Cricket

Found another dead insect and decided to shoot it. Unfortunately I'm busy with exams and completely forgot about it until I noticed a really bad stench in my room. Turns out it was the cricket so I sprayed some deodorant on it and then took a few pictures before throwing it out.

Also, I didn't use the usual reverse-lens technique. Instead I used a few extension tubes. Not much of a difference except for the fact that I have to get closer to the subject with these tubes which can be a big disadvantage as it'll spook most subjects. However, it's not too close and I don't have to hold the lens. I can now hold an external flash which should make lighting a whole lot easier and better.

Thankfully my room isn't stinking now.

Food Hunt

When it rains these massive black ants come out and it's actually fun to watch them because they always travel in a straight line and never waver.
Their bites can be quite painful but I thought I'd get up close and try and take a few photographs.

The fact that they move really fast doesn't really help but I was able to get a few good ones. This is the one of the smaller ants - yes, smaller. There are ants twice their size but they were moving just too fast.
This one stopped for a moment to pick up something and gave me my shot.
Just look at those compound eyes!

Gratitude

I have so much to be thankful for today so I thought I'd go with a flower. God has been infinitely merciful and gracious.

I just got my results today and they were good. The weird grading system gave me a brief scare but it turned out to be a good thing. Plus I never expected this because I missed so many classes due to sickness.

Macro Beauty

I've just got into shooting extreme macro photographs and it's awesome.

I've been blown away by the beauty that lies in the world - even in things that are so tiny that they are ignored.

This is a tiny part of a larger flower. I don't know the name but it has red petals and yellow part inside.

Mosquitoes Are Beautiful

Before you say I'm crazy just look at today's picture.

So I just got a DSLR - a Canon T4i aka 650D - as a very generous gift from a couple in USA. It has got to be one of the best presents I've ever received.

So I've always wanted to try out taking extreme macro shots and I wasn't disappointed. Sure it's really difficult and you have to shoot a tons of images just to get a handful that you can actually use, it's really rewarding because you get to see the world like never before.

This picture of the mosquito was really surprising. I actually said "Wow!" out loud when I saw it on my camera's LCD screen. It was the first time I've seen a mosquito like that and it blew me away.

I'll still swat at mosquitoes when they irritate me but they are beautiful!

Also a BIG Thank You for the camera :)

The Other Way

I wonder what it would be like to eat or drink when upside down. I'm sure it would be really uncomfortable and probably even dangerous. Butterflies fascinate me because they get into weird angles to suck the nectar out of the flowers.

This particular butterfly was all over the place. To start off the flower points at the ground probably because the plant can't support it so the butterfly just casually landed on it upside down and stayed there for a while before trying new angles.

Missing A Piece

It's been a while since I last uploaded a picture of a dragonfly. One of the many reasons is that winter is coming and so we don't see dragonflies this time of the year.

Which is also why you'll see more landscape photographs from me now.

Anyway back to the dragonfly. This little beauty was having a feast that afternoon. It kept flying off and returning with something between it's feet and then eating that.

Somehow it managed to stay still for a minute which is when I was able to get close and take this photograph. I used the flash to darken the background. Unfortunately that caused a hard reflection in both its compound eyes. Note to self- build a diffuser for macro shots.

It was only when I was post processing this photograph that I noticed that it's right wing was torn.

Always Defensive

I was out shooting the mountains when I noticed this little insect crawling on the plant.

It was just moving in hap-hazard lines and didn't really seem to be going anywhere in particular so I decided I'd take a shot of it.

As I took the camera near it must have sensed my presence because it immediately raised it's pincers in the air and stayed like that till I move away.

BTW I've seen these insects before and trust me, you don't want to go near them when they are mad. It actually hurts a lot!

One With Its Surroundings

Here is another picture of a dragonfly.

I never really got down to taking a lot of pictures of dragonflies in the past and now that I try to take pictures of these beautiful creatures, I realise that I should have started a long time ago.

This beautiful dragonfly is quite common in this area. It's the red and the orange ones that are really rare but nowadays you'd be lucky if you spotted one of these because there aren't very many.

There are too many houses coming up and so they've lost their habitat.

Learning The Ropes

I came across this juvenile Oriental Garden Lizard after months of not even seeing a single lizard so I was really quite happy.

Also this happened to be the first juvenile I'd seen up close. It seemed really shy and really didn't like me going too close. I assume this is because it is still a juvenile as adults don't really seem to mind too much unless of course you make them feel uncomfortable by making sudden movements or loud sounds.

After a few attempts to get a good shot it decided it didn't want to pose for me anymore and scurried away. Fortunately, it didn't go too far and just climbed this brick and stood there staring at me. This was a good opportunity and made for a good shot :)

Natural Beauty

Earth's only satellite is actually quite beautiful.

Have you guys watched the recent video that NASA released? The one of the moon's rotation? Well you should definitely check it out. It's amazing to say the least. Here is the link if you're interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnSHqaEGb9c

Clear skies always make for good shots of the moon and that night was actually pretty cloudy but it was clear moon-side for a bit so I was able to grab a quick shot of this beautiful satellite :)

Focal Point

Photographing flowers is always so rewarding. A pretty flower can make a pretty picture and you do feel good when you get a good picture.

Sometimes we do need to look closer and see the beauty in minute details. Like this flower for example. It's really pretty as a whole but even when you get really close you can see there is much more to it that is waiting to be explored.

So details are important and we need to look closer and appreciate little tiny things :)

The Comb

I was going to go with "The Comb-Over" but I didn't know how many people would actually get it so I decided against it.

We'd gone fishing and this cock kept following us around and so I decided to take a few pictures of it while we waited for the fish to take the bait.

I quite like this one from the entire bunch because I think it portrays the pride of the cock quite well.

Watchful

I ran into this juvenile Oriental Garden Lizard when I was shooting dragonflies.

The dragonflies were really all over the place and it was really hot so that made it all the more difficult to get a good shot. Then I noticed this little fellow eating some tiny insects that were flying around it.

I tried to get close but juveniles are a lot more nervous than adults and so it kept running away even when I wasn't close to it.

Finally it went behind these weeds and poked its head out and stared at me providing a good photo opportunity.

Light Painting Vase

I've tried getting back to light painting because I haven't done it in a while and I'd forgotten how much fun it was. Of course it requires a lot of patience but it's worth the effort.

This particular picture was part of a "welcome home" banner that I did recently out of light painting.

I wanted to do something unique unlike the previous banners that I'd done and I thought light painting would be a good place to start.


Painting this vase wasn't too difficult but took a lot of time because I really wanted to get all the details so I had to go in and paint each flower separately and then the vase itself. The white streaks you see are actually reflections of the torch I was using. I used a home-made diffuser (ok, it was just a piece of paper).

Silver Lining

"Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining"
That's what I was thinking when I took this shot.

The dark, stormy cloud with the sun behind it creating a nice golden border just looked out of this world.

Would have loved to get a shot of the entire cloud (which was massive) but the buildings blocked the view.

Anyway what I was able to get wasn't half bad so I'm actually quite happy.

Sun Bathing

You'll find a lot of these dragonflies out and about when the sun is shining. That, to me was strange in the beginning because we were always taught in school that dragonflies come out only when it's about to rain.

Of course that proved to be false, like so many other things they tell us and I'm glad that it isn't true.

If it was then I wouldn't have been able to get this particular picture.
This dragonfly stayed pretty still till I took this picture and then it just flew off.

I was amazed by the details in the wings and the entire dragonfly when I zoomed in after I'd copied the pictures to my computer. Just goes to show how amazing God's creation really is :)

Watch Where You Stand

Coming across this Oriental Garden Lizard was a bit of a surprise really because I've never seen one on this lemon plant before.

Plus this plant has thousands of thorns so to me it seemed really difficult (if not impossible) for a lizard to make its way to the top of said plant.

Surprise! Surprise! This particular lizard did manage to do so. It was really shy but I was able to get a good shot before it decided that I'd gotten too close and then promptly running off into the depths of the tree. Yes, it actually ran and didn't just walk. If I were that lizard I'd probably have quite a few holes in my feet!

Red Dragon

I happened upon this red dragonfly when I wasn't prepared. The camera wasn't with me and I nearly went too close.

Fortunately the dragonfly stayed in the same place long enough for me to go grab my camera and get a good shot of it. These red dragonflies aren't very common here so it's always a treat to see them. They're really beautiful.

I find that these red ones are more easily spooked than the other dragonflies. I wonder why that is.

For all you skeptics out there - The colours are all natural. I haven't added or subtracted any colours. These beautiful creatures do exist. Just the beauty of God's wonderful creation :)

My Pretty Wings

I  haven't photographed dragonflies in a really long time so I wanted to get back to doing it because they really interest me.

They come in so many variations that it's sometimes difficult to keep track. Anyway this particular dragonfly isn't one of the more common ones in this area. Most people don't even know it exists and when they see pictures of it they think I've swapped colours or something like that.

With dragonflies you have to be slow and patient as they'll fly off at the smallest sign of trouble. The trick is to wait patiently without moving a lot in the same place as the dragonfly will invariably come back to it's old resting spot and then you can get a good picture.