Up Close with Nature

Semachrysa jade - a new species of lacewing I found in Selangor. Also my first time lucky with lacewing. Saw a couple of lacewings before but never managed any decent shots. I first saw and photographed this species in the wild in its natural habitat on May 10, 2011. A few lacewing experts came across images of this lacewing I posted in forums and Flickr and informed me that this could be a

Giraffe weevils / leaf rolling weevils / long necked beetles are one of my most favorite macro subjects. They are so just so cute and photogenic and a great fun to photograph, even more so when they are mating! I found my first giraffe weevil on March 8, 2008 - a male with long neck! But it wasn't until Oct 9, 2010 that I managed to find a mating pair of that particular species. More info here.

At first glance, I thought it was a Camaricus maugi crab spider. Peeping through the viewfinder, I was surprised to discover that it was a jumping spider, one that looked almost like a Camaricus maugi crab spider. Coiicidence? Or is it mimicking the Camaricus maugi? And if so, why? Camaricus maugi crab spider. See the resemblance? My first time finding a Salticid like this, no ID yet.

This is the fourth species of giraffe weevil / leaf rolling weevil I have found in Malaysia. I even found a female building nest! These have been IDed as: Korotyaevirhinus necopinus orientalis,  Legalov, 2003. (ID credit: Andrei) I took too many shots of these weevils....but who can resist such cuteness? :P Cute :) Yes, the weevil ate that much! When nature calls? No, it's not what you

Every MT-24EX user should check out Rob Ault's brilliant adjustable diffusers before making one of his/her own. These are the items that he uses in his rig: 1. Kaiser Bounce Flash Shoe x 2 2. Gary Fong Lightsphere II Inverted Dome(Translucent) x 2 3. Velcro Sticky-Back Hook & Loop Fastener  4. Blu-Tack Re-usable Adhesive 5. White Styrene Sheet Rob Ault's macro rig. Top view. Rob has two

Officially, it wasn't my first night macro anymore. Tried it when i was at Endau Rompin. But this time it was together with our usual macro gang. I also mentioned about a secret weapon here. If you are shooting full flash, with typical setting of 1/200, F11, ISO100, and flash (from your speedlight or dedicated macro flash) on, there is really no difference whether it's day or night, rain or

Okay, more like his backup macro rig since he too already has the MT-24EX. Again, a single 270EX / 270EX II is used here. The speedlite is placed upside down/belly up, like what I mentioned here. All he needed were some adhesive-backed velcro, and a lens hood. If you have a 270EX II and a newer body such as the 60D, 7D, 600D, you don't even need the OC-E3 cord as you can trigger the flash