Mating Damsels


It has been a while since I last took macro-shots of insects at the Botanical Gardens. While the rest of the northern hemisphere is having cold weather for now, we are experiencing the rainy / monsoon season which makes photography almost impossible. In fact, the skies were pouring non-stop for the most part of yesterday!

I took this picture of mating damselflies at the Botanical Gardens in 2004. I had quite soft lighting for the initial few shots I snapped. As luck would have it, the sun decided to make a strong appearance, bathing the two in warm and bright lighting. Lots of post-processing done on the original RAW file in boosting the colours and saturation… Wanted to give a Velvia-feel to the final result 🙂

ARPS #12 – Total Captivation

ARPS #12 - Total Captivation

Image #12 from my ARPS series…

These gentlemen were seen captivated by a chess game at Chinatown, Singapore. Selective processing/desaturation of the background was done using Photoshop to bring out the main subjects of the photo. These group of men have provided me with numerous photo opportunities on my repeated trips to Chinatown 🙂

Interestingly, I did a Google search on myself recently (you should try it for yourself — it’s amazing some of the things you can find sometimes!) and found a link to this photograph from a tutorial on selective desaturation 🙂 It’s worth taking a look!

Phra Phai of Wat Arun

Phra Phai of Wat Arun
The pictures I take sometimes stir up retrospective curiousity about the subjects I have taken. Luckily, I usually manage to dig up enough information on the Internet to satisfy the curious streak in me 😛

This was taken in Bangkok during my trip there last month… When I took the picture, it was nothing more than a study of contrast, lighting and architecture to me. Searching on the Internet though, I am made aware that the picture I have taken is that of a Wind God, or Phra Phai residing in one of the four Prangs (Khmer-style tower) that surrounds the central 79-meter high pagoda (Phra Prang) of Wat Arun. Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn, is a 17th-century Siamese temple named after the Indian god of dawn, Aruna. The Phra Prang is decorated with a mosaic of multi-colored Chinese porcelain and is symbollic of Mount Meru, the home of the gods in Buddhist mythology. The temple served as a royal temple and palace during the reign of King Taksin (1733-1782 AD). It is currently one of the most well-known landmarks of Bangkok visited frequently by tourists.