Mr Colourful

Mr Colourful, originally uploaded by nicklwc.

Well, I will post all the shots soon enough but let's get one out first. This is one of the first shot I took during my recent trip to Jurong Birdpark.

Armed only with the 85mm, I guess it was an eye opener to see how I will fare with the limitations I have. I guess I am pretty happy with what I got. So for now, enjoy Mr Colourful :)

Such a funny face as well.

Up in the trees...

Its the last series of the Singapore Zoo. And we end with some inhabitants of the trees and a very large animal. First up, got the chance to shoot the orang utans during their feeding session and they are really lovely.

Of course, they are so lovely that some people will try to hunt baby orang utans as pets. But its a very harmful to the orang utans and successful captures are rewarded very highly. Why? Because captures are seldom successful.

Baby orang utans cling on to their mothers and so if the hunter shoots the mother, the mother will bring the baby along with her, from very high up in the trees. The fall will usually kill both of them. So, orang utans as pets is a BIG NO NO!



Then, we have Mr Golden Hands, who appeared after the orang utans went away. He ate the scraps. Poor fella. And he couldn't stop scratching himself either.



And our last photo of the day - the friendly giant of Asia. Elephanto! :) He flapped his ears but he still couldn't fly.

Of lizards and slow moving animals...

Big lizards are always fascinating. As long as they are not out in the open where they can chase me and maul me down. The Komodo Dragon is one scary lizard instead, it is fast, it is strong and you don't want to mess with him.

And even his saliva can kill you!



And then, you have the lizards that still look like mini dinosaurs. They don't move much so it makes it easier to photograph them but it also means that you can get bored pretty quickly watching them.



And then last, we have the slow moving turtles. These giant turtles can live for a very long, long time. Over a century old is common. Must be the vegetable diet. Maybe I should try it...

Up next: The end! Some inhabitants of the tree..

The big cats at Singapore Zoo...

Well, its time for the big cats series. I think I was pretty happy with my collection of big cats this time around. The above is the cheetah. Fastest land animal and with ability to accelerate from 0 to 110km/h in three seconds. That is faster than most supercars in the world.

This is one fella you don't want to be running away from.



And then we have the lion king. But somehow the mane doesn't look too good. How come I don't see big bushy manes like those on National Geographic. Must be using the wrong shampoo and conditioner :P



And then we have the lioness. Which I think its my favourite big cat shot so far. I like the pose :)



And last but not least, we have the jaguar. Not the car. The cat. Shot behind glass but somehow has a bit of classic film-like colours to it. Hrmm...

Next up: Lizards!

The best zoo in SEA - Part 2

Other than the White Tigers, the Singapore Zoo has another exhibit they are very proud of. The exhibit for the Hamadryas Baboon is pretty well done and it kinda resembles their natural habitat. So much so that you see the baboons pretty active throughout the day.

They also have very red butts :P



I believe the whole area was called Ethiopia something so I guess animals from that region was covered. There were these big mouse-looking critters that were quite fierce, at least in their illustration. When I took a pic, they looked out they were on the lookout to pounce on something.



A further walk down, and you get to see the land of primates. I got to start taking pictures of the names of these animals. Does this look like a squirrel monkey to you?



And now, we end today's posting with the favourite animal of Singapore Zoo - the polar bear. Such a beautiful animal. I heard these bears are the last of the polar bears for the zoo. After this, there wouldn't be anymore :(

Next up: The big cats..

The Best Zoo in SEA - Part 1

During CNY eve, while others were busy with last minute shopping and preparation of a big feast, I spent time with some animals at the zoo. The above is a cotton top tamarin, cute little critter who will greet you when you enter the zoo.



And then you get to see the cockatoo which is always there to pose when visitors want a picture or two. But while I was there, the poor cockatoos were outdone by the blue and yellow macaw.



The otters were sleeping and the monkeys were too high up, so next up is one of the star attraction of Singapore Zoo - the white tiger. I missed the feeding session but they were obviously very active.



A short walk away from the white tiger, and we get to see the ballerina. Not a small one mind you but they weren't dancing for me.



And then we catch a glimpse of the shot that will complete my Lion King collection. Pumba is in! :) Now I still need to work on that Madagascar collection.



And we end today with a glimpse of apparently Australia's most poisonous snake.

Tomorrow: We see more of the best zoo in this region!

Zoo Melaka - Conclusion!

Random shots to wrap up the series of the awesome Zoo Melaka. We have first the Lar Gibbon. While the rest were busy snapping monkeys that were affectionate with each other, I got tired and wandered off to check the surrounding area.

Lo and behold, the Lar Gibbon was there for me to shoot. He was missing previously from his enclosure.



But before we actually reached the monkey area, we were running around with crocs. Tripods, monopods and big lenses were pointed at the crocodiles with lots of curious onlookers.



These creatures were not moving much so it gave way to some compositional skills (which I have none) and so I just merrily clicked away. As they say, shoot and pray.

And there you have it, the Zoo Melaka.

Tomorrow: I go with The Best of 2008 (some repeated shots)

Zoo Melaka - Part 4

As promised, we take a look at some big cats in Zoo Melaka. First we have the lioness, because the lion was unfortunately sleeping. She wasn't too awake either and yawned a couple of times.

This was the first, you could hear our shutters going crazy.



Then, she decided to yawn a second time and more shutter counts were wasted :P I think I will stop taking yawning shots for the moment. Time to explore other ways to capture these cats.



And of course, we can't forget the other big cat. The tiger yawned too. Yes, it was a yawning day for all of us.

Tomorrow: The conclusion!

Zoo Melaka - Part 3

After walking out of the enclosure with the lemurs and the mandarin ducks, we took a stroll through the Safari Park. As we walked, nothing spectacular came to our sights but we were finally bowled over when we reached the end.

Giraffes and zebras and we could get quite close to them. This is quite an amazing zoo! As usual, the idea of a close-up on the zebra is too good to resist.



And then, there was a baby giraffe trying to fight its way in to nibble on some leaves. I decided that it was more a bonding moment. Though the lil fella got chased away after a while :P



And finally, got a shot of Ol' Wrinkle Face. Really cute fella, wrinkly in a cute way :)

Next week: The Big Cats Yawn!

Zoo Melaka - Part 2

After the Mandarin Ducks, I was about to walk out when I noticed the lemurs were out of their windowed room and was running about freely. Picture opportunity!!

Such cute creatures and it was great being able to shoot them up close. One even came so near to me that I had to move back so that I can fit him within the 70-300mm range.



And then we noticed there were more than lemurs in the same area. There were bats, which I couldn't get a decent picture of and there were owls. The owls were a hoot to shoot, pardon the pun.

We left the enclosure after that, leaving Liew to shoot the mandarin ducks as he arrived later and haven't spent any time with the ducks.

Tomorrow: The African adventure!

Zoo Melaka - Part 1

Zoos are fun. They are even more fun when they are well maintained and the animals are well taken care of. I knew Zoo Melaka was a nice zoo since I went to the Night Zoo before but it looks even better in daytime.

The Blue and Yellow Macaw greeted us when we entered (we being LordMint, Macropixman and I with liewwk joining us later) and we spent a good couple of minutes there trying to capture their shots.



We then, walked into some cagey thing, which had iguana, some birds and things I couldn't shoot unless I shot at ISO3200. But the discovery of the day was the Mandarin Ducks.

I took a left turn in the cagey thing and we stumbled upon a pond of mandarin ducks.



Needless to say, if we can spend 1.5 hours waiting for a hippo to yawn, the beautiful mandarin ducks were no exception. I think we were there for more than an hour, trying to get the best shot.

It was challenging, natural light were not exactly in abundance and we had to pump up to ISO1600 and still shoot at very slow shutter speed. Thank goodness for monopod. So, in the end, I had two shots that I am really happy with :)

Tomorrow: King Julian makes his appearance!

Random at the zoo - Conclusion!

And we end the series with really, really random photos at the zoo. First up, we have flamingos! I thought it was quite cute that they both have the same pose at the same time, side by side.



Then we have the playful sun bear! Very cute fella and he was quite active so it made photographing him quite a joy.



And after waiting 1.5 hours for a non-yawning hippo. I decided to go shoot a more willing subject, the pygmy fella. Luckily I caught him though. He was sleeping under the water for better part of the day, walked out, looked up at me, then went under the bridge and disappeared for the rest of the day.

What next? My style? What is it? Hmm...

Random at the zoo - Part 2

Back from the long weekend and it is time to continue the series. Anybody miss me? :P Well, the chimpanzee in Zoo Negara is not the easiest thing to shoot as the glass separating them from us is kinda dirty. Then again, all glass panes in Zoo Negara is kinda dirty.

I had to just use the LiveView, lift it above the glass pane, and pray real hard that something good happens. Now I know why people say tilt-LiveView is godly.



The Orang Utan meanwhile was easier as it will willingly sit there, posing, while you fire away thousands of shots. No matter what you do, it will still have that disinterested look. Maybe if I held a big bunch of bananas.

Tomorrow: I conclude the Zoo Negara series with even more random shots!

Random at the zoo - Part 1

One of Malaysia's wonders in the wild. An extremely shy creature and pretty much endangered too. The tapir is quite a sight to behold. We were lucky that it was friendly enough to venture near us.



And while the big guns (100-400mm and 300mm) were shooting deers from the land beyond, I had to go search for friendly ones that will walk near me. Luckily my efforts were not futile.



And in the Christmas spirit, I give you.. the reindeer! :P

Next up: More random stuff from Zoo Negara.

The big cats..

Well, a trip to the zoo wouldn't be complete without shots of the big cats. Unfortunately our zoo's lions and tigers aren't exactly the most active bunch. Once again, we were loitering around the area waiting for a good time to capture some shots.



When the lioness decided to take a drink, well, I was firing away. The distance between us means that the 105mm was a bit too short. But well, there is always generous amount of cropping.



Then, I walked to the next enclosure while LordMint and Macropixman captured a yawning lion. Missed that out but I got a shot of another lion scratching himself. Not as impressive as a yawning lion though.



Then the tiger called. It was feeding time but nothing spectacular happened. And well, when he looked my way, I took the shot. Turned out pretty alright after all eh?

Next up: Random B&Ws of the zoo inhabitants.

Let's go to the zoo...

Recently, I went to the zoo with LordMint and macropixman (both from Shutter Asia and Photo Malaysia). Today, we will focus on otters. I have two pictures of them. The above is a giraffe, not an otter in case you are wondering. But I thought it made a nice intro pic.

And LordMint and macropixman spent so long at one location, it made me feel bad and inferior that I took all of five minutes to take the shots. Sigh, the difference between pros and noobs. (They are the pros, I am the noob just in case anyone is confused)



Anyway, back to otters, here is one of the shot that I have. That place was quite smelly but it was fun trying to capture the otters. They were quite playful and they are very cute.

This shot was captured when the zookeeper walked past. Its as if they knew food was coming and all stood to attention. But it wasn't feeding time, so no food for them.



And then I spotted an otter scratching himself and thought it made a good shot. Click and here is the result. By the way, I converted most of my shots to B&W because, I was in a B&W mood at that time. :P

Next up: The big cats?