This dollarbird (Eurostomus orientalis) was perched on a dead tree – a favourite spot for them – near our apartment in Kamala, Phuket. A type of roller, this species is so-called because of the shape of the white wing patches seen in flight.
Canon G3X. Left shot ISO500 1/2000 at f/9; right shot ISO125 1/1250 at f/5.6. Both shots cropped and tweaked in LR
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These fellows seem to follow me around. They are always in the garden or on the terrace at Gupole and yesterday, this guy was on the balcony sliding doors of our apartment in Phuket. He clearly knew that he made a good silhouette as he checked out the apartment, and he obligingly waved his front legs for me.
Canon 40D with a Canon 60mm EFS 2.8 macro lens at ISO 400, 1/1600 at f8
Cropped very slightly in Lightroom.
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I was sitting on the balcony of our apartment in Phuket, dozing over the corrections to my new novel, when I was awoken from my reverie by what sounded like a large lawnmower flying overhead. Looking up, the beast turned out to be a powered paraglider (aka paramotor) skimming the roof and the treetops. Grabbing the camera, I fired off a few shots as the pilot swished around and then descended into the valley over the local village and out over Kamala bay. Looks like fun!
Canon 40D with Canon 70-200mm F4.5 L lens at 200 ISO 400 1/3200 at f6.3
Cropped and tweaked in Lightroom
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This rather large spider took up residence in a very durable web of his own making next to the steps leading down to the car park from our apartment in Phuket. For a while he was in another web directly over the steps, but found that a little precarious. Either that or he ate one of the residents and decided to move to one side while he digested the unfortunate victim.
He’s gone now, but I find I miss his alluring mask which kind of says, “Come closer, enjoy my party!”
Canon 40D with Canon 70-200 f4.5 L lens at 155mm with Canon 12mm extension tube. ISO500 1/200 at f9 with built-in flash.
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It seems there are dozen of types of cicadas. Whole books are written about them. Their main claim to fame, apart from being a delicacy in Thai and other SE Asian cuisine, is that they are the noisiest bugs around. That fact I can certainly attest to.
We have an apartment in a lovely setting about a mile inland from Kamala Beach in Phuket. We are up a hill so we get a panoramic view of the bay. To the left and rear of our apartment is rain forest, good virgin stuff with hugely tall trees, including, in the season, durians that bear the most foul smelling fruit in the world. There are large Asian squirrels to be seen, some bird life. And cicadas. Millions of them. They are quite staggeringly noisy insects with a tympanic call that can carry a mile that the males make to attract the females. They start at daybreak with a brief morning chorus of about twenty minutes. Then around early – mid afternoon there is a cacophony that is quiet deafening. And then at sunset there is the finale that sounds like an orchestra of power saws in unison. Each species call is slightly different and a female of a given species will only take note of the call from a male of the same species.
Once they have finished, they look around, see the lights on and try to get into the apartment, banging against the windows and screen doors. Looking at that prehistoric exoskeleton, headaches clearly aren’t a problem.
I found this fellow one morning on the wall outside the bedroom. He was patient, allowing me to take many shots. After that, I gave him a gentle nudge under the wings and he flew away, the beating of the wings sounding like a helicopter.
Head to end of folded wingtips, he was about 2.5″ long.
Canon 40D with Canon 70-200mm f4 IS lens at 116mm and with a Canon 12mm extension tube. ISO800 1/100 at f6.3 with flash from the built-in flashgun. Adjusted and cropped in Lightroom
Location: Phuket, Thailand
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Welcome to the revamped dgcPhoto site, complete with a new theme and a new look.
I’ve been rather busy with other things for a while, so I thought a makeover was more than overdue. I hope you like it.
In many ways, the site is the same as before except that with the new theme it’s easier to navigate and more efficient to load. And the layout is far cleaner.
I’m currently using two cameras: the truly excellent Canon 90D I bought several months ago that is streets ahead of any other camera I’ve owned over the years, and a Canon 100D that I’ve had for a couple of years — a really lightweight little workhorse. I am also using my iPhone SE far more than I expected. The latest OS makes it an incredibly versatile camera.
Keep checking out the galleries; the old ones have been reinstalled and new ones are being added.
What were the ‘other things’?
Check out ‘My Novels’ here or in the menu above where a couple of clicks will take you to the world of ClarkeFiction and details of my seven edge-of-the-seat thriller novels and my wife Gail’s wonderful fully illustrated children’s books.
