Up Close with Nature

This is how a female giraffe weevil/long-necked beetle (Paracycnotrachelus sp) builds a nest and lays egg on its host plant,  Bridelia tomentosa plant. The female giraffe weevil/long necked beetle spends about one hour to complete building her nest and lay egg inside the cradle. All the images here were taken with a Nikon D80 and a Tamron SP90 The Bridelia tomentosa host plant is quite common in

So what's in my camera backpack when i go on a macro outing? Well, these are the stuff i normally bring for a typical macro outing. Sometimes I included a wide zoom too. Click on the images to go to my Flickr page to view all the notes. A cheap but sturdy tripod. The iced black coffee (kopi-o peng) is optional. a small/medium towel 40D, MPE65 1x-5X macro lens, MT24EX Twin Flash, Sigma 150,

I try not to share just a macro shot or two, but a macro photography tip as well in my blog. And I am not going to make any exception here. This macro photography tip, however, will only work if you have a short or medium focal length macro lens, such as the Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon 60mm macro lens, or the Canon MP-E65 1X-5X Macro Lens. But first a bit of story and drama first :D A bee fly

This is just a simple, quick and dirty review of the effectiveness of the Image Stabilization of the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM 1:1 Macro Lens.   . If you would like to know more about its IQ (Image Quality), you can check out the official reviews on Dpreview.com: Canon EF 100mm F2.8 L IS USM Macro Review Andy Westlake, October 2009 Based on my simple tests, the IS (Image Stabilization) of

Insects are really cool even as they are, but when they come in blue, they are just awesome. Blue is just cool. My favorite color too :). Here are some cool blue insects I have come across. Gotta love them! I also believe these cool insects are why most people take up slr macro photography! If you need more reasons to start liking and photographing insects, hear it from Sir David Attenborough in

"We are born without the fear of nature. Young children are fascinated with life around them, equally intrigued by a caterpillar or a dog. The fear of most creatures is instilled in us later in life by overly protective parents or teachers, peer pressure, and misguided media. By the age of ten most children either love or hate insects and other tiny organisms, and these feelings usually stay with

As you all know, I made a DIY Snoot Diffuser just for the loaned Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS L USM lens. This DIY Snoot Diffuser is designed to work on the 580EXII. Here are a few sample full flash shots from that setup: 100 IS and 580EX II speedlight and DIY Snoot Diffuser. I hope you find this DIY SLR photography tip useful. The making of the DIY Snoot Diffuser is here. How i further improved it to

So i have a DIY Snoot Diffuser that works on the Canon 100 f/2.8 IS lens and 580EX II speedlight. It works fine but I knew i could be better with a bit of further improvement. If you missed the first part i.e. DIY Snoot-Diffuser / macro diffuser, it's here. If you are looking for  DIY macro Diffuser for your MT24EX, look here. Since the diffuser is designed for 1:1 situation and the angle not

More workshops coming up. Keep an eye on Canon Camera (Malaysa) Facebook site for the latest update: Direct link:

This is how I made a DIY Snoot Diffuser that would work on a 40D, Canon 100 mm f/2.8 L IS macro lens, and 580EX II speedlight. If you are looking for a great DIY macro diffuser for the MT24EX, look no further. You can find the cheapest yet the best DIY concave diffuser I've DIYed so far here. Let me re-iterate that macro doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg. If you haven't already read it