Macro: Water Droplets

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Splash

f/8, 1/200s, Off Camera i-TTL Fill Flash, Tamron 1:1 90mm macro lens, Nikon D80

This time around, I've been toying with water droplets. It's one of the harder things to photograph, requiring a lot of luck and even more patience. Out of around 1000 attempts, I bring you a few that I like. Most are rejected outright, and many just aren't attractive enough.

Again, this being an experimental layout, I'd love for any comments not just on the photos itself, but also the layout. Do let me know how I can improve you experience while you're reading my humble photoblog. Thanks in advance !

Macro: My Crystal Collection

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Smoky Quartz with Rutile Inclusion

f/25, 1/60s, Off Camera i-TTL Fill Flash, Tamron 1:1 90mm macro lens, Nikon D80

Welcome to my small collection of photos depicting some of the crystals and minerals I have collected over the years. Due to some issues with Javascript coding between Firefox and MS IE browsers, Firefox readers will keep seeing this text over and over again. Click on '1' to start the gallery going, I've included explanations on each of the crystals depicted in the photographs you'll be seeing.

This being an experimental layout, I'd love for any comments not just on the photos or the crystal, but also the layout. Do let me know how I can improve you experience while you're reading my humble photoblog.

Macro: Stories from a fly

Orange is my world
f/16, 1/125 s, i-TTL Fill Flash, Tamron 1:1 90mm macro lens, Nikon D80




Top Fly
f/16, 1/125 s, i-TTL Fill Flash, Tamron 1:1 90mm macro lens, Nikon D80



Bug's Eye 1
f/16, 1/125 s, i-TTL Fill Flash, Tamron 1:1 90mm macro lens, Nikon D80



Bug's Eye 2
f/16, 1/125 s, Tamron 1:1 90mm macro lens, Nikon D80

It's been a while since I last posted any bug photos, so I thought this would be a good time to put one up. The truth is, I haven't been bug chasing as actively as I have previously, and I've been quite happy to do more landscapes.

However, I had the chance to photograph one of the harder insects to shoot, the housefly. Extremely sensitive to movements, and ultimately finicky, it doesn't take much for a fly to, well, fly off. And once they're gone, they're not like dragonflies which has a tendency to return to its original spot. They just move on !

One trick I've been told to keep them still is to spray a fine mist of water at them to fool them into thinking it's raining. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm not sure about it - if there's rain coming, I'm sheltering !

The first picture, Orange is my World, is a favorite. Taken against a new pot of daisy my dad just bought home, the fly appears to be from another planet with all the hot orange background against it. In a technical sense, this was a bit of a challenge as well for a couple of reasons. The amount of blurred background had to be just right - if I showed too much details from the flower, I think the effect wouldn't be the same. This meant I had to make sure my f/ stop wasn't too narrow. But that in turn created another problem - the fly's a very dark color, I had to meter correctly to ensure I didn't create blown highlights by metering solely on the fly itself.

The next photo, Top Fly demonstrates a common problem with macro. I'm actually using a macro lens, and I was photographing the fly at 1 time magnification. What that means is the why actually in actual size on my camera's sensors. High magnification problem creates what is known is a shallow depth of field (DOF), which really means only a small area of the photo is in focus. Notice how some part of the abdomen and the right wing is not in focus. Try as hard as I could, and I'm still left with some area out of focus. There are was to counter this, we'll get to that in another post.

The 3rd and 4th photos, Bug's Eye 1 and Bug's Eye 2, is to demonstrate the difference when photographing with and without flash. Bug's Eye 1 was photographed with an external flash, the Nikon SB-600. The flash was diffused with a flash cap to create better lighting conditions. Notice how much more details appear when external flash is used. Also, the photo with flash appears to have less noise. All other settings are the same. Goes to show how important external diffused flash is when doing macro photography.

Place: Penang

Rainbow

f/8, 1/100s, D80




New and Old ?

f/8, 1/60s, D80




Facade

f/8, 1/500s, D80




Lorong Madras

f/8, 1/80s, D80




Pay up !

f/8, 1/80s, D80




Thinking inside the box

f/8, 1/30s, D80

One of my favorite places in Malaysia is Penang. The historic Georgetown, with buildings in various stages on neglect and disrepair on one hand, and on the other, beautifully restored, and sometime garishly colored, is one of those places where time has stood still in some corner and got turbo-charged in some others.

I recently had the good fortune to visit Penang, and I set out to capture some of Georgetown in photos. As I always do, I had an objective for my little walkabout / photoshoot. I wanted to capture bits and pieces of the feeling of being in Georgetown.

I am not a street photography kind of person, and I'm not very keen on capturing people, so I knew I wanted to capture objects - street signs, buildings, and other things that embody Georgetown in my mind.

Photoshoots in urban settings means a lot of walking, so comfortable shoes and clothes are the first order of the day. Also, you may want to choose a time when the weather is more favorable, perhaps avoiding the hot afternoon sun, both because it'll be really hot, and also because the light is too harsh.

And of course, a telephoto lens with good wide angle and decent zoom is important. The 18-200 VR from Nikon is perfect for this. I'm still saving up for that, so I used the 18-135 kit lens instead. The lens gives me the ability to take good landscape or panorama photos when required, and the zoom allows me to pick up subjects from afar, without being too 'in-your-face'.

'Rainbow' is a favorite, although the photo itself is nothing to shout about. The horizon isn't even straight ! I like it because I don't see rainbows that often !

'New and Old ?' reflects Penang the way I see it - old temples, mosques and churches set in an urban environment with apartments and condos.

'Facade' captures the quintessential Penang imagery - that of old shop houses. Some of you might be asking about the deep blue sky. I didn't use a CPL filter to get that. I realised that if I use a slow shutter speed against a clear blue sky, the blue turns out in a very dark shade. To make this work for this photo, I had to find a facade facing the sunlight, else I would underexpose the facade since the shutter speed was set to 1/500s.

'Lorong Madras' was begging to be photographed. It stood out instantly when I saw it - a green sign against a bright red background.

'Pay Up !' sets two parking meters against a crumbling wall in the background. I really like the fact that I managed to capture the texture of the wall in the background.

'Thinking inside the box' is a scene I caught at the New World Park food court. While having lunch, I noticed this young girl being placed in a box while her mum busies herself preparing food. She was awfully adorable, and was the center of attention of a number of people around her.