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| Saturday, 10-May-2008 15:04 |
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Fashion show at The Curve
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I know that I should be ashamed of myself. This is the first time I miss my weekly/fortnightly posting and ended up having no update for over a month. To make it worse, I should have a special edition posting at the end of April to mark my 2nd anniversary here. Well, afterall I am only human.
Due to lack of idea, I made an impromptu decision this afternoon to get some shots of the fashion show at The Curve. At first I was quite reluctant to go as I reckon there'll be jam packed with photographers carrying bazookas and hogging every decent space around the runway. This contemplating habit took its toll as I arrived a bit late. Whoa, I really cannot find where to park my bike within the maze of lanes and edifices. When I finally there, I realized my dslr battery is weak and my flash batteries are very close to exhaustion.
OK, enough gibbersih and here are the lame shots.
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| Sunday, 6-Apr-2008 12:56 |
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Best of 2007
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It probably a bit too late for such an entry. I wanted to have this much earlier but was quite bigged down with other duties at the time. So a few days later I took the time to look through some of my favourite images and select a few that worth mentioning here.
I shot this during the 2007 Thaipusam festival. I arrived shortly before sunrise and was able to capture the early morning ray.
This was also taken during the 2007 Thaipusam. The young devotee was on the way to the main temple in Batu Caves.
My colleagues at the company dinner.
A lake within a large cluster in Taman Gelora, Kuantan. The place is nice for jogging and macro safari.
My nephew Humairah. She loves to be photographed and is very photogenic.
A lady on board one of those parade cars during the 50th Merdeka celebration.
A dude at a cafe in KLCC.
Wedding of my friends. Both were my colleagues in my previous employment.
A riot police trying to kick away a stray tear gas canister. This was during the HINDRAF rally.
A trapdoor spider emerging from her burrow. This spider belongs to a family of the most primitive spider in existance and known as a living fossil. Archeological findings showed remarkable resemblance with fossils dated over 300 million years back.
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| Sunday, 30-Mar-2008 12:40 |
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Wedding of Siti Marlina
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A long time friend got married so I dropped by to her wedding just now. Since I have to shuttle people around, I didn't stay long. Took a few shots of her and the groom.
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| Sunday, 23-Mar-2008 17:05 |
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Moulting
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Moulting (molting) is a process where a spider sheds off its exoskeleton. The main purpose is to enable the spider to grow though matured female tarantulas moult every year for maintenance purpose. While moulting the spider is in a vulnerable state and cannot defend itself. If moulting is done without adequate space, abnormality might occur with the new skin which might prevent future moult hence resulting in death.
Before moulting, a spider usually withdraw to a retreat and stop feeding. When it is ready to molt, a spider hangs upside down from a thread and the carapace will open. Then the abdomen is liberated and the last stage is taking the legs out. For most spiders, the process lasts between 10-20 minutes but can go for hours for tarantulas.
After undergoing a moult, the spider will rest for a while to adjust with the new skin. Depending on species, a spider moult about 7-9 times before mature. Sexual organs might only be apparent after the last moult and in some species, would be the easiest time to determine gender.
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| Monday, 17-Mar-2008 14:05 |
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Mating of Crab Spider
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I was having a bad stomach yesterday. I planned to go to Bukit Gasing but since I can only leave my house at around 5, I decided not to risk a big crowd there. So I went to a public park in Puchong, a place I used to frequent some time in 2006.
I didn't go to the park as often since I discovered Bukit Belacan. But since the construction in the park has spoilt the tranquility of the place, it is time to look for other places for spider hunt. My search brought me to many places within the Klang valley- Lembah Pangsun, Bukit Cerakah, Bukit Gasing, FRIM and Bukit Tabur. Although I found several interesting species there, still they lack the wow factor posses by my favourite hunting ground such as Bukit Belacan. There was no magical spot where you can just sit there for an hour and offload hundreds of frames. But yesterday, I experienced it again.
Well, it was not exactly by the hundreds but it might reach it if it were not due to the rain. The bush I scouted was abundant with several species of spiders- lynx, jumping and crab. There was also some hoverflies and mantis. Yet the biggest catch of all is to witness the mating of crab spiders in front of my eyes.
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| Saturday, 1-Mar-2008 12:10 |
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Liphistidae- Trapdoor Spiders
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Known to science as the most primitive spiders on earth Liphitius spiders can only be found in the South East Asia with many species known as endemic in several localities in Malaysia. There are 40 species in this genus, all bear the trademark of having closely clustered eyes.
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| Monday, 11-Feb-2008 07:02 |
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Mygalomorph
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There are 9 families of sub-order Mygalomorphae spiders in the South East Asia with 43 genera. The famous hairy tarantulas and the bird-eating spiders belong to this sub-order. The most common family is Theraposidae which consists of the tarantulas and other large hairy spiders. They were quite common a few decades ago until overdevelopment and poaching by exotic pet collectors brought their numbers down to an alarming stage. Most species are endemic, meaning they only colonize a specific region, often an individual hill or valley.
These large spiders are considered primitive and have several characteristics which set the apart from the "modern" spiders. None of the Mygalomorph weaves webs. They live in either an earthen burrow or hole on a tree. The fangs move inwards instead of towards each other like in modern spiders. Even the respitory system is different where they have 4 book lungs instead of 2. These are the arthropods that have survived millions of years without evolution but over the past few years have seen the twilight of their existance. They are at the verge of extinction, wrought upon them by proud Malaysians.
While we celebrate having the tallest building in the world, several species of Mygalomorph are awaiting execution of their millions of years of reign in the world. Reports from naturalist and scientists showed several species have been lost without being desribed, mainly due to collectors who poached the burrows and remove the inhabitants. Their habitat is getting smaller as more condominiums and mansion being built at hillsides.
On the other side of the world, there are the goliath tarantula which is the largest spider in the world. It roams the Amazon rain forest and occassionally eat bird chicks in their nest. There are the beautiful red knee tarantula which lives in the Mexican desert but was hunted to near extinction by collectors due to its striking appearence. The largest and perhaps rarest of Malaysian species is the Malayan Earth Tiger Cyriopagopus thorelli which I have yet to find. It was used to be abundant in the Cameron Highlands a few decades ago but not anymore.
If you notice these magnificent creatures near your place, please do not disturb them. You may want to photograph and study them but keep them in the wild as it is. Do not disclose their location to people who might take advantage by removing them for collecting or to make quick money. These creatures are our national treasure and protected by the Endangered Species Act but it is really up to us to make sure they survive for our descendants to view.
You can also view at my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/labah-labah/
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| Wednesday, 23-Jan-2008 18:09 |
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Thaipusam 2008
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This is my 2nd Thaipusam outing, this time with Hasnuddin from fototeacher. At first I feared that I might be able to make it as in KL it was not a public holiday. Fortunately the election is coming soon so it's for everyone to enjoy.
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| Monday, 7-Jan-2008 03:39 |
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Wedding in Bentong
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I attended my cousin's wedding in Bentong yesterday. Late I went to Sungai Chamang waterfall for about half-an-hour before it started raining. The waterfall is like nothing I've seen in the Klang Valley before. It was huge with several cascading stages. I manage to find some interesting macro subjects not far from it. There are a lot of Gasteracantha spiders but most of them are very small.
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| Tuesday, 18-Dec-2007 16:54 |
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Nephila antipodiana
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It's been a while since I last updated this page. Now the street demo heat has settled down, I'm going back to nature macro. For the past few weeks I have been disturbed by the the fact that E-3 has finally hit the market. The group of E-3 users grows by the week and most of them have the 12-60mm SWD lens attached. Now, this is one power-packed dslr body. It is the ultimate nature macro dslr- articulating LV, in-body IS, low noise, 2x crop factor and can trigger remote flash. Macro will never be the same again. I am saving every penny I can spare so one day I can get my hands on this.
OK, here are some shots of Nephila antipodiana, one of the giant orb-weavers. Also known as the Batik orb-weaver, this 8-legged behemoth has a range from China to New Zealand. I have encountered them in Janda Baik and Bukit Tinggi while ikelah found one during his recent trip to Pulau Pinang.
The genus Nephila belongs to the family Tetraganthidae- the large jaw spiders. This family has some of the most colorful spiders in the animal kingdom, especially those from genera Nephila, Opadometa and Leucauge. The most distinguish feature of this family is the large jaw and small clustered eyes.
Nephilas are the largest of orb-weaving spiders. The females can have a body up to 2 inches long with legs that span up to 6 inches. The male however are much smaller, usually about 1/3 inch in body length. The N. antipodiana female is distinguished from other species of Nephila by the yellow spotted abdomen. Similar to N. pilipes, the web is large and has some slight golden stain.
Mating involveds the pedipalp which is the frontmost limb. It can be noted that the end of the limb is black and shaped like a boxing glove. The sperm is injected from the genital and collected by pedipalp before being transmitted to the female's genital which is at her bottom part, akin to most animals. Here is a sequence of N. antipodiana mating.
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ada satu cara lagi yang rasanta kalau dibuat tak salah..telah flash dari kamera orang lain..
