Tag Archives: macro

Peek-a-Boo Turtle

Posted on by

Goes without saying that our pet terrapin spends more time in the tank than out of it — we take him out and let him roam around the living room, sometimes my studio, where he adventure begins. He’s so good at hiding that sometimes it takes us a while before we figure out where he is at. Finding his whereabouts can at times be an adventure itself when we take our eyes off him for a minute. Shame the other turtle died last year or we would have twice the fun.

See reactions and comments on Facebook

One of my favourite peek-a-boo moments from 2011 back when he had a companion sharing the same tank.

When you bring dark reflective object near an animal they often find it daunting that they shy away. I took this photo using the EF 100mm Macro just inches away and surprisingly he didn’t budge or even blinked. A year ago, this moment might have been challenging to capture.

What You Can’t See Sitting In The Dentist’s Chair

Posted on by

I’m usually the one who takes the kids to dental appointments and one this one occasion I brought along the 5D Mark II and EF 100mm Macro. Not for the purpose of taking the pictures you see here but just in case I bump into something macro worthy such as this beautiful sunflower I came across in October 2009. The dental appointment usually took an hour or so and not wanting to risk theft or the electronics getting fried in intense heat I brought it down with me. One thing led to another and with no objection from the hygienist, I shot away, the whole time maintaining a distance for obvious reasons.

kids-dental-001

Prophylaxis (short for prophy) paste – a special gritty toothpaste-like material – is scooped up like ice cream into the cup and spun around on the teeth to make them shiny smooth.

kids-dental-002

Polishing is done using a slow speed handpiece with a soft rubber cup that spins on the end.

kids-dental-005

I don't know what this instrument is called but it may be what is referred to as the high-speed handpiece (dental drill) that sprays out a jet of water. Obviously if your teeth are being worked on you'll never get to see the drama that goes on inside your mouth.

kids-dental-004

After the sealants are put on, the dental assistant harden or cure the sealants by shining a blue light on them. The orange filter that you see on the curing light above filters out the visible light, allowing the dentist or assistant to see what they are doing without looking directly at the possibly harmful light.

Captivated By Life On Belait Seashores

Posted on by

By about 9.30am the morning had sprung to life with gorgeous weather that inspired me to go for a swim. It didn’t take me much deliberation to decide that the swimming pool was my immediate destination to check-in on Gowalla. Although I wasn’t pleased that the pool is closed for maintenance without notification, I was determined to enjoy a productive morning instead of a disappointing trip home.

After a pit stop at Soi Heng coffee shop for my favourite fried Kway Teow I still refused to head home and spur of the moment decided I’m going to get some sun regardless. Other than the pesky sand-flies, the beach has never disappointed me and with my G11 in hand and a little bit of luck, I brought home some incredible moments.

One of the many variety of FIDDLER CRABS that are popular on our beaches.

 [ Images above from May 2008 post: Beach Crabs They're No Hermits ]

BeachCrabs-001

I spotted not one but two washed up jellyfish carcass (the kind without tentacles) within a stone's throw and all this discovery occurred right at the Billionth Barrel Monument beach front. Bright spot is a reflection of the noon direct sunlight.

Around comes one crab, checks out the perimeter of the jellyfish to make sure it's safe to mount.

BeachCrabs-002

Typically, it's near impossible to photograph these hyper active creatures. The second you move a limb they disappear in a blink. The idea here is to stay perfectly still and let sand flies enjoy a blood feast while you have your equipment set to capture them once in view. I captured this with the PowerShot G11 with Neutral Density enabled to cut off the intense direct midday sun along with a -1 Exposure Compensation

BeachCrabs-003

Let's dig in—bon appétit! Though the entire crab isn't in focus in this photo, it's good enough to see that it's got small amount of jellyfish flesh on its smaller claw. I saw it feed several mouthfuls of "sushi" the entire time I kept still photographing this amazing piece.

BeachCrabs-004

Trying hard not to frighten the crab off with any abrupt movement, I slowly and carefully inched my thumb to activate slow sync flash and the camera metering turned the scene into what appears to be a night shot and resulted in some degree of vignetting.

[ Image below from December 2008 post: Horn-eyed crab foams at the mouth ]

Foaming process keep their gills moist and to balance the salt concentration within its body by excreting mucus to clear its airway. Another source thinks foaming at the mouth is a sign of stress.