Category: Macro

Featuring the tiny, close up

Taken With A Pinch Of Salt

Taken With A Pinch Of Salt
I received a birthday gift in advance from CY in the form of a Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 carbon-fibre tripod. I have been longing for a lightweight tripod for some time. I still feel that a tripod is essential in many situations for good and sharp photography but abandoned the idea of bringing my older Manfrotto aluminum tripod on my two most recent overseas trip to spare my shoulders and back :P. With this new tripod, I certainly won’t have any more excuse not for bringing it along for my photo trips!

One of the interesting features of this new tripod is its Quick Center Column system which allows me to put the camera quickly into a horizontally-mounted position. I played around with this feature in my kitchen using a macro lens, a pinch of salt, a compact disc and a torchlight. I am pretty happy with the above shot I managed to get 🙂

Turning A New Leaf

Turning A New Leaf
These leaves of the dillenia suffruticosa (or Simpoh air) are native to the Malayan Peninsula (with Singapore at its southern most tip). There were lots of them in abundance when we visited the Southern Ridges over the weekend. What we found interesting was the attractive golden green glow of the newly forming leaves, which made a nice, contrasty photographic subject compared to the surrounding green of the larger leaves.

Emeralds Of The Forest

Emeralds Of The Forest
We took a short little hike through the Southern Ridges in Singapore today, starting from the Hort Park. I was expecting to do some macro photography and brought along my macro lens and tripod. Ultimately, I relied more on the longer reach of my 70-200mm lens. As for the tripod, I had to abandon it and use the surrounding railings for support since the metal bridges of the Forest Walk we were on magnified the tremors from the footsteps of every passer-by, making the use of the tripod pointless. I am happy to have gotten some decently sharp pictures in the end!