Up Close with Nature

I was the Featured Photographer for February 2012 in one of our local photography forums- PhotoMalaysia. Thank you, PhotoMalaysia. The thread can be found here.   Here is the interview: Q. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? I am known as Kurt (orionmystery) to my real life photography friends and many more in some ten macro photography forums (and facebook!) I actively post in. I

Life cycle documentation for a Viciria sp. jumping spider family I came across recently, in chronological order: from eggs, to newly hatched to after first molting (first instar). Not a complete one, I know, but I am more interested in the initial stages. All images taken with 40D, Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro Lens ,Canon MT-24EX Macro Twin Lite Flash and DIY Concave Diffuser. Jan 21, 2012

All the spiders you see here were photographed within Malaysia - mostly in the Peninsula. Only a couple of them were photographed in Sabah (East Malaysia, Borneo), either Danum Valley, or Maliau Basin. Ant-mimic crab spider, Amyciaea lineatipes, mating! More bugs porn here:D A male ant-mimic crab spider, Amyciaea lineatipes, with weaver ant prey More ant-mimic spiders here. Crab Spider (

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you and your family! Now a muack from the fly :D (front a couple of years ago :D) Hover fly Santa and giraffe weevils reindeer :D..recycled from last year, or maybe 2 years ago:D. Remind me to do a new one next year! Oh I couldn't resist adding the red nosed lanternfly in :D...that was last year :D If you want to see more lanternflies, click

2011 is almost over and as usual, I spent some time going through the images I have taken this year to come out with this mosaic. Created using BigHugeLabs' Mosaic Maker. It's been a good year. I only realized I found 5 new species (to me) of lantern bugs this year after going through the whole year's images. I had also managed to cross off a few insects/arthropods from my wish list, such as

This is an alternative to the FMMB and it is also wireless! No ETTL cord (CANON OC-E3 OFF CAMERA SHOE CORD ) needed! If you really like the FMMB (Front Mounted Macro Bracket) but don't know how to DIY one for yourself, fret not. There's an easy way out, and it won't really cost you a lot! Items like extension tubes and Canon Speedlite 270EX II Flash  are items that will come in really handy in

Lacewing and mantidfly are insects in the order Neuroptea (net winged insects). Both are quite rare, at least here in Malaysia. I have only seen like 7 lacewings in four years of macro photography, and even fewer mantidflies! Other Neuropterans like antlions and owlflies will be included here as well. My first mantidfly. What a gorgeous creature! Another shot of this beauty. Another one with