The images you see from this feature have been reproduced with permission from Evon Lim. If you wish to be featured in our interviews or know any photo buffs who may be interested, email us a short description of yourself, or your friend, and we'll get back to you.

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

What she says:
I have always loved photography. It used to be snapshots of friends and daily life, but things changed when I bought a 2-megapixel Canon PowerShot A40. Because of the increased opportunities to shoot, my interest brought me further into experimental and then macro photography.

With macro, I was able to get nearer to objects around me, capture and share them. Sometimes we just need to look closer and we will find something different.

Other than photography, I am also interested in illustration drawing, crafting and traveling. Photography complements most of my other hobbies, which is good because I can enjoy both things at the same time.

In the future, I hope to venture into digital SLRs and more different perspectives of things around me. If there is a chance, I would like to travel to the nature parks around the world to see different plants and wildlife.

Inner beauty Yellow, white and red flowers are the most difficult to shoot in my opinion. There are a lot of times when yellow and white will overexpose and lose their details. In this cast, I try to step down and underexpose a little so the yellow in the middle can retain as many details as possible.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Sparkling pearls Beautiful pearl-like droplets on leaves. The best time to find them is in the morning and also after a rain. Some leaves are able to hold the droplets beautifully, especially the hairy ones.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Side by side This is one of my favorite photos taken in the Zoo with natural lighting and the help of Hoya +4 closeup filters. The black background was captured when I moved the camera slightly around to get a better depth of field around the subject. When you want to get cleaner backgrounds, try moving your camera slightly at different angles to get varying effects.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Blue cast Realistic colors of the objects no longer appeal to me as much as surreal colors. I like how the blue cast enhances the pale white flower bringing out more detail than when it was white. I don't want only realistic photos but anything that can bring the photograph a step further. Normally I will stack up two or four filters to magnify the subject. For this shot, I will probably use two filters in this case with natural lighting. The blue cast was later added in Photoshop during my post process with color balance. Sometimes it might be interesting to place the subject off-center, following the rules of thirds. When the feeling is right, I will just go ahead with whatever may come. Rules are just there to guide you.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Kiss me This plant was photographed in the Singapore Botanic Garden. It resembles lips to me.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

I'm so cute I'm not a fan for spiders and am afraid of their web, but I love photographing them. Most of them look really cute when I go close--especially with their big round eyes staring right at you.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Big meal time The most recent macro shot of insects: Weaver ants attacking a fat juicy caterpillar near their nest. It is a pain to watch this scene, but nothing much can be done to save the worm. It's all part of nature. Weaver ants are really strong and persistent.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Frog prince This frog was found at one of the eco farms in Singapore when we paid a visit to see what we could find there for a macro shoot. The lighting turned out interesting because I used the Achiever 115A/S slave flash with Canon PowerShot A80--using the lowest flash power in A80 to trigger the Achiever flash.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Snail With A80, I was able to go very low to capture subjects that are on ground level, thanks to its swivel LCD. I find taking photographs with natural lighting when the situation allows is the best option.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Kiwi love Fruits and vegetables are interesting when they are in slices. I had a light bulb behind the slice of kiwi and a piece of paper at the back to make the backdrop. The light shone through the fruit and made this bright green color and with the seeds showing up very clearly. First of all, I half-pressed the shutter to let the camera focus on the seeds in the middle. Holding onto the focus, I shifted my camera to the side to crop half of the kiwi off without changing the distance between the camera and the kiwi. That made sure that it would not go out of focus due to distant change. The background brought out the contrast of the kiwi, so having half of the kiwi and half the background would strike a balance within the whole picture.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

My lady One of my water experimental shots done in my home kitchen with the Canon PowerShot A40 and the help of two Hoya closeup +4. I always thought I needed high-end equipment or a studio environment to achieve such shots. I was proved wrong. A simple stainless steel sink, water, tap and a camera would be able to get this--and not forgetting luck. I took hundreds of shots to capture just one of these. This picture was taken with the camera's built-in flash, macro mode on, closeup filter and shutter speed at 1/500.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Color dance One of my favorite experimental shots. It is an experiment with food coloring in a glass of water. Light is coming from behind the glass to light up the food coloring. I used the injection syringe to help me distribute the coloring in small amounts one at a time.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Fiery Smoke experiment. This picture was taken in a dark room with a black backdrop, side lamp shining at the smoke from an insect repellent, incense recommended, too. A Nikon D70 and a 50mm lens were used for this shoot. It was later inverted and colors added in Photoshop.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

Dancing in the sky These are the normal dancing plastics down the streets at Orchard Road. I did some processing of colors in Photoshop for this series of photos.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

We will shine Kranji War Memorial. The sky was still clear and the sun was blazing when we reached the place. But after half an hour, the area was covered with thick dark clouds and strong winds started to blow. There was a ray of light shining through the dark clouds lighting up the tomb stones and the view was simply breathtaking.

               
               

Name: Evon Lim Type of photographer: Amateur / enthusiast Current arsenal: Canon PowerShot A80 Accessories to go: Hoya closeup +4, Nikkor 50mm reversed, Tamron 90mm, Nikon 4T

My equipment I am currently using a Canon PowerShot A80 (previously I was using a A40). I think it is a very good compact camera. With the adapter, I can attach closeup filters for macro shots or any other available filters for different purposes. I can even use a reverse 50mm lens to get better quality closeup photos, although that will make my camera need more light or flash. Closeup filters or reverse lens is a must when I go on a nature macro trip. Sometimes I will use the Achiever 115A/S flash to assist me when the light is too low. I may not need the bracket as I can hold the flash with my other hand or place it on a stable surface. While in the manual mode, I set the built-in flash power to its lowest, just enough to trigger the slave flash. Click here to go to Evon's gallery.