Tropical rainforest, Singapore

zes

Arachnosquire
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Apr 18, 2009
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oh wow, i never knew there are such beautiful bugs in singapore. I guess the next time i go back there I ought to take a more careful look o.o
 

bluefrogtat2

Arachnoangel
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Oct 19, 2006
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great pics as usual gavin,love 'em
andy
ps the ant pic is amazing got an 8x10?lol
 

pato_chacoana

Arachnoangel
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Feb 2, 2008
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Truly amazing pictures Gavin! Thank you for posting them and congrats on your trip :)

Best wishes,
Pato
 

Kugellager

ArachnoJester of the Ancient Ones
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@Draiman - Awsome macro photography! What kind of setup are you using? Do you have a specific macro lense or are you using a telephoto as a macro? Or do you just use a point and shoot? They are all well lit and very sharp images.

If using an SLR camera what lense and F-stops are you using?

Once again - awsome photography!

John
];')
 

Draiman

Arachnoking
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@Draiman - Awsome macro photography! What kind of setup are you using? Do you have a specific macro lense or are you using a telephoto as a macro? Or do you just use a point and shoot? They are all well lit and very sharp images.

If using an SLR camera what lense and F-stops are you using?

Once again - awsome photography!

John
];')
Hey there John, thanks! :D

I don't actually use any expensive gear. Simply a Nikon D40, 18-55mm kit lens, macro filter (10x magnification I think) and a flash diffuser. The diffuser plays a huge role.

For macro I typically go from f/8 to f/13. Beyond f/13, you get diffraction and you end up losing (some) sharpness, not to mention depth of field - I'm a big fan of bokeh (bokeh is the out-of-focus areas in a photo, but I'm sure you know this; I'm saying this more for the benefit of other members who may be new to photography :))!

I do plan on getting the AF-S VR Nikkor 105mm Micro (they call it "micro", but it's really a macro lens; the lens isn't "micro" either - it's rather bulky and heavy) once I have enough cash though. Or perhaps the 60mm, also a macro lens.
 

Kugellager

ArachnoJester of the Ancient Ones
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Cool...so the diffuser is the key. I have a Canon Rebel Xsi with an 18-55 kit lense as well...also have a Tamron 28-300 Telephoto which I use more often for the macro shots. I moved up to an SLR from a Sony DSC-F717 about a year ago and am still learning the SLR.

I must admit I have not played with my 18-55mm much in that respect...Will have to use that one more often. I figured you didn't go way high in the F-stops because of the bokeh...It definitely makes the subject 'pop' when it is razor sharp and the background is unfocused.

Since I do not have a jungle to play in locally I usually do mine in a little photo stage I have fabricated for bug shots. I use a couple of basic reflector lamps to which I set my white balance and use a subatrate as close to what I can find that will mimic the natural environment (for scorpions).

Your info will definitely help me with my " in the wild" macro-photography.

Thanks,

John
];')
 

WS6Lethal

Arachnoknight
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FANTASTIC pictures. The jumper looks like he's wearing goggles!
 

Draiman

Arachnoking
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Me ;)



We found a number of these funnel-burrows in trees and tree stumps. There was a spider in this one, and it's now with me (sorry for the horrible quality; I didn't want the spider to get away).

 

JC50

Arachnobaron
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The rain forest looks like a great place to find many interesting insects and animals.
 

MaartenSFS

Arachnobaron
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Apr 26, 2008
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I was under the impression that Singapore was quite small, although Hongkong is small and there's plenty to see there (But a lot bigger than Singapore). Where exactly did you take these photos? Also, WHAT WAS IN THE HOLE??? :?
 

Draiman

Arachnoking
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I was under the impression that Singapore was quite small, although Hongkong is small and there's plenty to see there (But a lot bigger than Singapore). Where exactly did you take these photos? Also, WHAT WAS IN THE HOLE??? :?
Singapore is indeed tiny. From Wikipedia:

"The Republic of Singapore is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At 710.2 km2 (274.2 sq mi), Singapore, a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast Asia, is by orders of magnitude larger than Monaco, San Marino, Andorra and Vatican City, the only other surviving sovereign city-states."

This, coupled with the fact that 95% of Singapore's originally forested land has been cleared and urbanised, means there is actually very, very little rainforest left. In fact, about 50% of Singapore's animals have already gone extinct (including the tiger, Panthera tigris), many of which were endemic to the island, and this was only after the British authorities began to make records; even more were already extinct before that. Most of the island's forests now are secondary forest, with almost nil megafauna. There is very, very little primary forest left. It's a tragic situation. I am quite certain that some theraphosid species found in neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia would have been found in Singapore as well (Selenocosmia, Haplopelma sp.), had the rainforest not been so ruthlessly cleared.

But I digress. So why do you want to know where exactly I took the pictures? Do you know Singapore well enough to know what I'm talking about if I were to give you the name of a place?

I'll try to get a picture of the spider I found in that burrow.
 
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