Tawau Hills 2015: [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ] The final day was short. So short that I decided to pack my equipment early in the morning, not expecting anything to turn up. Despite telling myself that I would not…
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Tawau Hills 2015: [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ] The final day was short. So short that I decided to pack my equipment early in the morning, not expecting anything to turn up. Despite telling myself that I would not…
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Tawau Hills 2015: [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ] We had been getting about 4 hours of sleep each day and by day 4, we really needed lots of bugs to keep us going. The good news is, the bugs…
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Tawau Hills 2015: [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ] Day 3 at Tawau Hills was littered with several unexpected surprises, but our main goal for the day was to capture shots of Pyrops whiteheadi, popularly known as the blue-snout lantern…
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Tawau Hills 2015: [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ] After our first night in the wet trails, we couldn’t wait to explore the same trails in the day. The sun rose an hour earlier than in Singapore, and the morning…
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Tawau Hills 2015: [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ] I had been wanting to visit Sabah for the longest time, but clashed schedules and many other issues held it back until this year. I was more than impressed by the…
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Hawkmoth (Sphingidae) larvae, or caterpillars, can grow to relatively large sizes. Some of them may sport two prominent spots above their heads which appear to mimic eyes. Some may be thought to be mimicking snakes with the eyes. Perhaps the reason could straight-forward, to look menacing. This post is…
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This workshop has concluded. Read more here: BugShot in the Belizean Jungles of Central America I am honoured to be one of the instructors at the coming BugShot Belize 2015 alongside highly acclaimed macro photographers Alex Wild, John Abbott and Thomas Shahan. It will be an 8-day adventure with bug-nerds…
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We often see terrestrial snails loitering in the foliage, but have ignored them because they were too common. Their eggs however, were less common but still ignored as they looked really plain. It wasn’t only until recently that we examined these crummy little globules of see-through masses to witness…
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Cyclosa is a genus of spiders commonly known as trashline orb web spiders that tend to collect detritus and decorate them on its web. This detritus could be made from carcasses of their prey, exoskeletons of their prior moults, or even bits of leaves or rubble that land on…
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Multi-headed creatures seemed to exist only in mythology and science fiction… until now. Meet the multi-headed caterpillar – it sports multiple heads, with the next head hovering above smaller than the previous one. Multi-headed caterpillar (Sarbena lignifera) Is it real? It is definitely real. These extra heads are actually remnants of the…
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2014 has been relatively quiet, but littered with many memorable shots. I made 46 field trips this year and maintained a relatively consistent lens and flash setup unlike earlier years. This year, I had my first overseas photo exhibition held in France for two months, and was the first…
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My personal style of macro photography is closer to that of nature documentation than that of art. To me, it is more important to get a record shot (i.e. less than ideal quality but still… I got a shot!) than to get a perfect shot. Over the years, to…
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2013 has been an eventful year in my macro journey. Fired about 33,000 macro shots and uploaded close to 6,000 photos – at least 4 out of 5 photos taken were either duplicates (for insurance!) or not ideal for public viewing. I had a shoot every week and came…
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Back-lighting is not a conventional way to light up subjects in nature and especially in macro photography, because it is inherently difficult to carry or manipulate the lights around a tiny subject which might disappear at any point of time. But then again, that’s also what makes successful shots…
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I have recently been invited to try out the Eureka EDC-51 dry cabinet, in conjunction with the Singapore launch of the Eureka series of dry cabinets on 1 Oct 2013. Eureka is a popular dry cabinet brand from Taiwan touted to be superior in strength, durability, humidity and moisture…
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We were doing our usual roaming, looking for interesting arthropods, when a heavy object dropped from the sky and hit my arm. It appeared to be a flower, and had a peculiar shape that drew the awkward laugh and smiles in the group. I asked around and found that…
Hi my name is Nicky Bay. I am a macro photographer, instructor and book author, travelling the world to document the vast micro biodiversity that nature has to offer. Follow my updates and discover with me the incredible beauty and science behind our planet's micro creatures!
