Local Fruits

A Closer Look at Malaysian Fruits
Almost everyone likes local fruits but not everybody really take a closer look to appreciate their beauty just because normal unaided human eyes cannot get close enough. Taking close-up pictures with specific lenses helps people take a second look though...

Friday October 24th, 2008 - A Second [closer] Look at Rambutans
The Fleshy-Juicy inside...


The Hairs...


The Scalp...


...look! no dandruff on rambutan scalp, but there is a bug ...



Tuesday October 21st, 2008 - Off Season Fruits
The late afternoon rain prevails - dampening outdoor activities such as cycling, gardening or just strolling around. After the rain had subsided I spent some time on rear balcony and observed some rambutan trees keep on bearing fruits. Not just twice but trice or four times already this year. Why aaah? - ada yang sedang berbunga...



...dan mula membesar.


ada yang baru nak masak...


...ada juga yang dah masak ranum.

Buah durian dan duku tak pula berbuah sampai dua tiga kali semusim, tapi manggis berbuah juga dua kali dalam tahun ni.


Week Ending July 20th, 2008 - Fruit Trees at Home

Friday July 18th - Duku @ doh-kong and mangostein are ready for today's consumption. To me, mangostein is the best tropical fruit ever. The taste that cannot be replaced.



According to wikipedia however, the mango-stein is an exotic fruit [of semitic origins?] first popularized in Western culture by Julian Russo's operetta. Introduced to the Americas by Schlomo Mangostein in 1862, the fruit was a major component in fighting scurvy.



The mangostein is an important cash crop in many Latin American economies and under the rule of Hugo Chavez has become the third greatest export from Venezuela after oil and rubber gloves.



Duku [doh-kong]


Rambutan

Thursday July 17th - It is not too difficult to climb up a mangostein tree even in the early morning while the branches are still wet.

While picking mangostein fruits, three more durians fell down just a few feet away.



Tomorrow I will pick some more mangosteins, and probably doh-kong fruits too.




Tuesday July 15th - Before the durian season gone, there were three stages of rambutan on my backyard. Some had already ripen and ready to be picked.

...while there are also a few trees with almost matured fruits ...

...and the rests are still flowering.

Monday July 14th - Despite of health problem, I enjoyed eating durian fruits [with my 2nd son] throughout previous week while the rest of the family were away - my wife and daughter were in Kelantan, would be returning home today. There were five best durian fruits kept for them to enjoy eating as well. Unfortunately my eldest and the 3rd sons were away, tak merasa lah tahun ni... the eldest son in Dubai and the third son was undergoing internship in Cyberjaya.

Golden Delights encased in strong shell lined with silvery satin...

This year, the durian tree on my backyard bears substantial amount of fruits for the whole family. Today, there are not much left on the tree though - some of the remaining were spared for the squirrels...




Footnotes__________________________________________________

About twenty years ago AHW bought an 8000+sq ft lot with a ready-made house on it at an unimaginable low price as compared to today's pricing. The house is now completely surrounded by trees, partly covered by the canopy but still visible from satellite.




Behind AHW's house there is a small stream. Both sides of the stream are reserve lands. AHW planted almost every common species of local fruit trees there, however as the trees were getting bigger and bigger, some of them must give way - AHW had to chop off one by one from time to time...

Click on any of the following highlighted photo categories to proceed.

Categories

ARACHNOgraphy - spiders

ENTOMOgraphy - insects

FLORAgraphy - flowers

LANDSCAPE

LEPIDOgraphy - butterflies and moths

MAMMALgraphy - four-legged animals

ORNITHOgraphy - birds
REPTOgraphy - reptilia

WONDERcolors - natural spectrum of colours

Uncategorised photos

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talkPHOTOGRAPHY

Photography relies on many branches of knowledge and technology more than other creative medium put together. Knowledge on the hardware, the processes and the subject matter greatly influence the work we do in photography. Most of us are not aware the hidden processes behind clicking the shutter on any digital camera are more complex than any other system we have ever experienced.

Almost every knowledge known to mankind is associated with photography - arts, psychology, social science, optics, mechanical engineering, physics, maths, geometry, electronics, computer engineering, fuzzy logics, adaptive control systems, multivariable nonlinear system just to name a few. Some fields in which most ppl never even have ever heard before such as psychophysics can be associated with photography.... just imagine that and the list could be very long.

However, the canny wizard in photographic industry have simplified the art of taking pics so the only requirement imposed on the photographer is just clicking the shutter. The hidden processes are left unnoticed to the CPU in the camera. We can take pictures like this...... but the result is usually average pictures of average scene. If we are lucky enough we may get good or great shot by chance, but "photography" in real sense does not rely on luck! Knowledge and skill must be developed for great picture taking. Some level of understanding beyond clicking the shutter is required to take picture that are more satisfying.... simply means that our picture fulfills the purpose we had in mind when we took it.

If we take photography as a hobby - its not the final prints that we enjoy most, lemme put this way - it's not the destination, but the journey. Plainly the fun is in the doing, not the end result. We photographers, who are seriously into it as a hobby or profession, find as much rewarding in the things that lead to a photograph as in the final end product. This is manipulation, puzzle solving and complex problem solving...



You are invited to AHW photoTALKs, some of uncle.D's 'contributions' to the virtual world of Photography since June 2007. AHW photoTALKs is now reopened since Feb 2nd 2010 after closing down for more than a year, during which AHW wasn't active in dSLR photography.

You may also go directly to the GALLERY at the following links:

Click on any of the following highlighted photo categories to proceed.

Categories

ARACHNOgraphy - spiders

ENTOMOgraphy - insects

FLORAgraphy - flowers

LANDSCAPE

LEPIDOgraphy - butterflies and moths

MAMMALgraphy - four-legged animals

ORNITHOgraphy - birds
REPTOgraphy - reptilia

WONDERcolors - natural spectrum of colours

Uncategorised photos

ANYphoto - general uncategorised photos

CLOSEUPhotography - general close-up photos [non-macro]

TALKphotography - readers can find FAQ, post questions and comments here

WONDERcolors - striking color photos

HOMEpage
______________________________________________________

REPTOgraphy

REPTILEs

Dinosaurs are giant fossilized reptiles - there there are still 6,800 reptile species on earth left. The major groups are alligators and crocodiles, turtles, lizards, and snakes. All reptiles are cold-blooded, which is why they warm themselves in the sun, and have bodies covered in dry, horny scales. Some reptiles lay eggs; others give birth to live young. In general, lizards have a small head, short neck, and long body and tail. And unlike snakes, most lizards have moveable eyelids.


Pokqour
I was told this lizard species is called pokqour. Full name is pokqour hangok. The skin tone can easily adapt to the surrounding colors. So there is nothing wrong with the white-balance here, isn't it?.


"Kelantanese Pokqour" - ZD 70-300mm f4.0/5.6 @300mm f11 1/180secs ISO200

All "pokqours" or chameleons species are able to change their skin colour. Chameleons change their colour in response to light exposure and ambient temperature.

Different chameleon species are able to change different colours which can include pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown and yellow. Chameleons are naturally coloured for their surroundings as a camouflage. However, recent research has indicated that Chameleons may use colour changes as a method of communication, including to make themselves more attractive to potential mates.

Chameleons have specialized cells, collectively called chromatophores, that lie in layers under their transparent outer skin. The cells in the upper layer, called xanthophores and erythrophores, contain yellow and red pigments respectively. Below these is another layer of cells called iridophores or guanophores, and they contain the colourless crystalline substance guanine. These reflect, among others, the blue part of incident light. If the upper layer of chromatophores appears mainly yellow, the reflected light becomes green (blue plus yellow). A layer of dark melanin containing melanophores is situated even deeper under the reflective iridophores. The melanophores influence the 'lightness' of the reflected light. All these pigment cells can rapidly relocate their pigments, thereby influencing the colour of the chameleon.

Crocodile
Crocodiles are ambush hunters, waiting for victims to come close to attack. They can survive long periods without food, and rarely need to actively go hunting. The crocodile's bite strength is up to 3,000psi about 10 times comparing to just 350psi for a large shark. Despite their slow appearance, crocodiles are top predators in their environment.


The one shown above is commonly known "Cupram Crocodilus", may be due to the skin tone looks like copper. Perfect-tan skin for handbags, but must remember that "when buying stops, the killing can too"


This page is UNDER CONSTRUCTION, please proceed to the following galleries:

Categories

ARACHNOgraphy - spiders

ENTOMOgraphy - insects

FLORAgraphy - flowers

LANDSCAPE

LEPIDOgraphy - butterflies and moths

MAMMALgraphy - four-legged animals

ORNITHOgraphy - birds
REPTOgraphy - reptilia

WONDERcolors - natural spectrum of colours

Uncategorised photos

ANYphoto - general uncategorised photos

CLOSEUPhotography - general close-up photos [non-macro]

TALKphotography - readers can find FAQ, post questions and comments here

WONDERcolors - striking color photos

HOMEpage