Purple Lips

Dendrobium Caesar hybrids making an appearance in the conservatory. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Cannibalism On The Bay

A damselfly that was still alive but barely in the Kingfisher Lake. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

A female Common Bluetail had her abdomen chewed off at the 1st segment by one of her own. What happened next could just make some sick; after devouring the abdomen, her cannibalistic kin came back for her head. A sad, ugly reality of life in this fallen world.

The damselfly was about a metre (a little over 1 yard) out on the lake and was back-lit by the late morning sun. A 2-stop positive exposure compensation was apparently still not sufficient so some local brightening was needed in post to adequately light up the damselfly.

Tough Renewal

A Great Hornbill trying out its repaired casque in the former Jurong Bird Park. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This Great Hornbill had apparently lost part of its casque to disease and was retrofitted with a replica by the bird park. The original image had distracting wire mesh and dense foliage in the background. That was because I couldn’t isolate the hornbill well enough as it was a good way inside the cage. So in post, the busy background was replaced with this grey one.

Outdoor Arts

Esplanade Outdoor Theatre by the bay livening up at dusk. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

With a shutter speed of only 0.8 second, the camera was placed on a roof parapet to get the shot. And as the original background had looked rather busy, it was locally darkened and toned down in post.

High And Dry

A boatman working on the propeller of his boat at low tide along Sungei Changi. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was captured in the harsh sun with the exposure biased darker by only 2/3 stop. The bulk of the work was then done in post. Highlights on the boat were darkened. The background behind the boat and the water in the foreground were also darkened. Overall contrast was then tweaked to get this final image.

An Everest Task

A Ford Everest in the Police stable. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was taken with the camera nearly on the ground and with much of the bright sky in the frame. I had to compensate by 1-2/3 stops to keep the car sufficiently lit. Colours were then tweaked a little in post to lend a warmer tone.

Oozing Barrel

An oozing Glaucous Barrel Cactus in the Succulent Garden. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

It was close to noon and this barrel cactus appeared to be oozing heavily. The capture was under-exposed by 1-1/3 stops to preserve details. Then in post, the tones were re-adjusted, yellow, cyan and green channels de-saturated and a fair amount of sharpening was applied.

A Hungry Heron

A Grey Heron still looking at fishes in a lotus pond after having just swallowed a big one in the Japanese Garden. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was taken back in 2011. The sun was pretty harsh and the face and belly of the heron was originally in the shadows. They were separately brightened up a bit in post.

In Its Favourite Restaurant

A Plain Tiger caterpillar finding itself spoilt for choice in its favourite feeding ground. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Christmas Colours

Poinsettias announcing the soon arrival of Christmas in the conservatory. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Sun-Loving Dahlias

Dahlias dancing in the sun on a hot afternoon. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

These dahlias were in an air-conditioned conservatory. I don’t think that they would last long out in the hot tropical climate here.

Flying Good Start

A young biker getting up to speed in the Marina Bay vicinity. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was captured some four years back. The shutter speed was fast enough to keep the little girl sharp but wasn’t slow enough to produce any meaningful motion blur. That had to be enhanced in post.