SnapIt!! (8-9 Nov 2014)

Every morning, I got to enjoy a brief sunrise when I wake up. Just happen my room window is facing toward the north east and there is no building across the other side. The early morning light on last Friday morning was amazing. Just manage to snap it with my iPhone.

Another weekend, another shooting time. Going into the last weekend, I was pretty excited. One reason was that sunrise on Friday. The other reason was the sunrise at Chinese Garden. I found this spot recently and my first attempt last week was a failure. So, I got to come back and shoot this weekend. 

However, weather was unpredictable. Forcasted weather for Saturday and Sunday morning was 100% chance of rain. And it really rained. It was very heavy in the early Saturday morning. So my morning trip was cancelled. Instead, I decided to visit Changi Broadwalk for an afternoon long exposure shot. I did not expect much for the sunset during this time of the year. I tried something different with long exposure settings. It also happened that Kelong Walk is under repair.

I already had B&W in mind for the shot I wanted to create. But I decided to add sephia tone to enhance the feel to create sense of mystery. I am satisfied with the overall result. I wished I had done more homework before heading out and shoot. The tide was very low when I reached the location in the afternoon. Toward the sunset, the tie went even lower. So, I only managed to get few decent shots.

Changi Beach

I only go out to shoot during weekend and I make sure my camera is locked in the dry box during weekdays. Having failed sunrise on Saturday morning, I only had Sunday to hope. On Sunday morning, train started a little late. The first train is on 6am. Sunrise in Singapore is 6:50am at this time of the year. So, I will just have very little time for the blue hour before the sun rises above the horizon.

BUT, it was raining on Sunday night. And the rain continued till the next morning. Looking at the weather which was still drizzling at 5am, I was hesitating either to give it up or give it a try. At the end, I decided to give it a try and to hope that the sun would come out after the rain.When I reached the location, it was still drizzling and I have to shoot the entire morning under an umbrella covering my camera only. However, I was very satisfied with the result. At about 30 minutes passed sunrise, the sun was out and with some fast moving cloud.

Light from early sunrise is soft and it creates a ambient of early morning scene with the soft blue sky. If the sun was too high, light is hard and you will lose the soft blue sky. So, my time was limited. To have a soft water and cloud effect, I used my big stopper for long exposure. Each exposures took about 70-120sec. Adding the time for long exposure noise reduction on camera, one shot would easily take me about 5min to complete. And each second the cloud formation and light was changing. It was a very challenging situation to shoot. And This is also the reason why I love shooting sunrise/sunset. Each second is critical and you wont know what you will get. I managed to get a few shots and this is the one I love. The light was soft. And the addition of soften cloud really creates the "serene" effect. Although I decided to title it as "Aftermath".

Aftermath

For high resolution view, please visit my flicker Photostream.

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!!!

SnapIt!! (19 July 2014 - Lower Seletar Reservoir)

Yes, FINALLY!! That's my expression yesterday after I had finally managed to get a decent sunrise shots at Lower Seletar Reservoir.

It was my 3rd morning there in the past 1 month. I always wanted to capture beautiful sunrise there. However, due to unpredictable weather, I always came back with "nothing". Well, it is not exactly nothing. I always came back with other type of shots which I am happy with.

First morning I was there, I was greeted with passing rain with large rain cloud in the sky. Here's the result.

Although there is no sunrise, I love this shot very much. The situation forced me to get most out of it. The light trails from the MRT, leading line from the wooden jetty, star burst from the street lights and the rain clouds all come together as one pleasing composition. Definitely one of my favourites photo so far.

Not happy with the results, I went back there again. This time, there was no rain. But... Yes, it was cloudy. I have taken the shot at the fishing jetty from my previous visit. So this time I skipped that and went straight to the other location. I met a young fellow photographer who had arrived there much earlier. As morning blue hour is short, I quickly set up my gear and started shooting. It was so dark that even with viewfinder, it was so difficult to focus. Finally, I managed to get a few test shots and adjusted the composition. Here's the result.

Best time to shoot in the early morning is about 10-15 minutes before the sun rose. You will find the sky is blue with red glow on the horizon. With your naked eyes, the red glow is not prominent. However, you will see a big different if let your camera exposed for longer time. The above shot was a 30s exposure shot. The cloud moved during the 30s and created a nice smooth effect. As the sun rose higher above the horizon, part of the sky will lose its blue colour.

I went back again for the 3rd time. This time, it was partially cloudy. The light was beautiful. I arrived there earlier and managed to take few shots. One of them is when the sky was still pretty much blue.

The water water was calm. No wind blowing. That's why the boats looks sharp and not blurry. My tripod was set up very low and close to the subject. Be careful when going to this place. There were lots of leeches and mosquitoes. Bring your bug sprays!!

When the sun rose higher, you would see the horizon glowing red. And the part of the sky where the sun would appear turned white. In this case, it was to the far left on the above photo. The clouds turned magenta red. This would not last long. As soon as the sun appeared above the horizon, your shutter speed should be faster to avoid blown up sky. I used my GND filter covering the top left corner of the frame which helped to bring back the details of the sky. Here's the result. As the sun rose higher, the sky lost the colour saturation. So for this type of shot, please take the photo as quickly as possible before the sun is too high. Here's the result!!

I will definitely come back sometime at the end of the year when the sun will appear in the middle of the frame. That would make an interesting shot. For the time being, I am pretty much done with this place.

My long term sunrise/sunset project update for the month of July 2014 was published. I would not be posting any photos till end of this month. Stay tune for more updates!! Next we are heading to beaches.

I can see the world better through the viewfinder

Due to pressure from parents, peers and the society to do well in school. We must focus on learning physics, mathematics and science. We were forced to learn things we were not sure we would need it. That is our education system. If we graduated from school with excellent results, we will get a good job, live a good life, live a happy life. IS THAT SO? My answer is NO. What about yours?

Have you ever wondered how you can use calculus in your job? or When can we apply Einstein famous E=MC² at your work? Think about it.

We were all born with talents in sports, musics, arts, etc. As we grew up, we slowly lost those because we were told to learn physics, mathematics, science. We were told that we wont have good life if we were to study arts, music and sports. And with that, we all walk to the same road. School. School. School. Find a job. Work. Work. Work. And work till the day we die. The worst is that we cant find the reason why we work other than money to survive.

Have you ever had this thinking in your mind?

"I wish I joined my school soccer team, I might be in my country's national team now."

"I wish I joined my school music club, I might a great musician now."

I guaranteed you have at least one of such thoughts in your life.

If you did, it's good. It means that it was not too late for you to give that a try. I was lucky enough that my parents gave me all the freedom to choose what I wanted to do. We were always told that our future is in our own hand. What they can give us is financial and moral support. With that, the only one last obstacle I have is FEAR in my heart.

It has been 10 months now from the time I met photography. It was one of the right decision I made in life. In the past, I was never like to be photographed. I have no interest in photography at all. It was until my pre-wedding photo shoots. That was the time I really see how beautiful this world is. Something that is so beautiful and yet we did not notice it even we passed-by it everyday. The beautiful light coming from the sun. Beautiful cloud in the sky. Have you ever noticed those?

Since then I started to be able to appreciate things around me. For example, when I walked out to the street, I would glance at the sky, looking at the beautiful clouds. I noticed different patterns of cloud in the sky. I would expect different pattern of cloud after a rainy day. The magnificent view took away all the stress and worries in my mind.

Have you ever tried to watch the sun rises in the early morning? If you have not, please try it. The healing effect of the early sun light was so great that I would wake up much much earlier during the weekend to capture that beautiful light. Since then, I really enjoyed capturing the sun, both sunrise and sunset. Slow down our mind, let it have a good rest, treat it with healing light from the sun. Give ourselves sometimes. Appreciate all people and things around us. Be aware of their existence. And you will find that life is SO MUCH MORE than just school and work.

Things would look much more beautiful if we stop and take our time to appreciate it. It is the same as our life. The fast face of modern life has speeded our life. When we lose control, we would crash and fall apart.

So, give it a try. Tomorrow morning when you come out of your house, look at the sky, look for a beautiful cloud formation, take a deep breath, and start your day. Let me know if you have a great day!!