29-AUG-2011
The Great Artist
Now I wouldn't mind having a bad hairstyle like this ..... just love the baldness of the tree, creating great lines of art. I know it's just a tree, still, I love it. God is a great artist, if we only took time to look and appreciate his creation.
09-JUN-2011
Ginger Flower
This is my first encounter seeing a ginger flower...one of the species. See the resemblance?
09-JUN-2011
Alien Invasion and its leftovers
Anything can be used to tell a story. Here is a few leftovers of a bloom which I made it look like a face. Kind of fit in with the nice eye lashes hehehe....
09-JUN-2011
Simpoh Air: Hidden Beauty
Simpoh Air also known as Dillenia Suffruticosa. I like the bloom though this is ...almost wilted it shows the inner beauty of a green liked ball shaped plant. Some regard this as a tropical weed.The large leaves of the Simpoh air were used to wrap food such as tempeh (fermented soyabean cakes), or formed into shallow cones to contain traditional "fast food" such as rojak.
20-OCT-2008
Caterpillar
Found the caterpillar and the pupa at the backyard. It was an opportunity which I couldn't resist was I was in the midst of organising a nature exploration for the children and one of the topics which I had in mind was the life cycle of the butterfly. I plan to organise a trip to the forest where the children are able to have a feel of nature and at the same time spot for the bugs/insects which they read in books.
For other images, please click on the thumbnails:
Kissing The Reflection
This shot was deliberately taken in such a way that the tip of the Lotus bud `kisses' the reflection of another bud.
Morning Dew
This shot was taken near the water fall in FRIM one early morning. I looked back and saw the lovely sunlight from the sky falling on the leaves. It's a mystical feeling walking along the man-made trail to the water fall.
Pattern Making
I have just discovered during one of my nature walk that one could play with pattern using just the subjects around us. In this particular excursion the leaves played an interesting role. Normally I wouldn't even take a second glance on the leaves but instead look for insects or even flowers to shoot. I took a few minutes to look at the plant. It had beautiful repeated leaves on it forming a rather unusual pattern. I moved the camera to several positions to allow myself to see different perspective from different angle. Try this out sometime and you will realise that you can do a lot of things with the subjects we normally take for granted. Never judge beauty by its first glance. You never know where you will discover the inner beauty of that subject. Likewise an ordinary looking face or thing, can be manipulated to look beautiful.
Fancy Crawler
As I was walking down the jungle trail, I spotted a spider web among the plants. I took a closer look and found this fanciful looking spider crawling up to the leave. It's a small spider which would have been easily missed. Sometimes we need to open our eyes to the beauty of nature around us.
Soul & Spirit
The human spirit and soul.
Water Droplets
This is as close as I manage to get to shoot the water droplets on this flower. I have yet found the opportunity to shoot one with a sparkle on the droplet which I think would be my aim. But to shoot another subject as a reflection on the droplet I think would require something more than a macro lens. For another shot of this flower, click on this thumbnail:
Somewhere Unknown
This is a close up shot of a leave with a shallow DOF. My empahsise is to instill a perception beyond what the eyes sees with a bit of an imaginative play.
Bunga Raya
The national flower of Malaysia is the hibiscus, or bunga raya. The flower is found in abundance throughout the country, and for this very reason, was chosen to be the national flower (in 1960) by Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. There are many varieties of the hibiscus, but the five-petaled Hibiscus rosa sinensis was chosen above the others, as the most symbolically relevant. The five petals of the bunga raya symbolise the Rukunegara (the Five Principles of Nationhood), while the colour red represents courage. It is believed that the flower first arrived in Malaysia via trade from its original home in the Far East sometime before the 12th century.
Did you know?? : The national flower, bunga raya, is known for its medicinal properties. The roots of the plant are used as a cure for fever and other ailments, while the juice obtained from the leaves and roots is said to be effective in relieving skin eruptions and glandular troubles. Also, the petals were commonly used as cosmetics to darken and highlight women's eyebrows.
King Of The Fruits
The durian is the fruit of trees of the genus Durio belonging to the Malvaceae, a large family which includes hibiscus, okra, cotton, mallows and linden trees. Widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as the "King of Fruits,"the fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and a formidable thorn-covered husk. Its name comes from the Malay word duri (thorn) together with Malay suffix that is -an (for building a noun in Malay), meaning "thorny fruit." It taste bitter sweet. I suppose being me, I could describe it like life being what it taste like - bitter sweet in journey. But the after breath smell is awesome and I think will kill that fly! LOL. Check out these shots also :
LEA
Why LEA? This morning glory flower was chosen to represent LEA Foundation which is suppose to act as a `trust fund' for the underprivilledged children.
The Seed
I think this is a rubber tree seed. I found it lying on the ground of the park. It looked interesting with its skin texture resembling like a quail's egg. I took the opportunity to take a close up shot of this nut. I was told it can be eaten (!!) or used as objects for child play.
The Odd One
Taken at FRIM - Forest Reserve Institute Malaysia this morning. Like the isolation of the leave, without having to saturate the image.
The Majestic Crane
I won't exactly call this the `Bird of Paradise' species, but close to it I think. At first sight it doesn't look very attractive but when you observe carefully, it sure resembles an image of a bird. Take a closer look. I didn't appreciate this flower until I saw somebody spending time taking shots of it and since then I fell in love with it.
The Weaver
Think and imagine yourself to be this green insect. With two extra long `arms' stretch out weaving the web. As he works on building his `nest'......what was he thinking and how he felt being almost a small invisible creature to humans. And where did I find this little fellow of all the places in the world?.....
Below is the image before crop:
Orchidaceae
Orchids (Orchidaceae family) are the largest and most diverse of the flowering plant (Angiospermae) families, with over 800 described genera and 25,000 species. Some sources give 30,000 species, but the exact number is unknown since classification differs greatly in the academic world. Orchids get their name from the Greek ορχις orchis, meaning "testicle", from the appearance of subterranean tuberoids of the genus Orchis. And all the while I have always referred orchids as feminine sensuality!
The Claw
Whose creepy claw does this belong to?
Madame Butterfly
It's an exhilirating feeling for me when it comes to taking macro shots. I deliberately made an emphasis on the flower to reduce the distraction at the background. This particular orchid looked like a butterfly. While admiring this orchid, I saw a bug and took the opportuinity to shoot it.
Spread Your Wings
Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages, below the eagle is soaring above it. The eagle does not escape the storm, it simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm. When the storms of life come upon us ... and all of us will experience them ... we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as EAGLES they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" Isaiah 40:31.
Giant Feet
How I wished I had long legs but these definitely doesn't belong to me! Check out the following image :
Playing With Light and Shadow
A little trick I discovered while shooting nature is to slightly under expose your shots to give more contrast to your image. It would have been perfect if there was a spider on the web but it was raining season.
Nature's Razor Wire
Many at times we take the tiniest subjects we walk pass for granted. I spotted this while trying to look out to shoot some macros. Decided to take this is my subject matter, trying to turn this to be as creative and interesting as I could.
My Knee
Tree stumps are nice to look at. In this case I spotted one that looked like a knee.
