Breathing New Life in my Hunting Ground

Again and again I venture to the same place hunting the same insects... then again, if you are persistent enough, you ought to find something exciting that will again make you interested to venture that same old hunting ground.

It will almost reach 2 years since I started macro photography. I am beginning to feel that the 1:1 magnification ratio isnt satisfying enough. I would love to go nearer, see more details, challenge myself more but for Nikon, 1:1 is as far as you can go. I even thought of buying a new set, Canon with its MPE65 that can go up to 5:1 but cant seem to justify and convince myself to splurge the cash for it. Other alternatives like TC and ET is an option but again, I do not want to add more weight to my already quite heavy setup. HAIHZ... me and my personal dilemmas...

This St Andrew's Cross Spider... I have met this fella many times... of many sizes and colors but I still failed to get a F2F shot of it. The F2F shot will be my ultimate goal for 2012.


This species is also very common in my hunting ground but this particular one, slightly greenish and transparent is my first encounter. Hmmm...so there is more insects that I have yet to find...

This Yellow Lynx Spider is also my first find here in this color. And, I think this is filled with eggs as the belly is quite big.
The most common of all Jumpers found here.
This is also a first. Very very small spider which I found hanging by its web on my diffuser. Guessed it might have latched on when I was shooting something else. It's size, no bigger than 0.5cm...
Ah... this trip really is fun...i spot many new insects which I know off but never shot before, including this mantis :)
Yum Yum... munching away
This I like best amongst all my shots in this trip. This is the second time i shot ants during the entire 2 years of macro photography. My very first macro subject is also an ant. This time, I dare say, I a milestone ahead from the first macro shot I took :)
This final 2 pics, also my very first time seeing. Overall, this trip was fun. It excited me so much, I began to love this place even more now and am wanting to further explore, deeper into the path I never ventured before.

Bugs and more bugs...

I am running out of places to hunt.
Every time I decide to go hunting, there is only 3 places in mind.
Bukit Gasing - 80% of the time
Kota Damansara Community Park
Taman Rimba Kiara

Due to the fact that I hunt alone, other places that I visited once each such as those waterfall area in Hulu Langat and Ampang, the fear of getting robbed always comes into mind and stops me from going back.
Because of that, I am stuck with 3 locations, with similar insects all the time and nothing new for me to hunt.
Did try once going to FRIM and got a pretty cool insect during my 10 minutes hunt before it rained but the location is too far... haihz... how ?

Also made myself a new diffuser for the flash and here are the results. I get softer light but dont know if it works better than the previous version. :(

Christmas Outing

Its Christmas. Though it does not snow and we do not really exchange presents, I got some in the form of insects. :)

It's been quite some time and I finally got some shots that I like.

Places are getting limited for me to shoot though. I always frequent the same few places and therefore getting the same few insects that inhabit that area.

Been looking to find new hunting grounds and though found a few, they are to me, too dangerous to go alone and me, I shoot alone so, its out of the question. Safety first....

Here are my haul for Christmas 2011...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Singapore Trip

It was a long awaited holiday or getaway for us both together. Although it is not really a holiday as we were there for Fiona's wedding but then, we still had a good 2 days to walk around.

Coincidentally, it is also near the time of the year where Yuki and I like best. CHRISTMAS!

I remember we were there in Singapore 2 years ago, during Christmas time as well and the decorations along Orchard Road was fantastic. This year was quite normal, maybe because it was still too early for a full on decoration. It was still November when we were there this year.

There was nothing out of the ordinary, Christmas trees around the place, cool ones that is, none like those we see in KL. At least we now know which government is working harder to bring in tourists.



Then, we noticed something. Orchard Road has been invaded. Not by aliens but by colourful ELEPHANTS. Hahaha... it's damn cute... they were having the Elephant Parade and almost all shopping malls participated in this event where they have all the colourful elephants all around the mall. How cool is that? Nothing like this can be done in Malaysia or has not been done in Malaysia.

The Durian Elephant
The Free Spirit Elephant
The Naughty and The Elephant. (Naughty is the girl on the Elephant's right front leg)
The Cave Art Elephant
The Zelda Zeliphant
This is my favourite... and it has a cool name... The Hellaphunt
The I See Everything Elephant
The Jigsaw Elephant with The I See Everything Elephant
Other than that, we also saw some interesting things. Like this lil banner from MOS Burger.
And this very catchy name for a boutique. Welcome To Fourskin
The night was spent in Chinatown. Ate some pretty good Hainan Chicken Rice with Oyster Cake and then walked around to discover and explore.
A very cool temple.
OOo... we also spotted Po Zhi Lum... where is Wong Fei Hung and Nga Chat Sou...
This is pretty cool as well. Surnames on all the chopsticks... find mine... :)


So ngam I changed to Samsung Galaxy S2 a day before I went to Singapore and then, wohoo... Androids Love Singapore.
Fiona's wedding was held at the White Rabbit in Demsey but unfortunately I did not bring my camera there. It's a very nice western restaurant, renovated from a Church but with the architectural designs all still intact. Really nice place for a romantic lil dinner with a loved one.

So, finally we head back home after a 3D2N trip to Singapore. Hahaha... The Singaporean government is really IN leh... they are also into Angry Birds at the airport... Malaysia where got ler... no fun at all de...