4/10 - Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West (30 Jan 10)

We woke up to a cool beautiful Saturday and at 7.30 am, we gathered near the entrance of Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West. To our pleasant surprise, we were greeted with a lotus-filled pond, all in different sizes and shades of pink.

The atmosphere was conducive to macro photography; in particular, the sunlight was soft with gentle and refreshing wind. Without further ado, we set up our equipment and explored every nook and cranny. We were delighted to see a few more enthusiasts who came by to join in the expedition around mid-morning.

Albeit the pond was lightly smeared with a layer of grease, it did not deter the insects from visiting the pond. We saw many varieties of insects like Wolf Spider, Pond Skater, Damselfly and Dragonfly right at the edge of the pond.


(Pond Skater by Sharon S. Lim)

Anthony spent a lot of time with an American bull frog. At one time, it jumped onto a velvety lotus leaf but its weight pulled it down. Perhaps the bull frog did not fancy the condition of the water so it jumped right back on the grass for Anthony again who managed to take a few frontal view.

(American Bull Frog, male by Anthony Quek)

Not too far away from the lotus pond, a young centipede was spotted scurrying away, a Cicada was sun-bathing on a brick wall and assorted butterflies were seen fluttering around freely.

(Cicada by Sharon S. Lim)

Amidst the diversity of insects and animals, hawk-eyed Allan spotted a young unrolled lotus leaf, which resembles a heart, befitting the forthcoming special occasion, Valentine's Day. Eventually, it became the highlight of the day.

Later in the morning, the sun became a little jarring so we packed up and headed for a palatable lunch at AMK Ave 3. We reconnected once again with laughter and humor.

Participants (10) : Sharon S. Lim (Team Leader), Pegi Lee, Ong Lim Sim, Anthony Quek, Allan Lee, Hazel Han, Simon, Chan CP, Rosemary, Endy Tan & Thomas

3/10 - Jurong Woods (16 Jan 10)

It was more than a year since we last visited Jurong Woods. Nothing really changed. It is still a quiet but interesting place for photographers to focus on shooting without much human distraction. This is because there is a "Protected Area" sign just outside the entrance of Jurong Woods. Occasionally we saw a few elderly men riding motorbikes and bicycles. Not too sure what they were doing in this deserted place here.

(Participants busy setting up, finding subjects and shooting)

The weather was fine when we started setting up at about 8.00 am. Jurong Woods is a huge place and it would be impossible to cover the whole area within a day. So, we concentrated more at the beginning stretch of bushes (see above image) and on the right hand side when we reached a "Y" junction. Many common subjects were spotted such as many species of spiders, dragonflies, damselflies, caterpillars, etc.


(Outdoor studio setup demonstrated by Allan Lee with the help of 4 ladies)

The catch of the day had to be the lynx spider having a damselfly as breakfast! As it was perching lowly at the slope near a canal, it would be impossible to get a good shot. We moved it up and an "outdoor studio" was immediately set up by Allan with the great help from our 4 nice ladies (see above). We then took turn to have some shots of them. We called it a day at about 11.30 am and went to the nearby Boon Lay Hawker Centre for lunch.


(Lynx spider with damselfly as prey by Allan Lee)

Participants (11) : Anthony Quek (Team Leader), Kyaw Htay, Stephen Lim, Cai Yixiong, Shereen Ng, Allan Lee, Ong Lim Sim, Pegi Lee, Sharon S. Lim, Tan Peck Kheng & Tony Png

2/10 - Upper Seletar Reservoir (9 Jan 10)

Close up of Tiger Beetle (Cosmodela aurulenta juxtata) by Allan Lee

The weather was fine that morning. Tony came (without registration), buying us breakfasts to our surprise. After finishing them, all of us set up at one entry near a portion of forest and started the outing. Going through the forested area, some butterflies were observed : Common faun, Common five ring, Archduke, Peacock Pansy, Branded Imperial, and some skippers. Then finally at the end of the route we found our star of the day, the Tiger Beetle.

(Group in action)

A sandy playground was full of tiger beetles, estimation was at least twenty of them. Many of us tried to get as near and as low as possible on the ground to get some close ups. we had to wait and move slowly to approach these little bugs.

(Stephen demonstrating how to shoot a Tiger Beetle)

Stephen was in the best position. He was flat on the floor and Ha...Ha... the ground was very cooling I must say! After that, we tried to explore the edge of the Nee Soon Swamp Forest and found many fungus, some damselflies and a giant millipede (about 25cm long). We ended the trip at about 12 pm and had our lunch together at Ampang Yong Toufu.

Participants (17) : Endy Tan (Team Leader), Stephen Lim, Pegi Lee, Ong Lim Sim, Kenneth Ng, Anthony Quek, Sharon S. Lim, Yeo TL, Allan Lee, Joshua Fong, Shereen Ng, Hazel Han, Chan CP, Rosemary, Goh Teck Leong, Tony Png, & Peter Low

1/10 - Intertidal night macro @ Tanjung Rimou, Sentosa (2 Jan 10)

This field trip was very successfully conducted with 19 photographers participated. Weather condition was unexpectly good, and we did see the "egg yolk" setting sun! All of us enjoyed ourselves very much. Yixiong & Nee Chye enjoyed the shooting of sunset. Richard, SC & many more took whatever gears available to them to record the scenic setting sun and the colourful sky.


("Egg Yolk" Sunset by Richard Erh)

The rest of the photographers started shooting those marine creatures as soon as they arrived the site. The tidal level was low enough to look for marine subjects on the time of arrival, but the best time was still after the dark fall when all marine organisms started to feel safe and actively came out to their comfort zone for "dinner". There were quite a large patch of green algae (Bryopsis sp) covering many parts of the coral rubble. Also, the water condition was not as good as the last visit. A lot of bubble floating around and the water was not so clear as before. Nevertheless, when it got darker and darker, we were getting busier and busier as there were so many things moving around to keep us busy.


("Green Crab" by Peter Low)

As usual, crabs were always pretty colourful and in good numbers. Snapping shrimps were playing hide and seek game. Octopus spreaded out its tentacles to grab its food regardless of so many people surrounding them. Beautiful flatworms appeared to redirect away the interest of photographers from octopus, swimming and floating from place to place. Seashells like gong-gong and Arabian cowries were so cooperative that everyone near to them got a good chance to shoot them. There were many many more out there. Unfortunately, the tide went down to it lowest level at about 6.15pm when the sky was still quite bright. Had it happened half an hour later, we would have much more nicer images to bring back. We ended our trip at about 8.50 pm and proceeded to Harbourfront Food Court for dinner.


(Red Egg Crab by Sharon S. Lim)

Participants (18) : Cai Yixiong (Team Leader), Richard Erh, Sharon S. Lim, Sher Woei Fong, Stephen Lim, Ong Wee Shien, Tan Peck Kheng (with Nephew Kelvin), SC Fang (with family), Peter Low, Hazel Han, Kyaw Htay, CP Chan, Destine Ang (with Kelvin), Allan Lee, Darren Chng, Teo Nee Chye, Shereen Ng & Lee Yan Leong)