Our objective was to learn to shoot trees but we got more than photos.
It has been about two months since I did not go out and shot photos with my friends. So, I contacted my friend Norman to take us to Putrajaya Wetlands where we can have a field day exploring the woodlands by the lakeside and take photos. In the last few months, I have been watching YouTube channels related to photography and seeing great woodlands in Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District of England. It reminds me of my days when I was a civil engineering student at Sheffield University way back in 1973–76.
Putrajaya Wetlands is a man-made wetland located inside the city of Putrajaya, the new administrative capital of Malaysia. It covers about 350 hectares of land and water bodies. It is also my favourite place to cycle.
On the way to Putrajaya Wetlands, it was drizzling. I was praying hard for the rain to stop so that I can go out and shoot photos. On arrival at the meeting place, I smiled because the rain has stopped. There were three of us armed with Fujifilm XT20 and one with a Smartphone camera. The weather was overcast but the air was cool and fresh, clean and crispy after the rainfall.
Herewith I am sharing six photos that made my Photowalk interesting, good for mental and physical health as well as learning to make use of camera features.
Walking the above concrete path was a pleasure. As I walked, I began to see trees surrounding me and sadly I don’t even know their names. It was as if I am a stranger walking into a village where no one knows and ignores me. We walk in silence because we want to hear the birds chirping in the trees and the squirrel jumping from one branch to another. We walked and got lost in the natural ambience. At times, I forget to take photos.
Walking is a great physical, mental and spiritual therapy for us.
On seeing the rotting timber bench being neglected, I felt bad that Putrajaya Corporation has failed to do proper maintenance. However, on close examination, I noticed a small shoot of a plant struggling to grow through the crevices of the wooden bench. What a great lesson learned on the art of survival. No matter what, life must go on...
As we walked down to the lakeside, I saw the road appears like a tapered S- Curve along the lakeside lined with tall trees(photo above). What I sight to behold. I got the feeling it is a gift from Allah for me to appreciate His creations. I have been walking and cycling this road umpteen times but I had never seen this vantage view from the hillside.
As I walked downhill I saw the reflections of the trees and tall grasses in the pond as shown below. Another beautiful sight to capture from above. Normally, we move around the object to take photos but at times we must move up to see things differently.
In real life, most of us have different views according to our personal perspectives. Many a time we differ because we are at different ‘locations’. Such is life! We don’t need to quarrel, just agree to disagree!
Most plants have their roots below the ground but not this one as shown above. Every general statement has an exception. Just remember that we don’t reject ‘exception’ because we have not seen one yet.
Norman was kind enough to show us how to set up our tripod and to set up the camera functions and features in shooting landscape photography. No matter what and how much we learn from the books, podcasts and youtube, we still need a sifu to give a hands-on lesson in using our camera.. Thank you, Sifu Norman.
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