If you'd just look hard enough.

17th October 2009: Jurong Lake Park

roomforrant — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:37:37 +0000

Daddy and I decided to go phototaking one last time before O’s one Saturday morning. It was blazing then, being just an hour or two before noon, but we didn’t mind because we were anxious to catch some insects. And everyone knows that insects like to come out when it’s terribly warm.

I love reflections by the lake! Symmetrical, huh?

Is it just me or is the effect lost when buildings and nature are captured together?

Look at the billowing clouds!

The warmer the weather, the more brilliant the colour of the sky.

Thereafter Daddy and I ventured nearer to the lake, where we spotted plenty of dragonflies. They were all very restless and energetic under the midday sun, unfortunately, so it was hard to get a good shot of them. One literally had to squat at the lake’s edge for minutes on end, quietly in wait, before a dragonfly mistook you for a strange misshapen piece of natural furniture and settle somewhere around. That almost never happens, so for the most part one has to take the initiative to creep as stealthily as she can towards the dragonfly.

I’ve proved my point.

That was the nearest we could get! After lots of squatting and crawling and sneaking and fruitless waiting under the baking sun we eventually gave up and ventured to the grassy regions of the park. That didn’t disappoint, because we found our prized catch of the day -

A green-black dragonfly, which very obediently stayed put while we snapped away!

This rusty man-made thing might be in a disarray, but it does form an interesting pattern from this angle.

Interesting… veins.

Count the total number of benches from this photo!

Nice hairy branches.

5 easy steps to saving a millipede from being trodden on to death in the middle of a footpath:

More dragonflies coming up!

Interesting ant. Looks like its body comprises of 3 gleaming gems!

Pretty wallflower! Was crawling with angry ants, though.

This was its… well, seed! Or maybe it was the fruit. It was awfully big, needless to say – maybe about 5 times the size of my fist!

10th October 2009: Hortpark

roomforrant — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:53:10 +0000

Some random evening when we had a strong urge to be near flora and fauna again (it was a while since we’d done that, on account of my EYAs), Daddy and I went to Hortpark. At the entrance we were greeted by this awwwfully moving sight:

A cherubic little girl feeding kois under the watchful eye of her doting father! Awww.

On the way to the parks, we saw another interesting sight:

Guess some people opt for a DIY zoom function.

Shall release an influx of flowery photos now:

This subtly reminds me of a guava.

Then came our prized catch for the day. Butterflies!

I’ve never been so close to a butterfly before, let alone see one so many times (there were quite a few in Hortpark that day; if you look carefully at all the photos here you’ll notice the patterns on their wings are slightly different), so I jumped at the chance and snapped away all I could.

I realized that butterflies have this habit of opening and closing the wings rapidly every now and then, but for the most part they settle on objects with their wings folded up. This is blur, but it was my best shot of the wings open.

A smaller, cuter but less fanciful breed.

A busy bee!

A confrontational bug! That’s a first.

I saw some unconventional things.

Scarecrows?!

A dead scarecrow! This one scared the lights out of me.

Get a room already!

I snagged another prized catch today, namely:

A baby dragonfly! At least, I think it is.

This adult was lingering nearby. Maybe they were related.

There was this once I wanted to step forward to snap something among some plants, and luckily I looked down before I did. The soil was covered with…

…weird crawly things! Goodness, I really felt a chill crawl up my spine then.

I didn’t mind this, though – at least it was pretty!

Towards the evening, unexpectedly, more bugs started revealing themselves. Around the time I was about to leave I spotted this.

Spot both!

2nd September 2009: Downstairs

roomforrant — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:16:22 +0000

One fine day I was walking around at the sort-of-park downstairs – and I stumbled upon THIS.

THIS!

30th August 2009: Chinese Garden

roomforrant — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 03:31:53 +0000

Chinese Garden is almost literally a stone’s throw away from home, so occasionally in the evenings I make a trip there, armed with my trusty Lumix.

They were 2 different dragonflies. I’ve taken so many of these gold ones that they’re getting a tad boring.

Isn’t this pretty? I like how its body gleams like jewels.

Oooh, I have quite a few of these shots! This one’s more interesting because of how the bodies are curved.

Looks like a dried leaf, and I almost definitely wouldn’t have spotted it if it were in a pile of dead leaves. Too bad it was among the living!

23rd August 2009: Singapore Botanic Gardens

roomforrant — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:11:28 +0000

Singapore Botanic Gardens is one of my family’s favourite weekend hangouts in the evenings, and today we decided to go there to capture the resplendent fauna and flora.

This one was HUGE! About the length of my entire hand.

Looks emo. Like hair moving in the wind!

Gaah, should’ve cropped this photo. These blue bees are really hard to capture!

As you can see, I love insects.

10th August 2009: Singapore Botanic Garden

roomforrant — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:24:55 +0000

7th August 2009: Chinese Garden

roomforrant — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:43:34 +0000

I’ve recently become obsessed with capturing dragonflies. Somehow I enjoy the challenge of sneaking up to them, unnoticed, putting my lens as close to them as I dare, and snapping away. It’s so rewarding to view the photos on the screen later, and when you see their thorax gleam mesmerizingly you’ll know it’s a clear shot worth keeping.

2nd August 2009: Chinese Garden

roomforrant — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:48:14 +0000

1st August 2009: Chinese Garden

roomforrant — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:18:25 +0000

On the way to Chinese Garden I came across this adorable spotted feline!

Looks grumpy, oops. It was on top of a car.

Love the texture? Looks velvet!

A missing petal!

I didn’t even notice this grasshopper until I viewed the photo on the screen! Amazing what macro shots can do.

26th July 2009: Chinese Garden

roomforrant — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:40:22 +0000

Daddy, mummy and I went to Chinese Garden one fine morning, to participate in some… big walk to raise money for children.

But they took too long to begin the walk, so after making a donation the 3 of us set off (phototaking) on our own!

All the flowers are so gloriously wet and dewy because it’s so early in the morning. And they do look better in photos that way. Apparently some professional photographers carry sprays around with them just so their flowers can look artificially dewy! Hmm, how ironic.

Despite it being morning, I got my fair share of insects.

It was from today that I garnered my whole collection of little hoppy buggers.

SEVEN WONDERS OF CHINESE GARDEN! Cool or what!