Thursday, September 16, 2010

Spider

spider
Photography by Thomas Philip
Did u know?
Spiders are invertebrates,which means that they don't have backbones.spiders help plants reproduce my pollinating them.Spiders are a  vital source of food for birds,small mammals and fish.without spiders and other insects there wont be food for the ones dependent on them,as a result it will effect the food chain badly .Spiders are not counted in insects as insects body is divided into three and has six legs.Whereas spiders have eight legs and their body is divided into two(the abdomen and the thorax).the silk spinning glads that spiders have are called as spinsters,which is located at the tip of their abdomen.not all spiders spin web.its found that there are more than 30,000 species of spiders.Spiders are oviparous,which means they give eggs.another interesting fact is most spiders have either six or eight eyes.most spiders inject venom with the help of fangs.Spider bites can be very painfull and also may prove to be fatal

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

30 free high res textures from V Gallery...

In an effort to raise awareness for an organization in Nepal called Hope's Promise V Gallery is giving away 30 free (high res) textures.

Hope's Promise
helps orphaned and vulnerable children in Nepal.

The textures are free (and actually shot in Nepal) and you can download them here.

I have these textures and suggest you get them too.

Ant

ant


Photography by Thomas Philip
Like most insects, Ants have six legs.Wherein Each leg has three joints. Their legs are very strong, they can run very quickly.if a man could run as fast as ant does as per his size then he could run as fast a racehorse.Another interesting thing is ants can lift 20 times their own body weight.The average life expectancy of an ant is 45-60 days. Their   antenae is not only used for touch but also for sense of smell.Their jaws open and shut sideways similar to a pair of scissors.Its found that  Adult ants  are not able to chew and swallow solid food, instead they swallow the juice from the piece of food and throw away the leftover dry part.They have two eyes,wherein each eye is made of many smaller eyes.which are called as compound eyes .the outer body of the ants are covered with a hard armour which is called as exoskeleton.till date there are over 10000 known species of ants and i dont know what type of ant is shown in the pic above ,lol.And each of the ant colonies has one or more Queens 

Bee

honey bee on a flower

Photography by Thomas philip

Honey bees'wings beat so fast that it goes upto 11,400 times/minute and its flight speed averages to only 15miles/hour.Bees have five eyes.They can easily perceive movements that are separated by 1/300th of a sec. Whereas humans can only sense movements that are separated by 1/50 of a sec.If a Bee were to enter a cinema hall then it would easily sense each individual movie frame being projected.another fact about bees is that they cannot recognise red color.Stringer bees have barbs which anchors the stringer in the victims body.
bees communicate with one another by dancing mostly to give directions of the flowers.a bee hive can contain upto 40000-45000 bees.The queen bee is the only sexually developed female in the beehive.and she only mates once in her lifetime and can lay about 3000 eggs a day.The life expectency of a Queen bee is upto 2years


Pleasant surprises...

This week has held a couple of very pleasant (and unexpected) surprises.

First, PhotoComment is photography website and online magazine based in South Africa that's dedicated to sharing the passion of photography with their readers through reviews, tutorials, and photography contests.

Each Saturday they feature a website that has "held them captive"... well, guess who they named "Website of the Week" this past Saturday?

:)

Yup, it was Weekly Photo Tips, "a blog that comes highly recommended by some of the most prominent photographers like Scott Kelby".


Then while checking our stats the other day my jaw dropped to see the our subscribers has soared well past 2,000!

I share this with you not to brag, but to tell you how honored I am for the recognition and grateful that you spend some of your valuable time here with me at Weekly Photo Tips.

Thank you.


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Houseboat

Houseboat kerala
Photography by shaji philip
This beautiful picture was shot when we had visited kerala.The boat that is seen in this picture is called as a Houseboat.The Houseboats are fully furnished with an open lounge,  bath attached bedrooms and a Small kitchen (kitchenette).They are extremely eco friendly.It takes pain and  great skill  to construct these giant houseboats.they are built by tying huge planks of  wood together.Infact not a single nail is used in the making of a houseboat.There used to be an entire clan of artisans who were involved in house boat construction.usually houseboats in kerala(INDIA) have a three men crew consisting of a cook,guide and oarsmen.In ancient times these large boats were used to transport rice,coconuts and other commodities to the kochi port .Nowadays a Houseboats can be an innovative Holiday idea. 

Munnar -Kerala

Munnar kerala
Photography by Shaji Philip























This picture was captured at Munnar which is in kerala State of India.In Tamil language Munnar means three rivers.This beautiful place is located where the rivers Nallathani ,Mudrapuzha & Kundala meet, and so is the name.its is a very beautiful place with tea plantations, hills, lakes and forests.South India's highest peak Anamudi is located there, standing  2,695 m tall. The economy of Munnar is primarily from its vast tea and coffee plantations.Tourism also plays an important role in its economy.Munnar is referred to as the Kashmir of South India, amidst beautiful landscapes Munnar also offers Tourists relaxation,peace of mind and adventure