Night Macro Workshop at Pulau Ubin

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The first Night Macro Workshop at Pulau Ubin has concluded with a maximum turnout! This would not have been possible without the help of my friends who turned up early and helped to guide the participants through the diffuser making and leading them through the night shoot. Heartfelt thanks to my good friends Victor, Melvyn, David, Sagita, Chris, Seawei, Siewli and Joanna for sacrificing their evening to ensure that everything ran smoothly!

Special thanks also to Uncle Lim for hosting the workshop, to Ria and Vanessa for the Pesta Ubin badges and supporting the workshop! Remember to check out the other activities at Pesta Ubin! While you're in Ubin, remember to visit Uncle Lim to get a drink and say hi!

As the group was large, not everyone saw what the rest spotted. From an initial glance at the photos, there were sightings of numerous orb weavers, huntsman spiders, wolf spiders, net-casting spiders, ornamental tree trunk spiders, scorpions, antlion, shield bugs etc.

Thanks to Melvyn, Chris and Sagita for the behind the scenes and group photos!

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1. Registration
   Joanna and Chris helped out with the registration and welcomed the participants into Uncle Lim's shop.

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2. Waiting to Start
   Many arrived early and waited around, while some played with Uncle Lim's cats.

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3. Uncle Lim's Cat
   Lazing around but very playfully running around once the workshop started!

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4. Pre-Lesson Instructions
   Many purchased the focus light from me, so several demonstrations were made on attaching it to the camera.

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5. Workshop in the Kampung
   A rustic setting for the workshop, with hanging laundry and a toilet in the background and occasional cats running above our heads on the canvas roof.

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6. Demonstration
   Brief demonstration on focusing techniques.

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7. Making DIY Diffuser
   Victor, the creator of the diffuser, was there himself teaching the participants to get the concave shape for their diffusers.

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8. Making DIY Diffuser
   As everyone had a slightly different setup, some diffusers had to be customized.

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9. All Set to Go!
   Everyone endured the lesson for over 1.5 hours and couldn't wait to get into the field to start shooting.

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10. Demonstration with Huntsman Spider
    Quick demonstration on stabalizing both the photographer and a very skittish huntsman spider.

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11. Huntsman spider (Heteropoda sp.)
    The result from above. Used the same single flash setup as everyone with a cheap macro lens to show that complicated lighting rigs are just a preference and not a necessity to get decent shots.

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12. Xmas Lights
    With everyone's focusing torch on full power, we had a troupe of walking Xmas trees!

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13. Observing the Foliage
    Participants were taught various techniques in searching for subjects within the foliage.

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14. Scale insect (Coccoidea)
    Spotted in the foliage was this beautiful scale insect. Would probably have been ignored if it had not been pointed out by Melvyn!

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15. After The Shoot
    After the shoot, we had a review with a question and answer session to address some of the problems encountered during the shoot. It was a long night, but everyone couldn't get enough!



Participants' Photos

With their permissions, I'm posting some of the photos submitted by the participants of this workshop. Some shots have been lightly cropped and white balance tweaked. More may be posted as and when I receive them this week. Note that some participants are completely new to macro photography, while some already have some experience in day macro.

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16. Cockroach (Blattodea) ©2016 Chang Hon Leong
    

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17. Mantis (Mantodea) ©2016 Christian Nijhuis
    

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18. Orb weaver spider (Araneidae) ©2016 Eugene Toh
    

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19. Midge (Culicomorpha) ©2016 Hewson Koh
    

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20. Wolf spider (Lycosidae) ©2016 Joshua Tan
    

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21. Antlion (Myrmeleontidae) ©2016 Seah Kee Bee
    

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22. Ornamental tree trunk spider (Herennia sp.) ©2016 Lee Weixiang
    

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23. Sleeping lizard (Agamidae) ©2016 Seah TM
    

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24. Mosquito (Culicomorpha) ©2016 Shirley Ng
    

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25. Grasshopper (Caelifera) with spider mite©2016 Terrence Chua
    

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26. Huntsman spider (Olios sp.) ©2016 Htike Htike Win
    

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27. Crab spider (Thomisidae) ©2016 Rachel Lim
    

Though I'm glad that most participants had keepers, night macro photography requires a lot of practice and I will be facilitating some night shoots for the participants in the coming weeks via a Facebook group for participants. The first night shoot has already been scheduled this week!

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