Bring your camera to capture the Cap Go Meh festival

Festivals are always a good excuse to spend your hard-earned cash for a trip to a city, especially for travel photographers, and Cap Go Meh festival in Singkawang, West Kalimantan, is definitely a must-see event.

Singkawang  Rituals begin before the Festival.

Held on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, Cap Go Meh is the closing of the celebration that begins with Chinese New Year or Imlek. In Singkawang, the celebration involves tatung, who perform acts that some people consider horrifying, such as piercing their nose or cheeks with sharp objects. These acts are surprisingly performed without injury as their souls are believed to be possessed by a god's or ancestor's spirits. Over 600 tatung groups from all over Indonesia and from neighboring countries joined the celebration in 2012.

Horrible or not, the Cap Go Meh festival is always packed with domestic and overseas tourists and photographers. It is so crowded that it can be inconvenient to take pictures though there are many things you may want to capture on camera.

Potrait Dayak Shaman Tribe who join the Festival.

There are ways and tricks to make sure you won't go home without memorable moments to set as the digital wallpaper on your laptop. Read on, learn and put these tips into practice:

1. If your time is flexible, arrive in Singkawang two or three days before the peak of the event so you can chat with local people and find out more about their culture. The city is around three hours by car from Pontianak, the provincial capital of West Kalimantan. Flights from Jakarta to Pontianak cost between Rp 500,000 ($52) and Rp 600,000, while the car journey costs between Rp 60,000 and Rp 70,000 per person if you use a travel service, or Rp 350,000 to Rp 400,000 (including driver and fuel) if you rent the whole car. It's also wise to prepare your accommodation in advance, up to two or three months, to make sure you can secure a good night’s sleep. The finest establishment in Singkawang is the three-star Hotel Mahkota on Jl. Diponegoro 1.

Dayak Tribe Tattoos and accesories.

2. Don't fuss too much when you're capturing a cultural festival. Just follow your instincts. Don't just focus on the main attractions and parades. The preparation, for example, is also interesting since subjects look really natural. 

chinese people prayed in the temple

3. Don't get lost in the crowd. The festival is celebrated along all city roads, while the parade, which begins in the morning, will circle the city until the afternoon. Our advice: pick a spot near where the festival will kick off at the sport arena near the city center.

4. Try using just one camera lens. Changing lenses too many times can cause you to miss many memorable moments. We recommend using lenses in the 17-55mm and 24-70mm range, either for capturing human subjects or the surroundings.

5. Prepare two DSLR camera bodies. Fit one with an all-range lens, such as a 24-70mm of 17-55mm; and the other with a telephoto lens, such as an 80-400mm or 70-200mm lens, which is perfect for capturing moments and portraits. This way you don't have to change lenses during the event and you will always have a camera you can use as a backup. So if, God forbid, an accident happens, such as an error with the camera or you drop it, you still have another one to shoot on.

Chinese Shaman trance in Capgomeh Festival.

6. A flash is a good tool to capture human subjects. It helps a lot, especially if you're shooting on a hot, sunshiny day. Use the flash on manual mode and add a diffuser to make it look natural.

7. To capture human interest pictures with a good background, an external flash can be very useful as a fill light. You can use it by measuring the sky on program mode and then switching to manual.

one of the Chinese Shaman when Capgomeh Borneo Festival held.

Photography and Text by Barry Kusuma