Edition #1 of a 6 month roundup.
It’s now June and we have suddenly been blessed with a torrential amount of rain here. So no time like the present to go wandering down the laneways and having a look through January to May. For the past year and a half I have been wondering where and how to post any of my nature photography. The birds that I take when I go hiking with my family. Should I create a whole seperate portfolio for these little creatures on my website? Or do I just post them on instagram? I figured the best way would be to do a round up instead. A 6 month roundup of all the hikes I have been on so far this year and the weird and wonderful world of birds. It really is a self indulgent little hobby but why not.
To preface, I will say that as a family we are more opportunistic than anything. We definitely do not fit into the stereotypical definition of a birder. We don’t wait for hours for the one shot of this one bird doing that one thing. We really don’t have the patience for it. We are certainly not the tripod carrying kind of birding family. We have a more fluid philosophy when it comes to birding. A more, “if you present yourself we will take the photo, if you don’t then it is what it is”. It is the same mentality we have when we scuba dive. If I can’t get it in a few shots, then thank you so much, but I shall be moving on now. We are the same on land as we are underwater. I think the longest we have ever stayed for a bird was around 5 minutes? Maybe 10 at the longest and only if we were really looking for something. Our goal is to see what we see and if it is a good day then it is a good day. But if it is a bad day where we just climbed a whole bunch of stairs and I nearly passed out from exertion then that is what it is (don’t ask about the stairs it was a lot.)
Kranji Marsh. April 2026
My dad has his own goal when it comes to birding. He wants to take a picture of every species of Kingfisher we have on this island. I in turn am just along for the ride. It has been a good way to keep my photography skills sharp when I am not out shooting weddings. In a weird way taking photos of birds helps me take better photos of children, when I do family shoots. Children are wild things, they don’t sit still, they are about their own thing and they have timer, once they are done, they are done. So when you shoot families, you have to get a little creative and you have to move as fast as you can. Strangely, the same principles apply to birding and visa versa. You only have a limited time to get a shot. Birds don’t really sit pretty for you, so you have to move around and find creative ways to get a shot.
Botanic Gardens. May 2026
I’ve found that the work I do in the in between is what has made me a better photographer. Obviously shooting more weddings, families, portraits all make you better at them. That is a given. But it’s when you shoot outside your comfort zone where you grow in different ways. Nature, sports, travel photography. Challenging myself to slow down and only shoot film (but getting back two blank rolls instead… whatever, don’t talk to me about it.) Street photography. Only shooting on iPhone and not allowing myself to edit it. Random things like that have a funny way of making me a better photographer in general.
Marina Grove. June 2026
