Garden By The Bay

Today is the end of 2011 or the start of 2012 so i though i should get my pending stuff done. And that includes posting up this post!

Bay East will provide visitors with a breathtaking and unobstructed view of the city skyline. and will offer respite from the hustle and bustle of the city in a relaxed environment, with activities and events which complement the Garden. – Wikipedia

Direction to garden by the bay: Take 158 from aljunied MRT station then alight at Rhu Cross. You won’t be able to find Garden by the bay on google map so just search for Rhu Cross.

Yep, so this garden by the bay was actually opened recently. During the standchart marathon we actually ran here as well.

This is something different from the usual shots of the singapore skyline. The weird “trees” on the left is another part of this gardens by the bay thing that will be opening next year.

The reflection on the photo above was photoshopped on, but it’s possible to get the same effect in the right condition.

Haha! don’t know is it i very approachable or what sia. There’s a runner who randomly come up to me and tell me that there are 2 reptiles further down and i should go photograph it. He was said he was shocked when he saw them. It;sas it’s as tall at him, he tot they were crocodiles. But by the time i reached there, they swan away liao.

 

Then when i was taking this shot, a uncle photographer stood beside me and ask what’s that thing infront of my camera. (It’s was a ND filter used to slow down the shutter.) Then we chatted and let him try out the filter, he was quite surprised with the effect it has on the image.

I think this place only gets nicer at night!

The streetlight there is actually quite good for portraiture right? haha

That’s all for this post, the last for 2011. Happy new year to all!

How to be a Professional Photographer.

Check out this video:

This gotta be one of the most hilarious video I've seen in a while.

Basically what she’s saying is that to be a Professional photographer, just Switch your camera to the P mode.

P stands for Professional Mode, change your dial to it and the camera will take care of everything.

Then she went on talking about how she brand herself…. I am a Professional Photographer. My style is.. yata yata…

I’m very impressed with her self-centeredness' and ignorance.

Maybe it’s easier to be a ‘Professional’ in the US? idk.

 

Personally, photography is my hobby and i would like it to remain so. You know? something that you enjoy doing your leisure with no stress and all.

Went money is involved, it’s a different realm all together to me. Customer relationship etc etc.

I think i can take decent photos, but there’s still a lot i need to learn. I don’t just wake up one day and decide that i’m gonna be professional.

Guess what i need is her self-confident and assurance. Lol.

 

That being said, please don’t ask me to help u take photos for free can?

Each time a photographer bring his few thousand dollars camera equipment out it’s a risk. Aside from the time spent on taking the photos (how to properly expose, composite the photo etc) , another few hours will be spent on editing and selecting the photos. You would be better off taking photos in P mode yourself if you expect free photos.

That’s all! Peace out.

Punggol Promenade

Also known as Punggol Beach. According to my Facebook, i was here 18 Feb last year for photography with leongraphy as well.

Kinda surprised that it was renamed, renovated and,the previously 不生蛋 place that rarely people go to, is now a quite a popular location.

To head there you need to take Bus 84 from punggol bus interchange instead of the previous bus 82, i guess they rerouted the bus.

Was there with kyle and we’re so lucky that there’s Rainbow to greet us.

Punggol beach is well known for their rocky beach. There were 2 group of photographer doing their portraiture there, one of which was a pre-wedding shot.

Then of cause there’s other photographers like us who go there to capture the sunset.

Was looking at the photos i took last year, guess it’s safe to say that my photography skill have improved. But there’s a long way to go…

This would be one of my favourite hangout if i stay in that area.

However, Punggol beach is infested with mosquitoes/ sand-flies. At the end of the day, each of my legs has like 10 bites each.

Itch die me. The result of forgetting to bring insect repellent -_-

But the photos make it worth while

See see see. Both the sky and the land looks awesome there isn’t it?

 

Here’s a checklist of item to bring there:

1. Camera
   • Set white balance to daylight.
   • Drag the shutter as long as you can (smaller aperture, low iso or ND filter) for silky water
   • Capture the motion of the wave using 1/10s shutter.
2. Widest lens you have
   • Best if u’re using UWA. Else kit lens is good as well.
3. Tripod
   • Aids in long shutter
   • Might get wet if put it in water.
4. ND Filter (Optional)
   • Help to drag the shutter. Otherwise, use small aperture + low ISO and wait for the sky to darken.
5. Newspaper (Optional)
   • Place your barang barang, protect it from the sand
6. INSECT REPELLENT(!)
   • That place is infested with mosquitoes/sandflies
7. Don’t wear shoes as it would get wet

 

That’s all!

Hope this post will be index by Google and help a fellow photographer who go there shoot.

More pictures will be posted my my facebook soon.

Clementi Mall Night Scenery

I bet most of you didn’t know that there’s such breath taking night scenery in the west side of Singapore.

This would be one of the place that i would bring my gf up. It’s very romantic sia.

I don’t think these photos below captured the magnificent of it, it’s best that you go there and experience it yourself.

To get up here, you need to take the lift at the back of clementi mall to level 40.

Lucky for now it’s not infested with photographer/ couple yet. Haha!

It’s very quiet and windy up there, just like mt. faber.

Once in a while there will be one or two resident passing by. Nothing to sweat about as this is a HDB, it’s available for public access.

But of cause don’t make a nuisance and annoy the residents there la. Later they go place plants there and block this view sia.

That’s all!

Marina Bay Sands

As you might know from now, i took part in the Standard Charter Marathon 2011 this year. No, this post isn’t about it. Had to head down to Marina Bay Sands Hall to collect the runner pack the day before the run. So i might as well jalan jalan around MBS Shoppes after the collection.

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, boasting over 800000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, is Singapore' s first large-scale luxury shopping destination.

Been here several time but every time i visit, the architecture is still breath taking to look at. Got that very atas design you know?

The Rain Oculus. One of my friend said that the MBS is all feng shui trap. like this one, the rain oculus, will like attach all the “money” (which is the water) then trap it inside. True or not, idk. but it sure add into the overall atas look of the mall.

Quite impressed with this trio. not many stop and look at the performance but they still smile and continued fun performing without audience.

They actually thank me for taking their picture, surprising.

It was pouring almost every single day that week. (luckily, during the marathon the weather was great!)

i can’t decide which picture to post up, which one do u prefer? leave a comment below!

The rain adds in more mood the image don’t u think so? But also blame it on the rain that i can’t venture much of the outside part of the shoppes like the LV island etc

 

That’s all!

Changi Beach Carpark no. 6

Was kinda reluctant to post these picture as i think this is one of the worst Sunset i photographed. But anyway, i’ve processed it, so here we go.

It was raining the whole day in the west side of Singapore that day. But it’s bright and sunny at East side of singapore sia. There’s no golden hour that day and my images turns our very boring. Not only that, my 10-20mm Sigma lens dropped into sea water –_-. Sigma, Y_U_NO weather sealed?! but luckily it still works at the moment…

Just wanna try a tumblr styled photo. hahaha.

Guide to how to make a boring photo interesting: Take some random photos, throw in some meaningless quote and then add in vintage effect. There you’ve it – a MASTERPIECE.

The reason why we went that day was because of the ultra low tide. You can check the tide level from NEA’s site: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/tidetime.aspx

Changi Beach has good foreground objects that only appears on low tide. Can actually see some marine life there. like hermit crab, crab etc.

People said that those pots and stuff that you can see in my photos are WW2 artifice.

Big fish!! But it’s dead. else will be my dinner liao.

My lens dropped into water while trying to take the shot above –_-. not only that, my tripod was filled with sand at the end of the day.

Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky
Are like shooting stars
I could really use a wish right now

 

That’s all for changi beach, nothing really awesome. Would i go back again? Maybe.This beach is just beside the SAF jetty, maybe when i’m going tekong for BMT next year i can drop by there. LOL. But then again, can’t bring camera along to tekong or from tekong mah –_-

Shall throw in a few cat pics i took at the Changi village area to make up for this CMI post.

Last but not least, any fan of the vampire and human love story crap? I present to you - Edward Cullen.

Its skin sparkle like diamonds in the sun flash.

 

Oh ya, have you guys visited the premier review community in singapore?  Check out http://www.retrospeak.sg/ and leave a review, or 2? haha

BYE!