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!! (22 Feb 2014)

Yet another weekend. And yet another time for exploration. This weekend, Changi Point Coastal Walk in the east of the island is in the list. The journey takes about 2 hours from our place, and yet it does not stop us. The drive is beautiful sunset shot and some blue hour shot. With a map and route to get there, we headed to our destination.

Leaving at noon time, we did not rush to get there. On the way, we stopped by some places to shoot. There are some unique shots I will probably post in the near future. For the time being, let's focus on Changi Point Coastal Walk.

We reached the location at about 4pm in the afternoon. Sky was clear and blue. Perfect day for outdoor shooting. We started from the Changi Ferry terminal next to Changi Village hawker centre. There is not much going on there except boats arriving and leaving the port. We moved to a little island by the terminal. There are plenty of coconut trees and the view of the vast sea is magnificent. We spent quite a lot of time there taking photos at different location, and trying different type of photography by adding people to the shot. We have few interesting shots together with funny stories. I decided to keep it for the future post.

Finishing our exploration there, we left that tiny island about 5pm. We moved to the coastal walk. We passed through the Civil Service Club, Changi Golf Club, Chalets, and Changi Sailing Club. We took many shots along the way. I will probably share some which are unique in the future posts. Stay tune.

We reached the Kelong Walk around 6:30pm. Sun was still very high. Shooting without filters, the dynamic range is too far. It will not be possible for us to take decent photos. So, we looked for different position for the composition. We found few positions, these two are the one we thought good. Shots are after post processing in Photoshop. Enjoy!

Coastal Sunset

I would say that the Coastal Sunset composition is not yet perfect. In my opinion, it could be better if I were to move few steps back to include both building on the left and right. I was shooting at 10mm, the wides focal length. One thing I did not realise at the location is blur in the image. The wind was very strong and I could see the camera was shaking a little. Shooting at 1/40s shutter speed on tripod without IS, this should not occur. The worst, this is the only shot with the right exposure level. 

Sunview Way

Personally, I love the composition in both Coastal Sunset and Sunview Way shot. However, comparing them side by side, I prefer Sunview Way shot. The leading lines of the wooden jetty direct the viewer toward the bright sun. The whole scene is filled up and there is balance in the composition. Anyway, enjoy the shots and stay tuned for more to come.