Up Close with Nature

Khai Yai National Park is about two hours' drive from Bangkok. The main reason we went there, of course, was to look for my favorite lanternflies (Fulgoridae), especially the Pyrops. We managed to find five different species of them during our 5D/4N stay in the national park. I will be hosting more macro workshops in locations in Thailand and also Borneo in the near future. Limited seats only

Venus 60mm F/2.8 Ultra Macro Lens is the world's first 2:1 macro lens with infinity focus.  Yes, 2:1 i.e. 2X magnification. Native 2:1 magnification, all built-in - you don't have to add any accessories like extension tubes, teleconverter or Raynox diopter lens! All without losing the infinity focus too! And since you don't have to add tubes, you won't lose the ability to focus to infinity,

It is the time of the year to round up some of my favorite images taken in the year of 2014. Lots of herps (amphibians, reptiles) this year with many new species added to my collection. Instead of just 36 favorite images like the past few year, there are 108 favorites this year. If you would like to see more of any of the species posted here, just click that image and that will take you to my

Lampyridae firefly (Lamprigera sp. - ID credit: Michael Geiser, Gene Mesher) attacking and later eating a Giant African Snail (Achatina fulica. ID credit: Tan Siong-Kiat, Marcus Ng) that it killed earlier. Selangor, Malaysia. I first spotted the firefly because of its glow in the dark. You'll see the time stated above each image 8:36pm 8:36pm 8:36pm. The snail tried to escape! 8:

Polypedates discantus (Malayan Slender Tree Frog) is a new species described in 2013. This species was previously confused and thought to be Polypedates leucomystax (Four-lined Tree Frog). Polypedates discantus (Malayan Slender Tree Frog). In fact, when I look through all my previous shots of Polypedates leucomystax, I found a couple that are like Polypedates discantus. Like this one:

Plan a herping / macro tour with us. More details here on Orion Herp Adventure Travel. Tours in and around Peninsular Malaysia as well as Borneo are available. Sumatra, Thailand and Vietnam too in the near future. Snakes of Malaysia: These are all the snakes that I have photographed, mostly from within Peninsula Malaysia. Although far from complete, it should still be good for identification

Amphibians of Malaysia: Frogs of Malaysia / Amphibians of Malaysia. Frog Symphony. White Spotted Tree Frog / Cinnamon Frog (Nyctixalus pictus). Selangor. White Spotted Tree Frog / Cinnamon Frog (Nyctixalus pictus). Selangor. White Spotted Tree Frog / Cinnamon Frog (Nyctixalus pictus) amplexus. Selangor. More bugs (mainly) porn here. Spiny Wart Frog (Theloderma horridum). Selangor,