock account since 2008, but never really try to upload something sale-able until now... since 2008 i had about 25 picture but only a bunch of it generate sale... most probabily because the subject lack commercial value (that time i upload bird photos,insect macro photos,etc) .. at that time i didn't try microstock seriously because in my perception.. only those talented with lots of good creative idea will excel in stock photography .. and i'm far from those description..  (it is true, but you can slowly nurture the stock perspective into your head, and effort count more than talent in microstock) .. as you can see my portfolio size graph below where it had only 25 pictures in September (which is the numbers for 2 years!) before it start to increase steadily since late october 2011

Its all started in late September with an arabic calligraphy vector (i'm taking arabic calligraphy class since February 2011.. until now) which i draw to learn vector tracing and since its a vector i try to upload to Shutterstock and it surprise me when it is sold a few times ... the curiousity encourage me upload few more vectors... with most of them sold immediately after approval... and since then i started to upload regularly and by end of 2011 my gallery portfolio grew to 269 pictures from 25 pictures before September..

and here is my montly performance chart after 3 month

As you can see from the chart.... total of download follow closely the total number of pictures available for sale in my portfolio .. which totally make perfect sense...i read somewhere in microstock forum that a good quality portfolio should have at least USD1.00/picture monthly average.. the average one should be around USD0.50/picture per month average... mine is lagged behind at a mere USD0.40/picture and that figure if minus the single extended license download (USD28) i got in Dec would push my average to only USD0.30/picture per month ... so there is a lot of work need to be done to push the quality and also the quantity at the same time to get some decent income from microstock


Type of download also affect the income considerably... the major income for my portfolio is the USD 0.25/download at 63% followed by the On Demand download (USD 1.88 or USD0.81/download ) at 23%. Of course you will feel better reward with the higher pay per picture like On Demand download or even the Extended License at USD28/picture but the major contributor with more consistent pattern would still be the normal USD0.25/download

My first ever Extended License/Enhanced License download at USD28/download.. is the following buah tunjuk langit (alternative herbal medicine for diabetes patient). Extended License/Enhanced License is required when the advertiser/user intent to use the picture in their product or maybe in advertising campaign exceeding 250,000 copies etc..

3 month in microstock is like newborn baby... too many things to learn.. the lingo.. buyer preference.. reviewer hurdle... quality control... type & style of images that sell.. etc... luckily i had so many friends and mentors with similar passion in this field .. breaking your ego would be the first step as rejection is the middle name in this industry.. the faster you overcame the rejection phase.. the better stock photographer you would be...

Among my best seller at the moment

if you haven't started... its better late than never.. Shutterstock is a good place to start as it is among the major earner for most microstocker... the others would be istockphoto, fotolia,123rf and dreamstime. If you like, you can have a peek at my humble portfolio but i wouldn't say its a good portfolio for reference... but i hope it will be soon... :D

Average income per picture... what does it mean Someone asked me to clarify the monthly average income per picture.. what i meant is the total monthly income divided by the number of images in porfolio=average income per picture So if the monthly income is USD100.. and the number of images is 200 .. then USD 100/200 pictures = USD 0.50 monthly average microstock is purely numbers game... good quality will push the average numbers higher.. the world most profitable microstocker Yuri for example had over 50,000 pictures and because of the high quality he should also has very good picture average (nobody knows.. maybe USD10/picture?).. his monthly income few years back is already more than USD50k per month.. now it is definitely higher so what is the point of discussing the montly average? it will go back to you on how much you want to earn from this field.. if your target is USD 100 per month and you average is USD0.33 per picture then having 300 picture with similar quality and commercial value in your portfolio might be just enough for your target.. of course there are some picture that will outsell other picture 10x more but there will be picture that rarely see any sales.. and there is also seasonal sales pattern trend..  average income per picture is just to simplify it in short higher quality or higher commercial value = higher income per picture higher numbers of picture available for sale = higher overall income how much you want? just do your own calculation :P

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Shooting remnant of a temple at Sungai Sembilang, Selangor

Temple remnant at Sungai Sembilang, Selangor

Few weeks ago I with few of my fren went to look for sunset shooting spot. As usual we will normally seek new places by scouting the seaside area for any interesting spot for sunset. This tedious brute forcing alike method sometime allow us to find good new places such as this one (sometime zero result also.. :) ).

The more popular spot at Sungai Sembilang is actually its angler/fisherman jetty.  We were targeting a different structure by the seaside near to this jetty but unable to look for the correct entrance from the road. Trekking by the seaside would be too far so we just shoot another location in between which is this temple remnant location.

It seem that the temple has fall viction to waves erosion as its location is too near to the shoreline. Apart from this tree you can also compose your shot from the mangrove tree around the area.

This location is located between Kapar and Jeram. To reach this location, go north from Kapar. After passing Tambak Jawa area, look for Al-Naim Mosque to your left or for the Sungai Sembilang signboard. From this mosque you can safely take any left junction (eg Jalan Kolam Pancing) and go towards the direction of an apartment called Pantai Indah Seaview Resort which is the highest structure there. Ask for permission to park within the vinicity of the resort area and then walk to the seaside. You'll see the jetty area. The remnant location is situated about 100m from the jetty by the seaside. The jetty is famous with angler during weekend. Since the location is quite secluded makesure you took some safety precaution (go in group, torch light, etc).

To our luck, the sun setting gloriously that day, alhamdulillah

Composing picture behind the unique tree roots

Framing the sun

This is my 50th post on this blog.. personal achievement for me.. :)

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Redang Island, Terengganu

Learning to capture long exposure seascape photography

Few months ago had the opportunity to visit Redang for a workshop organized by my faculty. During our stay, we stay at Redang Holiday Beach Villa. To be honest, if it is for leisure or family then it would be a good place, but for workshop environment .. the place is not suitable at all..  no suitable conference/meeting room.. no suitable equipment... nothing at all..  but we adjust a long the way and manage to proceed with our objective successfully..

The beach that we were facing is towards the east so only sunrise can be observe from our place. Sunrise only appear on our first morning and then it hide the next day. :D

Here are some of the picture taken during my visit there

The view from one of the chalet hut. simply beautiful

For some, this construction barge spoiled the sandy beach view .. For me.. its a subject :D

Redang Island is definitely a beautiful island with unlimited possibility for seascape. I hope i would able to repeat this location with more flexibility (not for workshop/working) and hopefully the weather would be more nicer then  .. since our visit is exactly before just before the monsoon season it keep raining especially during sunrise/sunset (even half of the resort along the beach is already close down for monsoon break)

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Fishing village, Pantai Kundur (Pantai Puteri), Malacca

Fisherman boat & vessel along the Pantai Kundur shoreline

Located along the shore of Pantai Kundur is a tranquil & peacefull fishing village, approximately 17 km from Malacca Town. You can observed how belacan is make here. Not far from Pantai Kundur is the petroleum refining industry facility owned by Petronas. The petronas jetty is prominently part of the sea landscape in Pantai Kundur. People of Malacca still remember how penny compensation was given to those who had to relocate in Tangga Batu to make way for that development (RM5/sq feet?). There were rumours that the larger budget meant for them were embezzled before reaching the intended receipient.

I fondly remember Pantai Kundur as my scout camping and training place during primary school. I remember camped there twice while i'm in Darjah 4 & 6 (think so) learning tying ropes, basic cooking, and singing scout song and even song from neighbouring countries (because there are participants from neighbouring countries). Today's parents overprotective of their children and teens . Even PLKN scared the hell out of them.. But saying so, i also not so sure whether i will accord my son/daughter the same privilege... let see.. we'll cross that bridge when we come to it..

Dead tree by the shoreline

Pantai Puteri is a new name given to enhance the 'commercial value' of this beautiful beach. Good place such as this serene and tranquil beach doesnt need new name with no historical/local value. Might as well you rename all places such as Tanjung Keling.. Pantai Klebang.. Pantai Pengkalan Balak.. or even Melaka! (Last time i heard the ADUN is still ADUN Kundur.. not ADUN Puteri) ..

Sorry for being a bit emotional or even sarcastic but our leader need to learn how to preserve our heritage.. not replace it with fake identity.. we lost too many of it already..

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The Secret Passage, Ujong Pasir (Malacca Part 6c)

During my third visit to Anjung Pasir (1st with Jasni, 2nd with Qamar & 3rd with Rajesh), we went looking around the area scouting for alternative site. I rarely repeat the same location too many times as i believe there are so many other places to explore. Or as Mr Rajesh put it, the first shot is always the best shot. For seascape i might repeat during different tide height as different tide height bring different view/composition and new feel to the same place.

Rajesh spotted this site and i agree with him that this place would be a very nice photography subject. Since i already shot at the abandoned jetty twice, i decided to shoot at this new location while Mr Rajesh shoot at the jetty place. He came later to this place also before the sunset light went off totally.  Would love to repeat this location when the tide is lower.

This would be the last entry on Ujong Pasir, meanwhile, today i'ved started my own personal blog at http://www.emranmt.blogspot.com/ I just need a place to put my opinion/perspective on certain thing and i dont think its good to mix that with the landscape photoblog i had in here. Feel free to visit it. Cya there!

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Ujung Pasir Revisit : Malacca Part 6b

New Year Eve - found a couple of bottle dumped along the shoreline and decided to make a composition of them

This part is a continuity from previous part which i describe about an abandoned jetty found in Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir. Since then I've been receiving inquiry on how to reach the jetty by fellow photographer which i happily respond.

Apart from the jetty, the area next to it is also picture worthy. During low tide you'll be able to reach a lonely tree area about 50m from the shoreline. During high tide these area would be submerged under the water but it is still a great landscape to shoot. Just need to find a good angle and composition, then shoot!

The picture below even manage to hit Flickr Explore front page briefly. Flickr Explore is only a feature by flickr to select the 500 most interesting picture on a daily basis from all uploads around the world. Few of it would make it to the front page during that day. This is my second explore front page i get (the first one is in 2009 for the earth hour picture - here it is)

The final afterglow of 2010

The final light of 2011

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Dangerously abandoned, An Old Jetty in Portuegese Settlement, Ujong Pasir (Malacca Part 6a)

Its been a while since the last time i update this blog.. which is why i choose the title dangerously abandoned... when you leave it too long you might loose the drive or passion to update it.. hopefully it wont happen here.. :D ... got a lot of things to do in December and had to prioritize... now i'm queuing up few post for the next several days :D

For this post & few more i'll continue to cover several location in Malacca ... i had written five series on various location of Malacca previously [Part I - Limbongan, Bandar Hilir,Part II - Selat Mosque, Pulau Melaka,Part III - Al Azim Mosque, Solok, Bukit Peringgit,Part IV - Bachang, Batu Berendam,Part V - Pantai Pengkalan Balak, Masjid Tanah]



This is an amazing new found for photography heaven. Last Nov when I'm scouting around along the seashore of Malacca (yeah, thats the way i hunt for seaside location nowadays), i stumbled upon this old Jetty in Ujong Pasir. And then with Jasni (his result here)& Sofian Boe (his hdr result) we shoot this location during sunset. Since then i already repeated this place twice upon request by fellow photographer friend (2nd with Qamar and 3rd with ragstatic (i idolized this man's artpiece)from singapore) - his result here. Even though its already three time i've been here there are a lot of different subject, different composition and angle that you can try along this short seashore. I'll cut the blog entry to three part for this location :D

Here is the Jetty picture (both images (the top and the one below is explored by Flickr :D)

From the 2nd visit with Qamar

To reach this place, you just need to follow the direction to Ujong Pasir or St John Hill(just next to Bandar Hilir, southern part - if you shoot Selat Mosque before then its only few km apart, you can even see selat mosque from this area) and then follow the direction to Portuguese Settlement, you'll reach this area.

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Seaside photography hunting at Jeram, Kuala Selangor

An angler jetty by the seaside during high tide (30sec exposure)

Selangor is blessed with diversified landscape from jungle(eg Hutan Lipur Kanching) ,mountain (eg nuang), rocky hill (eg Bukit Tabur), paddy field (eg Sekinchan) and even coastal landscape along the seaside (eg Jeram, Kelanang). Jeram is located between Kapar and Kuala Selangor. Jeram is more famous for its seafood such as fresh grilled fish (ikan bakar), squid, and so on.

As with most seaside area, you can always find photography subject. These two picture is taken at Jeram beach along the seaside inner road.

To reach Jeram, the easiest is from Kapar. After around 15-20km you will see Jeram mosque beside a traffic light (there is only 2-3 traffic light along the way after Kapar so you couldn't miss it), take left, after few hundred metre before the jetty area there is a junction to the left, take left, then you'll see aroma ikan bakar on your right, along the way is Jeram beach.

These picture were taken during high tide. Both taken after the sun fully set. I intend to return to this place later during low tide. Credit to few photographer who has been here earlier than me such as Zilzal,Acid,Shazral, Arabischenab (especially zilzal who pointed the exact location of this subject).

An interesting rock formation which form a leading line to the sea (30sec exposure)

Basic google map showing the direction to Jeram beach from Kapar or from Kuala Selangor

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Sunset & sunrise around Malacca - Pengkalan Balak, Masjid Tanah - (Part V)

An angler waiting patiently for his catch during sunset at Pantai Pengkalan Balak

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Sunset/sunrise around Malacca
Part I - Limbongan, Bandar Hilir
Part II - Selat Mosque, Pulau Melaka
Part III - Al Azim Mosque, Solok, Bukit Peringgit
Part IV - Bachang, Batu Berendam
Part V - Pantai Pengkalan Balak, Masjid Tanah

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Within the previous weeklong hari raya , this day is the best sunset of all. Its the last day spent in Malacca. So before heading home i went to shoot sunset at Pantai Pengkalan Balak, near Tanjung Bidara at Masjid Tanah, Melaka. Firdaus Mahadi , (my great photography fren, whom i idolize his work, visit his website at FirdausMahadi.com or his callidesign) recommended this place. His main selling point is the several human made 'anjung batu' (rock structure.. wonder what is the exact translation, tell me pls ) along the Pengkalan Balak coastal.

Lucky for me, apart from the good sunset of the day, i also lucky to be able to potret several human subject which include some angler and also another photographer who busy shooting his beloved wife during sunset.

This was also the first time my wife follow me to shoot sunset. I discouraged her initially as it would be a long session from 6:30 until 7:30 but she still want to follow. While i'm shooting sunset she attended to our son who request to play along the beach. We went for a seafood stall afterward before heading home and back to KL.

The colourful and amazing sunset

An HDR picture of the 'anjung batu' at Pengkalan Balak. Even though i'm not a big fan of HDR, i did use HDR technique in several occasion such as this one when the dynamic range is simply too big. Most of the time i prefer a light tone blending.

The lovely couple, a beautiful wife & a passionate photographer. A perfect silhouette subject for me :D .

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Sunset & sunrise around Malacca - Bacang, Batu Berendam - (Part IV)

Sunset @ Batu Berendam, Malacca (IR)



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Sunset/sunrise around Malacca
Part I - Limbongan, Bandar Hilir
Part II - Selat Mosque, Pulau Melaka
Part III - Al Azim Mosque, Solok, Bukit Peringgit
Part IV - Bachang, Batu Berendam
Part V - Pantai Pengkalan Balak, Masjid Tanah

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Batu Berendam is my hometown since early 1980's. The picture above was taken on 19th June 2010, the next day after my father return to his creator. I would say on that day my mind is quite unstable and i simply need to do something to soothen my sombre or maybe confuse mood.

The next picture is a startrail picture taken in my house compound during the recent Eidul Fitri. While this picture is not related to sunrise or sunset at all, it is still taken in Batu Berendam, :P . The picture is a combination of around 120 picture taken in 90 minutes (each frame @ 30 sec with F/4.5 & ISO 800).

While Eidul Fitri is no longer the same with my father is not around.. Life must move on...  My father's good deeds and amal jariah shall continue with his son & daughter .. ameenn .. My doa will always be with u abah.. insyaAllah..

90 minutes startrail @ Batu Berendam with cactus tree as the foreground

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Sunset & sunrise around Malacca - Al Azim Mosque, Solok, Bukit Peringgit - (Part III)

Silhouette of Al Azim mosque during sunrise



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Sunset/sunrise around Malacca
Part I - Limbongan, Bandar Hilir
Part II - Selat Mosque, Pulau Melaka
Part III - Al Azim Mosque, Solok, Bukit Peringgit
Part IV - Bachang, Batu Berendam
Part V - Pantai Pengkalan Balak, Masjid Tanah

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In this third installment of sunset/sunrise around Malacca, i would like to share sunrise taken at Al Azim Mosque, Solok, Bukit Peringgit. This is the official state mosque officially opened in 1989. The architecture is based on 3 tiered architecture of most ancient most within the state which had some chinese architecture influence in it (Pagoda like building).

I had a fond memory of this mosque as almost every friday i would spend my time here after the friday prayer. Even though my real kariah is Batu Berendam.. since the incident where i fainted in Batu Berendam mosque my father switch almost completely to Al Azim mosque except for once every month. Sometime instead of following my fathers back to the office immediately after friday prayer, i opted to stay here and would go home by myself. I  remember catching either the Tuah bus (50 sen) or Batang bus (80 sen) from my home to this mosque during school holiday and spend my time leisuring around the mosque and the library for few hours before the friday prayer. Then after the friday prayer i would go to eat ABC or mee rebus across the street. I even in several occasion walk home from this mosque to my home just leisuring around passing from one housing area to another housing area. At that time it still far safer for a nine years old kid to ride a bus alone to go to Bandar Melaka (without handphone for sure). I wonder whether i would allow my son/daugther to do the same five years from now.


Round shape of sun rising, taken from a compound near the Al Azim Mosque, beside the Malacca Post Office

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Sunset & sunrise around Malacca - Selat Mosque, Pulau Melaka - (Part II)

Sunset @ Selat Mosque, Malacca

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Sunset/sunrise around Malacca
Part I - Limbongan, Bandar Hilir
Part II - Selat Mosque, Pulau Melaka
Part III - Al Azim Mosque, Solok, Bukit Peringgit
Part IV - Bachang, Batu Berendam
Part V - Pantai Pengkalan Balak, Masjid Tanah

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Selat Mosque is among the modern icon of Malacca now. It somehow had become among the subject that most visiting photographer would like to capture especially during sunset. Even though Malacca is my hometown, I'm yet to photograph this beautiful mosque during sunset until last Eidul Fitri.

To capture the mosque during sunset, you need to be there a bit early as the traffic around Bandar Hilir is quite unpredictable. Just go to Bandar Hilir and follow the signboard to Masjid Selat (or Selat Mosque). This mosque is located within Pulau Melaka, an island built from reclaimed sea land connected by a bridge.

Small group of people watching sunset from Pulau Melaka within the Selat Mosque compound

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Sunset & sunrise around Malacca - Limbongan - (Part I)

An afterglow with nearer composition to the ship, not really feel secure here as you are far from the public eye so need to be alert with your surrounding for your safety.



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Sunset/sunrise around Malacca
Part I - Limbongan, Bandar Hilir
Part II - Selat Mosque, Pulau Melaka
Part III - Al Azim Mosque, Solok, Bukit Peringgit
Part IV - Bachang, Batu Berendam
Part V - Pantai Pengkalan Balak, Masjid Tanah

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Its ironic since i have'nt publish anything yet from around Malacca since its my hometown. Normally whenever i went back to my hometown, i prefer to relax and laze around at home. Only on a few occasion i went birding behind my home and another occasion shooting sunset at Muar. Other than that i just spend my time at home or went around to shopping mall with my family. During the last Eidul Fitri however since the sunset during that week seem to be very good i went for sunset shooting almost everyday. After shooting landscape for awhile, you can almost accurately (i would say 80%) predict whether it will be a good sunset or not by looking at the sky condition 2-3 hours before sunset. So during my journey from Kuala Lumpur toward my hometown it seem promising for a beautiful sunset.

Therefore immediately after arriving at home i went straight to Malacca Town. I initially decide to go to Selat Mosque but as somehow bandar hilir is quite jammed, i detour to another nearer location by the seaside at Taman Laksamana, which turn out to be a good spot also. This area is not actually a port, its more like a place for ship repair (maybe). This area maybe is an extension of another area at Limbongan at neighbouring area. The Limbongan location name itself imply it is an area for ship repair (limbungan = shipyard). Another possibility is that the ship is actually carrying construction material for the development in that reclaimed area. Need someone to clarify this. Whatever it is, this place can be a good alternative to the nearby Selat Melaka Mosque.  I'm planning to return to this place for startrail. Just need a partner for safety. Join me? :D

The sun already setting by the time i arrived at the 'port'



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Mount Semeru (Part IV) - Ranupane to Bromo

Bromo from Mount Penanjakan

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Mount Semeru (Part I) - Ranu Pane to Ranu Kumbulo
Mount Semeru (Part II) - Ranu Kumbulo to Kalimati post
Mount Semeru (Part III) - Kalimati post to Semeru Peak to Ranu Pane
Mount Semeru (Part IV) - Ranu Pane to Bromo

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After spending the night in Ranupane, we ride the open jeep back to Ngadisari (or maybe Cemoro Lowong village.. wonder what is the actual difference). On our way back we stop for a while at the Ranupane viewpoint, the savanna area and bromo mountain area itself. We reach our homestay at Ngadisari around 3pm.

Pita Looka, the daughter of our jeep driver

Dramatic sky @ Bromo

At night, after having dinner few of us went to the Cemara Indah chalet to capture startrail. Some of us didnt even sleep for the whole night for this craziness. Hehe.

Startrail @ Bromo

Early morning we went to Mount Penanjakan for sunrise view of bromo, and it is magnificent as usual.

Cemoro Lowong during sunrise

Sunrise from Mount Penanjakan

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Mount Semeru (Part III) - Kalimati to Semeru Peak to Ranupani

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Mount Semeru (Part I) - Ranu Pane to Ranu Kumbulo
Mount Semeru (Part II) - Ranu Kumbulo to Kalimati post
Mount Semeru (Part III) - Kalimati post to Semeru Peak to Ranu Pane
Mount Semeru (Part IV) - Ranu Pane to Bromo

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Compared with previous entry, this entry has the least picture in it. Which would self explain the difficulty in ascending this mountain peak.

Kalimati Basecamp at midnight

We start from Kalimati post (2700m) around 1am. We reach Arcapada camp (2900m) 1.5 hour later. Arcapada is also sometimes spelled/pronounced as Arcopodo. Between Kalimati and Arcapada is a mildly dense pine forest. At some point the trekking path remind me of the path between Kem Pacat to Puncak Pengasih at Nuang Mount back in Malaysia although the Nuang trek is far more extreme.

The dangerous part is when you nearing Arcapada (upper) as there is several dangerous ravine on both side. There is a notorious 75m drop ravine not far from Arcapada camp (nickname Blank 75) which had claim several lives previously. But as long as you stay within the designated track you should be safe. You should keep a close distance with your trekking partner/group all the times here.

After reaching Arcapada, the next point is Cemara Tunggal which is about 45 minutes from Arcapada. Previously there is a lone Cemara tree here (which is why the place called Cemara Tunggal, Tunggal = single/lone) but the tree has fallen down few month ago as reported here.

From here the nightmare begin. High altitude compounded the difficulty. Because of the loose soil combined together with the steep slope, it is difficult to hike for a few step without sliding down back. Loosing 1 step for every two step taken is common. At one point i loose several metres sliding down. Such scenario will leave you fully exhausted by the time you reach summit. But the greater the effort the greater the victory feeling. Some of my friends even thought I wont make it as I take longer time to reach the peak compared to them.

View wise.. the landscape & panorama during the sunrise & early morning is the most amazing view i ever witnessed... It is far more magical and breathtaking compared to rinjani/sibayak/kawah ijen.. the feeling is inexplained.. (even though each of this location is special in their own way).. there were one instant i sit for several minutes just enjoying the breathtaking scenery.. badluck my camera bag is not with me as one of the helpful guide already took my camera bag due to my slowness in hiking up.. :|

I should credit my success to the ever helpful guide especially Mas Candra who patiently accompany me in my ascend (& descent) and also Mas Kaboel & Mas Danang who help in every possible way that they can. I am deeply indebted to them.

Semeru peak (3676m) with small eruption from Kawah Jonggring Saloko

After enjoying the peak for a while,and as thick cloud and fog already surrounded the mountain peak, we descent down. Rest for a while at Kalimati and then proceed going out from mountain area until we reach civilization back at Ranupani village.

My conclusion, it was a tough mountain, but not too hard to hike as long as you prepare yourself physically. Two weeks prior to this trip i went jogging for at least 10-15km/day  but for me it is still not enough as i was in leisure lifestyle for several month (fasting month followed by aidilfitri festival month).

I also realized later that my body suffer from AMS due to dehidration as dehidration deter your body from acclimitazing. I slowly get back to my normal hiking/trekking rhythm/speed when my body get adequate water. Always make sure that your body had enough water supply. Learn more about AMS before climbing any mountain more than 3000m height. Sleepless night, dizzyness,queasiness, inability to breath properly is among the AMS sympthoms.

Edelweiss, Bunga Langka nan Abadi - a common flora within mountaineous area in Indonesia

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Mount Semeru (Part II) - Ranu Kumbulo to Kalimati

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Mount Semeru (Part I) - Ranu Pane to Ranu Kumbulo
Mount Semeru (Part II) - Ranu Kumbulo to Kalimati post
Mount Semeru (Part III) - Kalimati post to Semeru Peak to Ranu Pane
Mount Semeru (Part IV) - Ranu Pane to Bromo

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2nd day.. after few hours of photographing the tranquil Ranu Kumbulo, we start to trek toward Kalimati Post. Ranu Kumbulo to Kalimati just need around 3 hours of leisure trekking through a beautiful open savannah (45-60 minutes).. mythical pinus jungle  (1-1.5 hour) and edelweiss flower area (called jambangan edelweiss area) (45-60 minutes)

This trekking section is very mild and leisure as the kalimati post is only at 2700m and Ranu Kumbulo is already at around 2400m. Just an additional 300m of vertical height added through out 3 hours of trekking.

In this picture hiker climbing Tanjakan Cinta, the starting point from Ranu Kumbulo towards Kalimati post. Maybe this is the only mildly streneous part en route to Kalimati from Ranu Kumbulo.

Immediately after Tanjakan Cinta, you will be presented by an open beautiful savannah. You will also able to see Mount Semeru at the backdrop. Seem near but require another 3 hours of leisure trekking.

Savannah

Savannah

Kalimati post which is often foggy. But when its clear you can see Mount Semeru peak clearly from post.

Kalimati  (2700m) is the common basecamp for people summitting to Mount Semeru. There is another alternatif higher camp called Arcapada (2900m) (sometime spelled/pronounced as Arcopodo) which is a basecamp within the final part of pinus jungle before the Peak but rarely the local porter would like to go there as there is no water point available there.  Within Kalimati there is a nearby waterpoint called sumbermani is is 20 minutes away from the post. Observing the porter (either from our team or other team, immediately after arriving at this post 2/3 would go to cut some firewood while another 1/3 would go fetch some water.

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