SnapIt!! (Updates from 29 Mar - 26 Apr 2014)

I have been very busy recently with works for the last couple of weeks, leaving me not much time and energy to post in the blog. Although I still made an effort to shoot at least once during the weekend. Here's some of the story and updates from all the photos I have taken so far. Mostly are sunrise and sunset shoots.

29 March 2014

My Dream

Star Merlion

I have planned where and when I wanted to shoot that Saturday. My wife was not feeling well and not be able to join me in the morning. But I determined to go out and shoot. And yes, I am glad I made the right decision. Two shots above are the results. And yes, I was back in time for breakfast with her. :)

I have seen many times that people often gave up our dream just because their close friends or buddies did not have the same dream. I feel that one's happiness shall be determined by his/her own action, not others. The first shot "My Dream" was inspired by my feeling that morning. I was taking the photos alone. So, I have to run back and forth between my camera and my seating position. I set the camera on 10s timer. While I was running back and forth, I saw the street light through the hole on the statue. That's where I got the idea for my second shot "Star Merlion". I have visited this place before, but I had never seen any light shining on the Merlion statue. Therefore, it is worth visiting the place you have visited. Because you can always find something different.

5 Apr 2014

Convergence

That week, I did not have specific photo I wanted to create. So, we were just exploring the places we have visited before and finding new spots for the shoot. The photo "Convergence" was taken on top of the Marina Bay Shopping building. Initially, we were there to find spots for some night shoots. It was in the hot afternoon without any shelter. As we were walking from one end to the other, I spotted this beautiful structure with unique patterns. It seemed like all the lines from the steel wire, wooden walkway, and from the shelters are coming toward the centre. I quickly set my tripod very low on the ground to get the dramatic view of the wooden walkway and frame this shot. As I was facing the bright setting sun, it was really a challenge. Finally, I got the composition I wanted which looked almost symmetrical on both sides.

6 Apr 2014

Twin Star

This is definitely one of my favourite place for photography. I still remembered, my first shot 6 months back when I first learning photography. Comparing to that shot, I have seen how much I have improved for the last 6 months. This shot was taken in the hot afternoon, the sun was glaring but the sky was blue. Very beautiful and I admitted I seldom see this kind of sunset. When I reached the location, the sun was still quite high. The moment I saw that, I was trying to position myself so that I could get the sun light shining through one of the pagoda's door. I managed to take a couple of shots, but composition was not good. So, I leave it for the next visit. As the sun went down further, I spotted this spot where the sun was between the two pagoda. After I composed the scene, I waited a while more for the sun to be near the horizon to get the rays on the edge of the bridge.

12 Apr 2014

Amigurumi

This was the weekend I did not go out for shoot. The weather was wet and I was too tired to go out for shoot. So, we decided to work on creative photography. We shot in a totally dark room with only the candle light to lit the doll. Doll is made by my wife. Very happy with the result. Enjoy!!

19 Apr 2014

Two Sides

One Morning

As I always say, go back to those places you have visited before. You will be surprised with what you found. This is another example. I have visited Merlion Park before, but that morning was special. There water was so calm as there were hardly any wind blowing. Moreover, the Merlion statue did not spray out water from the mouth. That created a very calm water which was perfect for creating reflection images.

The first shot "Two Sides" is the sunrise shot before we can see the sun itself. The lights illuminated on sky was beautiful. I always love the strong orange tone of sunrise. As the sun is higher and higher, the sky getting clearer and boring. So, the best time to take sunrise photo is between blue hour and before the sun appears in the horizon. 

Another tips when shooting sunrise or sunset is "look at the scene behind you". The reason is that when the sun is getting higher, the light illuminates the other part of the sky. And that was the result of the second shot "One Morning". This is an unusual view of the Merlion. That morning, may be due to some of the work that was going on there, the statue did not spray out any water resulting in a very calm water around the area. I managed to take 5-6 vertical format photos of the scene and stitched them in Photoshop. That's the result. Enjoy!!

20 Apr 2014

Coastal Sunset

It has been awhile since I last shot coastal sunset/sunrise. This particular shot was taken at East Coast Park. We have been there before, but due to poor weather we did not get any decent sunset shot. The weather that afternoon was good. Partly cloudy with orange sunset colour in the sky. That was my first attempt to capture smooth wave next to beautiful sunset. From my observation, shutter speed below 1.3 seconds would give a nice flow of water but not smooth. It also depends on the speed of the wave. In order to get shutter speed more that 2 seconds when the sun is still hight, we need ND filters. As I have none of those filters, my limit was 1.6 seconds before the sun light disappear. I would say it is a decent shot for the first attempt.

26 Apr 2014

Fullerton Bay Sunrise

I have been in this place at night for few occasions this year. Because there are always people walking around the area, it is very difficult to get a shot where noone in it. That was my goal. So, I decided to give this place a visit in the morning. All the excitement I had previously was crushed when I reached the location. No light from the building and walkway. As the light in the sky change so fast during the sunset/sunrise, I need to be quick before I lost the best light. After trying few different shots, I decided to leave with disappointment. When I was walking pass this area, I stopped for awhile. I looked at the surrounding 360degree and asked myself a question "How does it look like if I took a 360degree panorama picture from this spot?"

I spontaneously turn my eyes to the sunrise at Marina Bay. YES! There was still fairly amount of orange light in the area. Quickly I set up my tripod, adjusted my composition and shot. In total I shot 20 vertical format photos of the surrounding and stitched them in Photoshop. HOLA! That's the result! I am very happy with it and would like to try this again at different places. Stay tune!

Lesson learnt is "Expect the unexpected because the unexpected is FUN!"