The Biography of a Flower

The beginnings as a bud



Time to blossom



In full bloom



Arranged in a Bouquet



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The photos were taken in a dance programme called "People get connected" on 17 Sept 2006, at the colonial-age Victoria theatre in Singapore.

Being a part of the audience and shooting moving subjects at higher shutter speed, shot hand-held with a telephoto zoom without image stabilisation, in an ambience of choreographed indoor lighting simply meant one setting- exclusive use of ISO1600. The biggest surprise to me, was the low noise in the images than what was expected.

All the photos went thru Photoshop Elements, basic fixes lke crop, levels, contrast and saturation. But the 'Time to bloom' had a bit of shake due to the subjects' rythmic graceful motion(also called dance!), and I amplified it with use of radial blur in photoshop.

Monochromatic Dreams

I was talking to a friend recently about black-n-white photography, and started to give some examples on how they could be interesting. While searching for pics from my own collection, i took my older colour images and desaturated them to present them again. And voila ! I start to see a different world..













Thanks Ajay, I learnt to see my own photos in a new colour.. :)

The Sungei Buloh trail

"Why would I wake early on a Sunday morning, and trudge to Sungei Buloh wetland reserve, walking all alone with my camera and stuff ? What kinda adventure do I expect in a lazy mangrove forest anyway ??" - So I mused standing on the bridge at the parks entrance.



Watching a lazy winding river on a low tide, reflecting on the ways of life, isnt exactly the coolest thing to do on a hot & humid weekend morning.



A casual glance on the banks, and I see these weird footsteps of..of..of..what was that ? A slithery wicked reptile? A croc? A snake with legs ? Im was beginning to feel like the Crocodile hunter - Steve Irwin.




Back on the move, I was looking for tell-tale signs and directions from the other petrified creatures of the forest - crawling, webbing, hopping, fluttering, flying and tree-jumping - All their gazes transfixed towards the Master of the Mangrove.







Not one to leave any subtle clue undiscovered, I even found the dried flowers unambiguously pointing to 'its' direction. (Maybe I am imagining things here, but never mind the build-up)



There he was (or she?), the 2-metre long giant version of what we commonly call a lizard ! The Monitor Lizard is a passive reptile, but with sure and steady movements. It likes to stare intently at photographers, and when fully stretched can fully block the jungle track. For those who are not sure of reptilian behavior like me, it can cause litres of adrenalin tingling thru the arteries, with every move it makes. More so if you are mad enough to try taking close-ups of this jurassic dude !





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Less than a week since I posted this one, one of inspiring lovers of nature, the exciting and adventurous God of Reptilian world- Steve Irwin died in a freak accident, attacked by a stingray, during an underwater shoot.
His death uniquely affects the likes of the animal world for his conservation efforts, and the human world for his efforts to educate his own species about the rest on earth.
Hindu belief says advancement in species in rebirth is a sign of good karma. But I imagine the Crocodile hunter would be happier to de-evolve into a majestic King Cobra- to be one with his understanding friends on the planet.