No insects were harmed..

In the production of this photograph.. 

as it was already dead when we found it in our driveway!

Still Jr. and the little one were worried it was alive after I showed them the quick preview shots on my camera display..

The canon 50mm macro can make it looks like it brings dead things back to life!

Macromania..

We were visiting close friends who recently relocated from our neighborhood to Irvine before our return from Disney. Saw this beautiful rose in their backyard and took out the macro lens..

we went back to the house and saw a small peacock with real fine detail. (the head of this peacock is smaller than a dime, the whole thing fits within the palm of your hand)..

Irvine was nice. The same $ seems to buy better things in Irvine than in the bay area. Did not see many desis or an international population mix though.. maybe it was the area we visited?!

Did not even know that having an international crowd is now part of a built in pre-requisite for us to live anywhere! Strange how the bay area changes you in ways you did not imagine!

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Busy bees...

It has been a very hectic work week with not much time for family, leave alone updating the blog.

This morning while standing in the backyard trying to catch an AT&T signal on the iPhone to call work, a dead bee was spotted on the concrete!

Having made several unsuccessful attempts to catch the bee live on the rosemary and sage bushes, this was an indirect blessing (for me , not for the bee) to capture this using the macro.

So put a drop of hand sanitizer on a piece of paper, plopped the bee on that drop and took pictures with the macro..

Then saw my own busy bees sitting in a dark room with dark glasses and clicked away..

Here are the big busy bees, up close and personal

When things get tough, you can always be happy that a chance encounter with a dead bee or catching your kids at play can put a bright spot in an otherwise hectic day.

We had friends and relatives over for dinner and that was really refreshing. Have to do this more often.

The economy rant needs a post in itself..

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HDR

A HDR (High Dynamic Range)image got by superimposing 3 macro shots with 4 second exposure and f2.5, 4.0 and 9.0. Shot without flash using a Disney birthday cake figurine.. (this section shown in photo is around 2 centimeters. whole thing is 2 inches tall)

Just wanted to try it to see if it will bring out the details in the shadows. It does, but not the best use of the macro or the HDR freeware.

Need to find a dead fly.. and take a picture of its head. The live ones are too fast to capture...

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Kid in a candy store..

There is only one thing worse than a kid in a candy store, and that is me with a macro...

The hibiscus that was all rolled up was nicely open today..

There is a delicate optimization between a swaying hibiscus and the depth of focus, which happens to be only a few millimeters or less with the macro. Either one has to hold the flower with one hand and take the shot with the other hand or tape the stem against a wall and use a tripod! (as in below picture).

Tulasi (holy basil).. just the tip swaying in the breeze.. Did you know that the basil is so complicated?

San's favorite hanging bird string from India..

and a beetle of some kind which produced some amazement to us this evening...

Somehow, knew deep down, that this wouldn't wait for thursday.

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