"Closed"

18-October-2011 (Sunday):

Was walking around in Kampong Glam and found that a number of shops were closed. Started to wonder, are they taking a break? Or are they "closed" for good? Being in such a touristy place, seeing shops closed was weird... Decided to do a series of shots with the same composition and format... here are some of them, the rest of the shots (and growing) can be found here.

Missing the smaller things in life

15-October-2011 (Saturday):

Sometimes, everyone is so fixated on the superficial and forgets the inner beauty of things. Below is one example-

We were at West Coast Park to join some friends to fly kites.. and while there, Lee Cher was walking around looking for opportunities of shots. Already almost bored with the "kite shots", her eyes wandered and then focused suddenly on some colors in the leaves of the tree that she was standing under. She realized that hidden below the leaves, were showers of bluish-purple and pink. Soon, she was snapping away and managed to capture many beautiful shots of this flowering tree.

This little episode reminds me of something we all know but sometimes forget- the little things in life that we fail to see. In our busy pace of life, we only see the big picture, the surface. But look beneath all that, we may be pleasantly surprised.

(c) Lee Cher

D3100 + D90.. and a Sony

Sunday, 09-Oct-2011:

After an early morning at Courts, and then a studio shoot for my graduation with the family, Lee Cher and I decided to take the new D3100 for a trial. We decided to give Rock a call to see if he was able to join us... (Rock just got his telephoto zoom lens and wanted to try that with a Raynox-250 that I had)

(sidetrack: it was OSOW, I ended up going to Buangkok Field to join layangman.com for an hour's fly.. the field was muddy but nevertheless, a good turnout)

I was excited to go to Sengkang Riverside Park again as I found Blue-Tailed Damselflies and other critters quite easily during the last visit... After a short while on the boardwalk/bridge, we discovered that the everything an arms length away and I could not get close enough to our subjects. It was alright for Lee Cher as she soon had portrait and telephoto lenses...

Cats-Tail (c) Lee Cher

(c) Lee Cher

Soon after, we moved to the pond on the northern side of the park. There, I was a little more comfortable (like my home ground) and moved around more easily right next to the water's edge... Luke and Charles were off their bikes and started spotting things for me. They were also keen to bring me the critters directly..


"Damsel in Distress" in Charle's hands (c) Steven



Pond skater (c) Lee Cher


This in my opinion was a difficult shot as the whole pond was already grey and too much ripples. Lee Cher was quick to catch a "sole" pond skater bringing out the ripples that the pond skater created.


Blue-tailed Damselfly (c) Steven


(c) Steven



Stink-bug (c) Steven

Not so sure where I shot this but it was a shot that I liked during that day. The sun was truly beginning to set and this was one of the last shots without strobes.

Water spider (c) Steven

The water spider was my best catch of the day. I have always wanted to get a picture like this after seeing them online. I was fully engaged in shooting the damselflies when I noticed it quietly right next to me. It was facing away so I had to use my LV (Live-View) LCD to shoot this. After half a dozen shots, I finally got this! So I confirmed.. spider has eight (8) eyes.

(c) Rock

While totally focused on a dragonfly, we did not notice Rock snapping away at us. It was a nice shot, to see the D90 and the new D3100 being put through its paces together. Thanks Rock for this picture!

*****

The short 2 hours before dusk gave us enough opportunities to shoot some interesting subjects before it became to dark. Being able to go out together now with a camera each definitely allowed us to share the experience, and also to cover more grounds.. can't wait for this weekend!

Getting a good deal?

Sunday, 09-Oct-2011: I woke up a excited and at the same time apprehensive this morning. I had a plan.. a plan to do something that I have never done before.

(The day before - 08-Oct-2011): Lee Cher and I was having breakfast in the airport and reading that there is a sale at Courts. The D3100 was selling at $599 (which was a good deal given it is about $1000 normally). We arrived at Courts at almost 11am and lo-behold, it was sold-out.. (Why was I not surprised). We learn't from the sales person that all were gone by opening time, and mostly taken up by business-opportunity folks whom came with friends in droves. He kindly advised us to be there by 8am to Q to get a chance...

(Back to Sunday 09-Oct-2011): I wrote a little post-it note, stuck it on my Macbook (Lee Cher knows to look there usually) saying "I went to Courts". Drove to McDonalds to pick-up a latte. And ended up sitting outside Courts Tampines at 7.45am. I was number 6. The first 5 were foreign workers, seemingly sent there by their boss, to Q for the 5 Samsung LCD TV. I even contemplated, maybe I should go to Giant and get breakfast first, but.. I was "afraid" of loosing my spot, and risk loosing the opportunity to get the D3100 at a good deal.

I got myself comfortable sitting on the floor (should have brought my field chair), with the latte, I actually started cleaning up my photo library... and also reading the news from CNA, WSJ, CNN, ... etc...

Soon, more joined the Q, the gentleman that arrived after me (i.e. position #7) came with his maid. And I realized he didn't even know what he wanted. Originally a soundbar, then seeing I was getting a camera, he almost switched to buying the Panasonic GF2 (I think it should be a GF3 though). Eventually, I convinced him to buy what he needs rather than what has the greatest savings on the newspaper, and he kept to buying 2 soundbars.

Just at about 9am, the two foreign worker in front of me decided to go for breakfast and told me that I should let them come back to their positions after. Not wanting to be in the middle of any tussles, I told them they can do it at their own risk, but if they are denied their positions later, it is their own responsibility and not mine. After that, they decided to just sit down again... hungry (I guess).. just like me, also without breakfast.

I must also confess throughout the morning, after Lee Cher woke up, she tried to convince me she should bring breakfast.. I did "cooly" turn her down. Actually, if she came, maybe we would have gotten that soundbar (or something that we probably will not use).. Luckily she did not come to the Q that morning.

Finally, after sitting in the line for 2.5 hours, cleaning up my photo library and reading CNA + WSJ on my ipad. Plus talking to the others that joined the Q after me... I succeeded to get the #1 coupon for the Nikon DSLR D3100 @$599.

First I thing I did after getting the coupon, was to run to the toilet inside and then upstairs to level 3 to pay and collect the camera, then head home... By the afternoon, the battery was charged, and Lee Cher and I (plus Rock and his kids) had a great time shooting at Sengkang Riverside Park. But that's another post for another time...

Zooming in...

2-Oct-2011 (Sunday): Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves was much bigger than I anticipated, and more "wild" than I imagined. Being our first time at this reserve, I have to admit we were quite inadequately dressed. Even though we "moisturized" ourselves with insect repellent, it was evident that soon, the mozzies were all over us. Without wanting to be defeated, we decided to take the "short" 500m boardwalk.

As we got near the visitor centre (a short 50m walk from the relatively small car park), I already started to get busy.. A lizard was lying on a little bush giving my first opportunity to take some zoom-ins of it.

This was the first time I had the opportunity to capture such lizards up-close. Its scales and "fins" atop its body came out well and the texture amazing.

.....

After paying our $1 entrance fee, I realized I was not alone in trying to catch some critters macro close-up style as another photographer (he seem to be leaving) was on the floor with a Nikon + Ring Flash + Soft-box Diffuser... I was full of envy. Was about to ask him how was his catch but he turned away and walked off in the opposite direction. Alas an opportunity to make another friend. I should try to be less hesitant.

.....

This little fellow was about 5mm long (body only) and right next to the boardwalk. Not sure if it was responsible for eating up the leaf it was on.. What irony, it needs the leaf to sit on, but its eating away its seat? Laying motionless, it became my only macro close-up of the day.

Having already walked probably 250m of the 500m boardwalk and after taking this shot, I kept all the macro gear and replaced it with my 70-300mm telephoto lens. And then the real fun began..

After a few shots of mud crabs and mud skippers from the boardwalk at top-down views (not my favorite perspective at all), I chanced upon this at a junction. Yelling (softly) for Lee Cher to wait-up and asked her to come see, I got this beautiful long-legged forest spider standing ground right in the middle of a very large web (probably a meter wide). Couple of its younglings were running around her making it a real "Happy Family". Gotta research into find out the species of this.. Its yellow markings on its body should be easy (I hope) to find its id.

This was a difficult shot to take as the bee was literally darting around in mid-air, not even over flowers or something so that I can try to pre-focus. Turning on the camera's AF, I was able to just focus on tracking the fellow, and I must say I'm quite happy with this shot. Looking at it again, it almost look "cartoon" like, especially like the Bee from the "Bee Movie".

As we finished the boardwalk and ventured a little into Route A, there was a crowd gathering on the bridge and a lady was kind enough to tell me they spotted a crocodile. Edging me to go take a picture of it, I walked towards the area she pointed (while staying on the track still of course). But I found no crocodile but instead, a group of tourists speaking way too loudly for the reserve. Walking back towards the bridge and to the main observation hut, I was startled by some motion in the vegetation just next to me. And I found this monitor lizard staring right at me. I can imagine it must have been startled by the noisy group of tourists that walked by just seconds earlier. I thought this was another interesting shot, kinda made me wonder; who's observing who? This place is their home, and we are really just visitors.. Its important that we are polite and well behaved when we visit, after-all we leave at the end of the day, and they stay on.

And the crocodile... din see it.

(a couple more shots below capturing the wild biodiversity of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve)