Tree Lipsticks

Bixa orellana or Lipstick Tree fruiting in the Gardens by the Bay. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

Rejoicing In The Garden

A driftwood deer skipping for joy in the conservatory. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Beautiful Sunday

Vases of daylilies brightening up the day in a shopping mall. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

Midnight Blues

The “Midnight Blue” laying in the sun in the Changi Sailing Club. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This nice looking boat is apparently for sale because of a termite infestation. It’s a pity as it looked perfectly okay on the outside.

Moody Travel

Tourists enjoying a thrilling view of Sentosa Island. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

Nell had spotted this while we were hurrying downhill to beat an approaching storm. Because of the overcast sky, the original image had lacked contrast and was a little hazy. An orange filter was added in post to provide the mood.

A Pigtail Plant

Anthurium scherzerianum or Pigtail Plant piquing curiosity in the Cloud Forest. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was exposed for the flower with 1-1/3 stops of negative exposure compensation. It could’ve otherwise been done by using spot metering without any compensation.

Trapped

A trapped Olive-backed Sunbird year looking longingly at the free range outside the conservatory. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This male Olive-backed Sunbird was somehow trapped inside the air-conditioned conservatory. He had all the nectar-rich flora inside the conservatory to himself but I think he won’t mind trading that for free range outside.

Sunbirds are rarely still except when they are preening themselves. This one was ‘caught’ in one of its momentary pauses between his many frenzied flights seeking a way out.

The Leopard And Its Spots

Farfugium japonicum ‘Aureomaculatum’ ‘Leopard Ligularia’ chilling out in the Cloud Forest. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

The spot here was rather dim and the Canon had pushed up the ISO to 6400. Colour noise was actually visible at full size but not obvious at this size so the noise was left alone.

Hanging On For Dear Life

A plantain squirrel checking out a ginger flower. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

This was captured by Nell after following the squirrel a good while. The original image had some messy foliage around the tail of the squirrel. This was fixed in post by outputting the squirrel tail and bum to a layer mask before brushing away the distracting foliage.

Cheery Coneflowers

PowWow Wild Berry coneflowers looking cheerful in the conservatory. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

The original capture had rendered these inadvertently nearly in silhouette but that wasn’t what Nell had really wanted. So during raw conversion, we brightened it up 1-1/2 stops and thankfully without incurring the dreaded noise penalty. Noise level was just a mere 0.8 which was left alone.

Big Mum, Small Mums, All Mums

Big mum doting on the smaller ones in the Flower Dome. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

These were found in the shade. The lighting was otherwise quite harsh. 

The Robust Pink Quill

Pink Quill Bromeliad hiding in a crowded flower bed. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

It was tricky isolating the bromeliad in such a busy environment. So we could only tone down and darken the surrounding mess in post.