Trampled by humans and decimated by grass cutters, the plants survive somehow.
Each pod is smaller than a finger nail and a closer look reveals its understated and strange beauty.
Macro photography with the Sony FE 55mm prime and Raynox DCR-250.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 1600, f4, 1/1250 sec.
They always look graceful when frozen by the camera in mid-flight. At a market, I saw a shopkeeper throwing grains and the birds swooping in from a telephone wire.
Pays to keep the camera in S or shutter priority mode for street photography. I rolled the dedicated shutter speed control dial rapidly while lifting the camera to my eye.
It all happened in a matter of a few of seconds. Before I hit the targeted 1/4000th of a second, the birds were already overhead.
While I can control the camera, the flight formation is all luck. I added the green hue in post.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 200, f4, 1/3200 sec.
The cats in the previous picture were looking at me looking up at this tree in the orchard. They must be thinking city people are strange people.
A couple of curious kids came and sat next to me on the grass littered with fallen leaves. Finally, one brave little girl asked: “Why are you looking at the leaves for so long?”
I wanted to explain: “I am looking at the seasons in the sun”. Although trees are evergreen here, they do have their seasons where the leaves change colours and the branches bear fruits.
I didn’t know how to put it in simple words. I could only muster “Cantik” (beautiful) and she giggled. I bet she thought I am strange too.
Many moons ago, the late country singer John Denver was in KL and I was happy to run into him by chance. I saw him looking silently at the fountain in front of the hotel for a long time. Only his wife and manager understood what he was doing, I thought to myself.
The rest of the entourage thought it was rather strange and a few began to snigger after a while. Several busybody taxi drivers laughed and told me “dia gila” (he’s mad).
I smiled but I knew what he was doing. He stopped to smell the roses, as the idiom goes. He took time from his busy schedule to appreciate the beauty of things around him.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/100 sec.
Hard enough getting two battling cats to sit together for a portrait. Even harder to get a goat to walk across frame on cue.
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f9, 1/320 sec.
It is such a cool day and I asked the village goat:
“Know any place nearby where I can get a good sup kambing (mutton soup)?”
All I got was a long, blank stare 🙂 .
*Title inspired by the 2009 movie “The Men Who Stare at Goats” .
Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f8, 1/125 sec.
