Galaxy Z Fold4 Photography at Sarawak UNESCO Caves

One of the things that I have always wanted to do with a smartphone is take it into one of the caves of Malaysia and try some smartphone photography. 

Well, my wish came true as I managed to try the Galaxy Z Fold4 Photography at Sarawak UNESCO Caves of Mulu National Park and Niah National Park in September 2022.

Galaxy Z Fold4 Photography at Sarawak UNESCO Caves

First, the Galaxy Z Fold4 has been known to be a business phone due to the folding screen, and no one imagined that it was also packed with a powerful camera system.

I love challenges, and when I was told I had an exhibition spot at the Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival 2022, I wanted to make it count and be remembered as it was my first solo photography exhibition.

My first smartphone photography exhibition was at Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival 2022.

I've always wanted to exhibit my photography, and in recent years, I have been toying around with several phones for my smartphone photography in Malaysia.

Yes, you heard that, and smartphone photography is here to stay, no matter how you look at it, so I've had a significant headstart from the early days of the Galaxy Note 1 (Nov 2011).

Back to the Galaxy Z Fold4 review - I booked a trip to not one but two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Malaysia, the Niah National Park and Gunung Mulu National Park, both in Sarawak. 

I spent five days at both national parks using my Galaxy Z Fold4 to capture as many photos as possible, ranging from landscape to macro and low-light cave photography.

What is low-light cave photography? If you have been inside a cave, you would know it is one of the most challenging places to photograph. Regardless if you use a DSLR, Mirrorless or a smartphone.

Therefore, I tested myself to see if this could be achieved when several people told me it would not turn out nice; the photos are below.

A closeup of my prints at the exhibition. The soft copies are featured in this article below.

Low-light Photography with the Galaxy Z Fold4

The photos below will be placed by the names of the caves, and each of the pictures was taken with the Galaxy Z Fold4 and minimally edited before printing on photo paper for my exhibition.

These are the original soft copies which I have resized for this article. Note my name, number, and camera used to photograph.

Note: Please click on the photos to see the full-size image.

Deer Cave at Mulu National Park in Sarawak

The following four photos are taken inside the Gunung Mulu National Park Deer Cave. Please note that I used the Galaxy Z Fold4 Smartphone for all my photos below.

The Deer Cave is one of the national park's hero caves and one of Malaysia's most visited caves.

If you have never been to this part of Malaysia, I highly recommend it, especially if you love the outdoors, caves and plain nature.

Water falls from the main cave chamber, estimated to be around 100 meters high.

As you exit the main cave chamber, you will pass several waterfalls from the cave ceiling.

The Sarawak Chamber is the largest cave chamber in the world, inside the Deer Cave.

Can you spot the person wearing blue in the photo inside the Sarawak Chamber?

Clearwater Cave at Mulu National Park in Sarawak

The Clearwater Cave is one of the most beautiful caves I have visited because a fast-flowing river about 10 meters wide runs inside the cave system at the Mulu National Park.

To get here, one must climb 200 steps and slowly descend until one arrives at the Clearwater River. The following photos show the river system of the caves, taken with the Galaxy Z Fold4 in night mode.

Clearwater Cave is also known to be the 9th longest cave in the world, and even I just found out about this.

Entering the Clearwater Cave from the top. Notice the person in the photo and the bridge on top.

The subterranean river runs at the bottom of the cave.

Clearwater Cave's subterranean river is about 10 meters wide. This was photographed with my smartphone placed on the bridge for 7 seconds.

Another interesting view of the cave river. Photographed handheld for 7 seconds.

Wind Cave at Mulu National Park

Below are four photos taken inside the Wind Cave near the Clearwater Cave system at the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak.

As the name says, when you reach certain parts of the cave, you feed a strong gust of cold wind that makes your hair stand. It's a wonder how the wind travels in the caves.

The Wind Cave at Mulu tends to feature some of the best stalactites and stalagmites I have seen in this part of the world.

For some reason, I found my old article on the Wind Cave at Mulu Park from 2009; therefore, you can see some of my old photos of the caves taken back then.

Stalactites and stalagmites joined over millions of years, some of them 10 meters tall.

The walkways inside the Lang Cave are cleverly planned, where you make a loop and exit.

Various angles of the stalactites and stalagmites provide exciting photography opportunities.

The walkways in the cave often look like an Indiana Jones movie set.

Lang Cave at Mulu National Park

The Lang Cave is probably one of the most beautiful caves in terms of unique formations, stalactites and stalagmites that have formed over millions of years.

And the fact that lights are used carefully to highlight them makes them even more beautiful to photograph.

The reverse view cave mouth of Lang Cave at Mulu Park.

Water droplets on a stalactite were photographed handheld in normal mode with a seven-second delay.

Unique stalactite formation looking like an alien photographed handheld on normal mode.

Different tones and highlights are photographed in normal mode.

Water streaking down a stalactite and photographed in night mode on the Galaxy Z Fold4.

Niah Caves at Niah National Park in Sarawak

The Niah Caves are also being selected as another UNESCO World Heritage Site for Sarawak, located about an hour's drive from Miri.

This stand-alone cave is also spectacular, namely the amazing cave mouth and the fact that one of the oldest living remains of a prehistoric man in this region was found here.

You can do further reading of my 2015 article on Niah Caves in Sarawak, as I went there unexpectedly on a quick 2-hour trip.

The main cave entrance at Niah is seen from inside the mouth.

A glimpse of the Trader Cave at Niah. Notice the red dot in the centre, which is a person.

Niah Cave exit, taken on a reverse angle with the Galaxy Z Fold4.

Inside Niah, a cave opening is seen at the top.

In total, there are 21 photos taken inside the five caves of Niah and Mulu National Park, all photographed with the Galaxy Z Fold4 smartphone.

Each of the photos you see here has also been printed on photo paper and in 18 x 12-inch size and will be displayed at the Sarawak Tourism Board office in Kuching, Sarawak.

The fact that smartphone technology has improved in recent years shows that low-light photography is fine, especially when using one of the newer smartphones.

My objective was to challenge myself to capture photos inside the caves without a tripod and see how well the smartphone performed. And to my surprise, I was very impressed with the outcome.

Most people will review or use their smartphones to do portrait, landscape or other street photography, but those are a dime a dozen, and every other person seems to want to do that.

Hence my unique choice to feature cave photography in Malaysia, which no one would think of; by now, I have set the benchmark so high that my next project will be even more challenging.

And for the record, I have been visiting many caves around Malaysia in the last 15 years and also wrote an article about 8 caves to visit in Sabah and Sarawak in 2010.

That's me, David Hogan Jr, a smartphone photographer from Malaysia.

Conclusion

There you go, my actual photos taken with the Galaxy Z Fold4 Smartphone, and each of the images above was exhibited at the Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival 2022 from 23-25 September.

Again, thank everyone who came and supported my first solo photography exhibition. My topic for the next photo exhibition will be much more challenging.

And once again, the photos you see above were taken with a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 smartphone and at two UNESCO national parks in Sarawak, Malaysia.