SnapIt!! (Oct 2014)

Another weekend, good weather, shooting time!!

This weekend, I visited Lower Seletar Reservoir for another sunrise shot. After few failed attempts due to bad weather, I was a little worried. The weather was still hazy on Saturday morning, although sky was clear with no cloud. The blue hour was not that fantastic, but the sunrise was intense. The results was great. Here's little story of how I framed this shot.

"New Day"

This was not the original composition I intended to take. Initially, I was thinking of using the wooden jetty as the leading line towards the centre and with a little sun light on the left. However, when the sun appeared on the left of the frame, it was intense and beautiful. I thought it would be nice to capture the reflection on the water and keeping the wooden jetty on the right (not fully) but still showing the leading lines. So, I adjusted my camera closer to the wooden rail. I initially set my camera on tripod higher and slightly towards the right of the frame. That would be good, but there was not enough drama added to the shot. So, I decided to adjust the camera lower much closer to the wooden rail. I manually focused at the far end of the jetty which resulted part of wooden rail closer to the camera slightly out of focus of due to the depth of field.

With such strong light, I would have to work on shutter speed of 1/200sec. There would be no way for me to create clear reflection on the water especially when the water was not perfectly still. I decided to go for a longer exposure using my Lee Big Stopper and GND0.9 to even out the sky and foreground. Exposure of 30sec was just right for this shot. To be honest, I love the haze in the background which adds the sense of serene and mystery to the shot. Personally, I love it.

After the sun was too high, the light was harsh. So, I decided to stay back for some creative photography. Here's one of it. 

"Hope"

Time really flies. Without realising, I have been in photography for a year since I first started in Oct 13. My photography style and taste have also changed along the way. Hopefully, it changed to the better one. There are many other aspects of photography to explore and learn. Gears in my bag have also been growing. Most importantly is the joy that it brings when composing the photos you want to create. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!! Happy Sunday!!! 

SnapIt!! (Aug 14 - Oct 14)

It has been long time since my last post at this blog. My last post was in mid July 2014. I have been busy with works, examinations and other personal commitments since July 14. I was so exhausted that I would not have the time and energy to explore new locations for my shots.

Here's some of my updates since eng Jul 14.

Bali (Jul 14)

We visited Bali near end of Jul 14 for vacation. I was pretty excited and brought all my gears including my best companion, tripod. I was expecting myself shooting beautiful sunset and sunrise. For landscape, I would always plan my shoot. For example, scouting the locations prior to shoots, looking for possible composition, level of crowds at certain time of the day, location of the sun, etc. However, being first time to Bali, I was equipped with limited information. And that was a great challenge. And I would say, it was a great learning experience. Without more to say, let's enjoy the shots and the story behind these shots.

Family Time

This shot was taken just few hours after we landed at Bali island. The hotel we stayed is very near to Kuta Beach. It was about 10-15 minutes walk. After checked-in to the hotel, we decided to have a walk nearby the beach. This is my first lesson. Thinking that I would be able to shoot handheld for this shot walk, I decided to leave my tripod in the hotel. I did not know that Kuta beach has a very beautiful sunset view. When we reached the location, I noticed the sky getting dark pretty early there. I was not able to shoot even at 1/20s handheld. Image was blurred. Then I realised my mistake and I was telling myself "Damn it!!! I left it in the hotel!!".

Forced with nothing much left, I was cracking my head looking for other ways to place my camera on the wet sands and tides which were coming any time. Decided to take the risk, leaving my camera on my slippers. When I was doing that, I noticed the rest of my family were already in actions. And they were nicely fitted in the shot. I decided to shot it as it was a candid shot. Exposure range was great, hence decided to go for a silhouette shot.

Learning from my first day's mistake, I brought my tripod every I went. This is my other shot taken from the great cliff of Uluwatu.

The Edge

Uluwatu is a great location for sunset. One thing to be careful is thief monkeys. On the way to this location, we would have to pass through a place where there were lots of monkeys. These monkeys stole food, belonging of tourists passing through. We got to keep all our belongings in the bag, including my camera. Lolz. The first time in my life I saw human afraid of monkeys. This place was very crowded. To get a good and clean shot without any people was a challenge. Due to the great exposure range of the setting sun and the foreground, I used my GND0.9 filter. Happy with the results. There were other great places in Bali we visited. But due to the weather conditions, no decent shots from those places. Overall, it was a memorable trip. Learning experience for me as landscape photographer. 

Jurong East (Aug 14)

In Aug 14, I only had 1 weekend for photography. It was a busy month with projects, study, business trip, etc. To keep it to my commitment of shooting sunset/sunrise shots for year 2014, I decided to visit a location nearby my place. It was almost the end of the month and I only had 2 days. I visited the location on Saturday. But there was patches of dark clouds in the sky. Not giving up, I waited. The sun decided to hide behind the cloud and this is the best I could capture.

Interchange

Disappointed with the weather on Sunday, I decided to go back on the next day which was the last day of the month. And luckily, I was greeted with a nice sunrise. I manage to capture the stream of light just before the sun appear above the buildings. That was the kind of sunrise I was hoping. Enjoy!!

First Light

Marina Bay (Sep 14)

My journey in photography had evolved since the first time I had my DSLR. In particular, I have lots of interest in landscape photography. Along the way, I started to enjoy long exposures photography. Due to the nature and limitation of the DSLR cameras, long exposures are only possible at night and during the twilight. The only way to achieve it during day time is to use filters which are few stops. Because of that, I decided to invest on Lee Big Stopper, 10-stop ND filter. Since the day I acquired it, I had not had a chance to use it.

Sep 14 was another tough month. Weather was unpredictable and hazy. And I only had the chance to touch my camera near the end of the month. Merlion Park is one of my favourite place for sunrise shots and I had been there few times this year. And every time I always found something new.

That morning, I decided to visit this place one more time. I reached the location a little late. The blue hour had already passed. The sun appeared on the horizon. I used my Lee GND0.9, but it was of not much help. I wanted longer exposures to smooth the water. I popped out my Big Stopper, and used it together with the GND to even out exposure of the entire frame. I turned on the long exposure noise reduction feature in my camera. I took few shots and each shot took me about 2 minutes. Long wait, but it was worth it. Love this composition, and I hope you will love it too. Thank you and Enjoy!! Happy Sunday!!!