Dragon Enlarged

This handsome little dragon allowed me to get up close and personal so I could take as many shots of him as I wanted.

Green

Living in a sub-urban locality in the Kerala state of India, green is a colour I see everywhere. And I see it so often that sometimes, it'll just bore the hell out of me. So here's a collection of all things green. These photographs were shot over the past few weeks.

Dragonfly Black & White

Sorry for the delay! I had been busy with school work and stuff. I haven't been shooting much recently, and my camera rarely exits the cupboard nowadays. However, there is just one shot I took of a dragonfly as it rested on a metal wire. I've been inspired by Vera to do black & white photography as well.

I might not post any photos for a while, but I will be back before long! Have a great weekend guys!

Colours!

I photographed this dragonfly one evening. The photograph looked rather lifeless at first, with dull colours. But after increasing the contrast a little, I realized how colourful and beautiful the image was. The green background with the various little colours of the dragonfly totally lit up the image.

Critters From an Evening Stroll

I was bored at home one Saturday evening so I decided to do a mini hunt I do everyday around my home. Several dragonflies were beginning to find their resting spots to spend the night.

And guess what, the Flower Mantis I spotted the previous day wasn't the only one around. I checked the same shrub and immediately spotted a baby flower mantis, just about half an inch in length.

It hopped onto the ground and I had great difficulty trying to photograph it. It was so freaking small! I managed this photograph, with a slight increase to the contrast.

Here are two random plant/flower shots I took during my search. I'm not really that good in photographing plants and flowers, but once in a while, it seems to work for me.

Insects Galore!

I went out for a walk in the afternoon to my relatives house. With me, I had brought by camera, on which I mounted my zoom lens. I brought the basic lens along as well. It was good thing I decided to mount the zoom lens, because I managed to spot and shoot a number of insects from a good distance. Here's a small wasp nest with a few wasps around it. The zoom lens helped me shoot the nest from a safe distance. I would never wanna get stung by one of these!

My relative joined me in my hunt and we spotted this beautiful Painted Jezebel Butterfly. I had always wanted to rear the caterpillars of this butterfly when I was young.

We came across another attractive butterfly too. But sadly I couldn't manage a shot of it with its wings open. That was where the bright and beautiful colours of the butterfly were hidden. Anyway I got a few side shots and I still like them.

And then this rather big stick mantis showed up. It sure was a beautiful creature. Although I've seen many like these here, this was definitely the biggest stick mantis I've ever seen.

And then, a number of common garden insects like caterpillars, katydids and dragonflies. But it was surprising to have found so many little critters in such little area!

Critters

Well, these are just a few critters I spotted one morning around my home. Frog, who already is a permanent resident in our tank.

I bet I've never managed a better photograph of a dragonfly than the one here. The image is really crisp, if you zoom in.

And, some other critters.

Blue Dragons

Traveled to India once again for a cousin's wedding in May 2010. Found this attractive blue dragonfly by a lake close to my cousin's home.

There were other little creatures too, like this forest damselfly.

Damselflies from MacRitchie

I just posted on the dragonflies I spotted in MacRitchie, well now here are the Damselflies. They are as common as dragonflies, except that it is quite tough for an amateur like me to differentiate one species from another.

A mating pair, species which I suppose is the Blue Sprite.

This is one of the most common species of damselflies seen in the area.

A view from the back.

Dragonflies from MacRitchie

MacRitchie Reservoir is home to a large variety of Dragonflies, due to tha large reservoir and many swamps surrounding the area. Here are a few species of dragonfly I managed to spot and shoot during the walk through the forest. A common species, orange in colour.

Another species, the Shaded Basker. I used to see this species commonly in Bukit Timah.

Here's a large dragonfly, no idea which species though. It was hanging onto a twig silently for a long time. And my, I do love its blue eyes caused by the camera flash.

Winged Wonders

There were a large variety of dragonflies and other winged insects around the campsite, but most dragons were quick and I didn't get to shoot many. Here are a few different species I managed to shoot.

And then there were a pretty good number of bees and wasps, which, I didn't really wish to go too close to. Here's a carpenter bee at its usual spot in the morning.

And a species of wasp, digging into the earth, probably that's where it resides.