Okay, these are not water spouts; they are just water shooting upward from a small pond on the compound of Malaysia’s National Museum in Kuala Lumpur.

A bit more of shutter speed, something like 1/2500, should be able to do the trick; but alas, such a speed is beyond any point-and-shoot camera.

Posted in Water Macro 3 Comments »

This close up photo of a wild flower is taken against the backdrop of flood water back in my unnamed village, which is located in between Kampung Tingkalanon and Kampung Morion in Tandek, in the northern part of Sabah, the Malaysian state on Borneo Island.

Flood water, or for that matter any large bodies of water, can be an excellent background for close up photography. Not only that the watery background can easily be diffused to give a very blurry background for a subject, using water as a backdrop also gives the photo a sense of tranquility.

If done correctly, you could have a picture with which you could almost listen to how “peacefully quiet” the surrounding is.

Posted in Flower Macro, Water Macro No Comments »

Macro photography is about giving a new lease of life to what the eyes — and by extension the mind — take for granted in our everyday life.

It’s about looking closer at things and to be able to examine them — and to contemplate their existence — a little bit more with the benefit of seeing the finer details.

This series of close-up pictures are taken from my parents’ paddy field in Sabah, the Malaysian state on Borneo island. The paddy itself is about a week old.

I did not plan to take these pictures when I took my camera to the paddy field just before sunrise not very long ago.

Actually I had wanted to take a picture of the paddy field against the backdrop of a rising sun but was not satisfied with the results.

Then I saw the few remaining drops of water on the blades of the young paddy saplings. The rest, as they say is history.

I hope the pictures here would inspire you to go to the field early enough to catch the morning dew before they evaporate. A DSLR would have done a better job, but I had to make the best of what I have.

So, as you can see here, it was not just the early birds that catch the worms. Early point-and-shoot photographers too, can catch their own worms.

So, get out of the bed early, take your point-and-shoot camera out and explore the little universe in your backyard… up close!

Posted in Plant Macro, Water Macro No Comments »