Bukit Timah Nature Reserve ( Dairy Farm Entrance ) 24th March 2012

Feeling the need to try something different, I took the courage to use the Raynox DC-250 with my 100mm macro lens.

This Raynox magnification adapter had been lying in my dry cabinet for the longest time. The reason why I have not been using it because it is unable to allow the lens (coupled with the adapter) to focus to infinity.

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Solo Macro along SengKang River 16 Oct 2011

I always wondered when I drive towards Sengkang along TPE.

How to access the river that TPE cuts across?

I can always see street lamps along the foot path along the river bank.

So late Saturday night/ Sunday morning, I made my way towards Sengkang.

Managed to capture some good macro shots despite the flash extension cable mounting failed on me.

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Another Fly 28 March 2011

Was outside my home when I noticed this fly on my potted plants (yet again).

Not sure if its the same fly but I quickly went in and assembled my 100mm macro lens and flash and proceeded to take the following shots.

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Compound Eyes 24 Feb 2011

I caught it resting on the leaf of one of my potted plants outside my house at 2am in the morning.

This common housefly was quite docile and allowed me to take many shots with flash.

That was until it realized of the intruder to its peaceful rest and turned around to face me.

That momentary confrontation allowed me to take a final portrait shot of its compound eyes before it dismissed me as a nuisance and flew into the night.

Turn around and confronted the intruder before it flew away

Some sharpening was applied via GIMP and using the "unsharp mask" filter to enhance the details of the compound eyes.

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Admiralty Park Macro Shoot 22 Feb 2011

Buddy Alex Neo texted me "Good weather and clear sky today!" in the morning.

So I took half day leave and we went to shoot some insects at Admiralty Park.

Here are some better macro shots of the insects we found.

Compound eyes!

White Spider that resembles a crab. Very small eyes!

Favourite Macro Bug, stays still and poses for long periods of time.

This bug looks almost like a fish!

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More Macro on Insects outside my House

New insects spotted on my potted orchid plant outside my house.
Sadly, they left after camping there for a few days.

Should I have little bubble thoughts added into the picture?

It looks like it is in deep thought

I simple adore compound eyes!

After taking the pictures of the fly, I couldn't stop thinking about how can something so small be so detailed and how did it evolve to become the tiny fly it is now. I wonder in awe of how each and every micro-detail of the fly is there for a specific purpose.

Though I am not a believer, I find myself saying that I appreciate "His" creations.

We, humans, can create nanotechnology, produce silicon chips with micron precision... but look at the intricacy of the details of the smallest insects, we know we can never climb the Tower of Babel and be His equal.



Tip :

My preferred aperture for sharper macro shots is at f16. I was using f11 previously as recommended by many experienced macro photographers but the Depth-Of-Field (DOF) was too shallow for me to appreciate.


To prevent underexposure and shutter shadows, I now use a shutter of 1/125 or 1/160 instead of 1/200 and 1/250.

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More campers outside my house 31 Oct 2010

Was leaving the house when I saw this critter taking a rest on a large leaf of my potted plant aka "铁树".

It didn't take me long to set up my camera and flash with my DIY diffuser and started snapping.

The results of my DIY diffuser was very satisfactory!

This could arguably be one of the better macro shoots I had taken (with the lighting that I am happy with).

Click each picture to enlarge and scrutinize the shot!

This one was slightly out of focus as I was starting to warm up

Better focus in this shot

Another shot taken parallel to the focal plane of the insect's body

A failed top view shot with focusing off [ focus was on wings instead of eyes ]

A first satisfactory shot

This shot showed off the compound eye a little bit
as the compound eyes reflected the light from the flash

Another shot I was happy with

Last shot of the night

If you like the effect of my DIY diffuser, do send me an email to find out more!

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