Gasing Hill revisited..

That Saturday afternoon itch to go hiking...
It was a hot afternoon and after some deep thought, I decided to pack my macro gear to shoot some bugs at Gasing Hill.
I roped-in Michelle who was more than happy to go with me.
It as a good break from cycling as I was too lazy to do so.
So, there we were, on the trail again. Before we did that, we made a pit-stop in USJ11 for an early lunch.
Gasing hill is not that crowded around 1pm and it was great to have the trail all by ourselves.
After I parked the car, I saw two photography enthusiasts with their macro photography gear. 
The sight of a home-made diffuser snoot is unmistakable. 

At the trail head

A tree snake

Fern butt

 Mrs Green-fingers
While setting up at a hut donated by the Lions Club, I noticed an elderly lady and a young man who were chatting there.
Later, I was told that the lady was responsible for planting flowers at the entrance of the trial.
Michelle and I worked on looking for some subjects.
I spotted a black jumper and managed to get a few shots before moving on.
Just metres away, there was a tree snake perched on a fern.
Michelle managed to get a shot before it slithered off..

Michelle on the trail

Getting close and closer...
I found at least two subjects that made my day.
First, was the Single Striped Grass Spider.
These are very common in Gasing Hill and are out in huge numbers.
I managed to capture a set before moving on.
Next, there's the Jolly Telamonia jumping spider.
Now, this one - I paid careful attention in capturing extreme close-ups with my Canon MPE-65 macro lens.
Aided with the MT24EX twin flash, I didn't have much issues capturing the spider under high-magnification settings...

Happy camper: Samo on the trail..

Testing the camera's twin flash setting on an Orb weaver

On the whole, I was very happy to get at least two working sets of photographs.
The Single Striped Grass Spider and Jolly Telamonia was captured in its full glory.
Just minutes after we left, the sky became gloomy.
This is typical weather at the end of the year and we were just happy to be on our way..

A Female Jumping Spider

Jumping spiders are my favourite macro photography subjects.
Unlike the harvestman and orb weavers, these little fellas have character.
Their large eyes made focussing easier in high magnification.
I found this adult female jumper when I was scouring the undergrowth in Kg Pertak yesterday.
She was resting on a small leaf when it was spotted.
I wasted no time by working on a frame on my Canon MPE-65 macro lens.
With a heavily diffused MT-24EX twin flash, I had only seconds to work with my model before it gets spooked.
And since the MPE-65 has a very narrow focal band, the tough part is to get the spider in frame with the right composition.
I first went for a full body shot before working on its close-up.
For jumpers, a 3/4 profile on 3x magnification or more is the ideal set-up.
But getting it sharp and in focus is the toughest thing you can ever deal with especially when your subject is no larger than 10mm in length.
Lucky for me, I still haven't lost it and the results are simply stunning!

Lynx Spider Close-up

We were hiking out of the Pertak trail and mid-way through, I found a shrub full of Lynx spiders.
These are common jumping spiders that you can find in your garden.
They prey on small insects and keeps your garden free from pests..

Return of the portia

Face-to-face: The Portia

3/4 profile shot

My trip to the Tekala falls in Hulu Langat began with a good start.
While making my way to the rest area, I spotted a spider and upon closer inspection, it was a Portia.
These are rare as they are beautiful.
So far, I've only captured two from Sungai Tua forest park in Selangor.
This was my third capture and I wasted no time in documenting the jumping spider.
The Portia is the most intelligent spider capable of making complex decisions.
What I found was about 8mm in length and was injured. 
Some of the Portia's limbs were missing.
I shot it with my Canon MPE-65 macro lens and lit the frame with my MT-24EX twin flash.
Been a while since I last shot anything with this rig and being able to capture the Portia was a good start.
Tekala's bug population seems encouraging and this would prompt more outings in the future.. 

The preying mantis

The mantis having its lunch

Saturday was a day of rest.
No cycling, just chilling out at home.
It was also a time for me to catch up with some close-up photography around the neighbourhood.
I chanced upon a preying mantis nymph having its meal on a leaf.
This critter is about 15mm in length and it took a while for me to spot it as its exoskeleton colour had blended really well with its surroundings.
Mantids are found all over my housing estates as there is a small buffer area which is overgrown with foliage.
I learned that the nymphs are black in colour and turns green as they get bigger.
Most of the time, these predatory bugs are docile.
I managed to cap off three shots on the preying mantis and only one had came out sharp.
Since my lens has a shallow depth-of-field, I was happy to have nailed a decent shot of the mantis in action.

Polishing up some rusty photographic skills

A friendly lynx spider photographed at our Jasmine tree

I was quite bummed with the postponement of our Tg Karang - Sabak Bernam ride today.
Michelle was suffering from exhaustion and could not make it for the long haul cycling trip.
So, with a real hot weather and a little diversion, I dug up my photographic equipment and rigged up my Canon EOS 7D D-SLR, MPE-65 F2.8 macro lens and MT-24EX twin flash and lugged it to my favourite bug shooting spot.
The place has been overgrown with shrubs and it took a while till I spot a jumping spider. This was a male Orange-Yellow jumper.
I snuck up to the sensitive arachnid and fired away a few shots. 
Managed to get a full body shot and a 2.5x close-up of the spider's head.

The Orange-Yellow jumper

I worked around the area and found another female spider. But since it was moving around a bunch of pandan leaves, getting a clear shot was out of the question. The hot and dry weather is ideal for bug photography and this is something that I had really missed over half a year.
I've been concentrating on cycling so much, I hardly have any time to go around and shoot my favourite subject: the jumping spider.
That said, there's plenty of catching up to do...

Beetlemania

A longhorned beetle
A green beetle

Another variant of the beetle

Beetles are simply the coolest creatures ever.
The large ones are easy to photograph while a few species are really skittish.
I managed to capture a few during my visit to Awana Resort in Genting Highland and the results were really satisfying.

Diffuser work for the MPE65 and MT24EX

A stinkbug shot with the twin flash diffuser - still plenty of work to get the flash setting correct..

I've been working a bit to improvise my lighting for my close-up photography.

To get a softer shade, I turn to macro photographer Kurt G who perfected his twin flash diffuser.

Its a simple D.I.Y. job with recyclable materials that you can find easily.

For the diffuser material, I managed to source for some foam sheets used to pack flat screen monitors from the IT department.

Now, I have a sackload of these and the challenge I face now, is to find some time to fabricate my diffuser.

I use a section from a mineral water bottle to produce a visor frame for the twin flash diffuser which is mounted on the lens adapter.

Cutting it was no easy task.

I realised that I only need a quarter from the diameter of the bottle and lined it up with two layers of foam sheets.
The visor length is shorter to provide a rigid, yet flexible frame for the diffuser foam.

Part of the foam protrudes and can be folded upwards to get past obstructions.

I tried it out and the results are encouraging.

Now, I need to work on a few of these and get it tested over the weekend.

Small shiny beetle

Beetles with metallic exoskeleton are the hardest to capture on camera.Their skin tends to reflect light and plenty of care must be taken on your flashgun's
diffuser.Some of these bugs are as small as a peanut and its difficult to get it on a 1:1 lens without cropping the image in the final result.I guess when it comes to capturing these critters, there's still much to do on my diffuser work...

Canon MR14EX ring flash

Not the best example, but you can see the ring flash catch light on the spider's eyes..

The Canon MR14EX is an affordable solution for close-up shots..

When it comes to the crunch, very few flashguns can perform especially for close-up shots.Either you modify a regular flash and use a flash bracket to get the proximity (lots of
diffusion work and mostly DIY innovation involved) or invest in a proper illumination tool.And that brings us to the subject of the Canon MR14EX ring flash.This baby can yield results and you can say goodbye to all those clumsy snoot diffuser and
brackets.Best of all, it weighs pretty decently which allows you to lug it into the jungle without much
hassle.I found that the ring flash that attaches onto the front end of the lens is more agile compared
to a flashgun with a snoot mounted.This allows you to work in tight spaces and get some really good results.All you need to learn, is the proper diffusion technique and understand the ring flash and
what it can do for you in terms of getting an evenly-lit shot.This is of course -- control and skill with the flash output.When I first toyed with it three weeks ago, I found that my shots are getting much better. Then, its a matter of getting the right diffusion and proper focal plane to get a better depth of
field.With the flash directly in front of the lens, there is no issue about weak lighting.Even the lighting ratio can be controlled to your desired effect.Frankly speaking, I still have plenty to learn about this close-up flash device and seeing as it
is, the only way is to go out and practise my lighting control techniques.

To sum it all up, the MR14EX is a good start if you demand a decent shot with Canon's range of macro lenses. The shiznit, if of course the MT24EX twin flash for macro photography..