The Nature Society (Singapore) had a small group of photographers as far back as the early 1980s when the society was still known as the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch). These photographers were mainly nature enthusiasts. Literature on the local flora and fauna were scarce then. So in the early 1980s the Singapore Science Centre started publishing a series of pocket-sized guide books on our common flora and fauna. As these booklets require colour photographs, aspiring contributors began to build up their collection of flora and fauna images in colours.
In 1983 local history was made when An Eye On Nature was published. Kwan Hun, a nature photographer, contributed his collection of insect photos while zoologist Paddy Murphy provided the text. This was the first illustrated book on insects of Singapore and the surrounding countries.
In 1993 Dr. Chua Ee Kiam, a dental surgeon, published “Ours To Protect” that was packed with excellent colour photos of our local flora and fauna. This was followed by about a dozen books on various aspects of nature. In 2007, Khew Sin Khoon, an architect by profession, pioneered the study of butterflies when he started the Butterfly Circle weblog https://butterflycircle.blogspot.com/2016/05/butterfly-photography-101.html. In the same year he authored the Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore, again packed with colourful photographs.
Around that time a small group of photographers approached the Nature Society with a proposal to revitalise its then dormant Photo Group (G. Guy, pers. comm.). The proposal was rejected. Apparently the Bird Group was against another activity group that may deal with birds joining the society. This group then formed the Photographic Society (Singapore) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature Photographic_Society (Singapore) Lack of foresight by the birdwatchers saw the Nature Society losing a golden opportunity to work closely with these nature photographers. Well, birdwatchers continued just looking at birds.
In the late 1990s, there were already plenty of photographic bird guides of Singapore as well as South East Asia. These author-photographer include Morten Strange, Allen Jeyarajasingum and Chew Yen Fook.
Around 2020s, the Bird Group started publishing a series of bird guides. Initially they used artist Dana Gardner to provide the colourful birds, later they courted Lee Tiah Kee, an independent bird photographer to use his colourful photos. Until today none of the Bird Group’s members, as far as I am aware, have yet to take up photography seriously.
Colour photographs play an important role in bird identification. But birdwatchers still use a camera when out in the field. If they encounter an unfamiliar species, they may simply scribble notes noting the colour and other details of the bird. Should it be a rare or possible new species, the sighting is sent to the Records Committee of the Bird Group. If any of the committee members had seen the species earlier, the record will be accepted immediately. If not, the record is filed and comments may be made months or years later.
