I know, my silly Singapore Flyer pictures keep coming back. Maybe I’m losing my inspiration a little… hmmm… Anyway I just wanted to merge a picture I took of the moon with the Flyer and see how it works out.
Some photos looks better in color, others look better in black and white.
There will be occasions when you have to take a picture under the harsh afternoon sun. For instance, when you are on a tour and the schedule just does not permit a revisit to a place under better lighting conditions. In such cases, your photos may just turn out with overblown skies, with loss of details in the clouds, such as the case below.
One solution is to cut down the brightness of the entire scene. A Neutral Density filter does just that and can be attached to the front of your lens, effectively limiting the amount of light entering the lens by a designated number of stops. In the sample below, I applied an ND4 filter and you may immediately see the benefits as the details are once again returned to the skies.
I used a Hoya HMC ND4 filter on top of my Hoya HMC UV filter (which is always on the lens) with my Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. Both photos taken at f/8 and 1/1000 secs. It does not change the color hue nor saturation of the image. Results are just great!
Admittedly, landscapers use the ND graduated filter more often, and perhaps circular polarizes are used even more in general. But that will be another topic for another time 
Creation of jaw-dropping images via HDR techniques has been taking the internet by storm. If you look at some of the photographs posted in Flickr, you will discover the reasons why. Some of the photos have so much clarity and vibrancy, you can almost touch it! Some are overly done, much like an overcooked half-boiled egg, and they look unrealistic – not as great for consumption.
HDR is great for scenes, especially landscapes, where there is a high contrast between the foreground and the background. In such instances, you meter your camera exposure off the skies and the foreground turns into a silhouette. Focus on the foreground object(s) and the skies get blown out. Of course, it is not for every sort of situations. Some jobs can easily be handled by the use of filters. Composition and framing is still foremost.
As you can see from the sample above of the Singapore Flyer, there is a touch of bright sky from the sunset, the details of the clouds are intact, and the foregone details showing the reflections are not in silhouette. This was done by first taking 3 shots of 3 different exposures (tip: use auto bracketing and a tripod!), and then merging them in Photomatrix Pro. Photomatrix Pro has emerged as the software tool of choice among HDR fans. I downloaded the 64-bit trial version and did the processing in under 5 minutes. If you want to learn more on HDR techniques, the hdrsoft.com resources page is a wonderful starting point. Good stuff this!
Every time you speed across Benjamin Sheares Bridge, you should be able to see this gigantic ferris wheel called the Singapore Flyer. At 165 metres tall, it is currently the tallest ferris wheel in the world. Personally I have not experienced what it is like inside one of the capsules, and today marks the first time that I stand right on the grounds of this gigantic structure.
I treat this as a recce trip, where I scout out the entire area, and familiarize myself with the place. I was trying to find good spots and angles to take some pictures, craning my neck looking up into the skies.
A man from the management office was taking some pictures and actually told me that they were planning a new lighting for the capsules. See that particular capsule that is lighted up? That was the experiment they were doing to see how it looks. The man asked if I could send him my photos with the special lighting, and I willingly agreed. But he forgot to pass me his email address and contact number… oh well… I don’t even know your name mister!
That bright spot on the right hand corner of the last picture is actually the crescent moon. All blown out due to the long exposure. I am not entirely happy with these pictures. It was cloudy and there was a little bit of drizzle. Perhaps on my next trip I shall get into a capsule… hmm…
Contrary to what many have come to believe, or led one to believe, there are many advantages to attending In-Camp Training (ICT). It is not just a chance to waste a lot of time waiting around for things to happen and spend tax payers’ money. No, no, no… that will be a mistake to think so. Due to the hectic lifestyle that we Singaporeans lead, it is an opportunity to recuperate our strengths and mental alertness, to prepare our bodies and minds for the challenges ahead.
Then of course, you get little trinkets from the army as souvenirs for the effort you put in to pass your IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test), and contribute towards your unit’s effectiveness. These invaluable collector’s items will surely thrill your descendants for years to come, and end up among the family trophy case. Surely everyone will want these!
And when it comes to welfare and benefits, no place does it better than the Army! Afraid that our poor NS Men have a lack of daily necessities, we are given a budget every two years to buy all the stuff we need from eMart. Our HDB bomb shelter is always nicely decorated with things that we will surely be grateful for in times of war, when a bomb levels our entire neighborhood, leaving the single column of safe haven standing.
A Singaporean Man’s work is never done. Our lives are designed to constantly challenge us, to keep us on our toes, less we grow fat and end up as couch potatoes. After we gloriously sacrifice two years of our lives while our female peers slog away in the office, we emerge stronger and are eventually hired with a pay that is higher than our female peers when they first started two years back. Yet, that is not enough of a challenge. As we have traditionally proven to be the superior human specimen, the tasks of constantly upgrading our military skills are thrust upon us.
All these amidst the social responsibilities of developing a family, taking care of the older generation, paying our bills and contributing taxes. Yes, thank you Army, for boosting our battered egos, and giving us the confidence to work till the ripe old age of 65! Our work is never done, and we shall carry out our duties with pride and honor!
I love the colour reproduction on the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. It was last used for the NDP 2009 fireworks shoot which I did together with Wilfrid. With its ultra-wide angle, it is great for capturing the vastness of a scene and it really does wonders for clouds. An ultra-long exposure was used for this shot too.
This shot of the Comfort taxi is an experiment using panning, handheld and a slow shutter speed. I did several tries and finally got one.
This photo of the Merlion was taken with me just sitting on the ground right beside it.
Love this lens!
On a sudden impulse, I signed up for a photoshoot from Clubsnap to practice portraits. It was scheduled at 3:30pm and I had quite a bit of problem finding the exact location. I actually took more than 1.5 hours just on traveling there by public transport! Omg, the things I do for a couple of photos!
Interestingly, I met a guy on the shuttle bus who overheard me asking the bus captain about the route, and he was nice enough to inform me when we reached. I almost missed the stop as I was busy checking Nokia Map on my mobile. Turns out we both alighted 2 stops earlier, and funny enough, he was actually headed for a different photo shoot from mine!
I was about 5 minutes late, but the organizer was even later! But he arrived in a cab with one of the models and refreshments, so it’s excusable 
I was watching the rest of the guys while waiting for the shoot to begin and wow… they have some awesome equipment. There is this guy who was fully equipped with 2 full-frame DSLRs, one strobe that looks like a satellite dish and a small radio he hung on his belt. Very professional, very cool! And I found out later that he had gone for another shoot in the morning… o_O
Finally, the photoshoot started and we were split into two groups with a model each. We chose a location and started snapping away…
Bernice is a friendly and chatty girl, who showed great professionalism and knows how to strike a great pose. As I had no prior experience with these shoots, I followed what some of the more experienced guys did. It’s good that Bernice knows what pose to strike, how to position her hands, where to look and when to smile.
Yanrong is a young girl who is quite new as a model. One great thing about her is her almost flawless complexion that requires very little post-processing
Yanrong has a great and girlish smile too.
The shoot ended close to 7pm, almost an hour later than the planned schedule. I had some great tips on the use of my flash unit, especially the discovery that I had been using the diffuser of the SB-900 flash the wrong way! The only slight disappointment was that due to the haze (courtesy of a neighboring country), there was no sunset. Otherwise there will be a lot more fun and chances to shoot with a back-lit scene.
Warden and I are not big on alcohol, be it wine, hard liquor or liquored coffee. But for some reason, there is a bunch of alcohol sitting in one of our storage units. Some of which I am not even sure are still consumable. For instance, we have 2 bottles of Hoegaarden sitting in the fridge, and the expiry date was sometime in the past. We could probably use it to poison friends and guests whom we have a grudge against, but I decided that using them for my photography will be a much better option.
Then there is a small bottle of exquisite vodka called Belvedere (no, not the butler in the old TV show), which we bought in Europe some four years ago. It is supposed to be one of the best in the world. Add that with Momo Peach anyone?
The rest of the stuff, I do not care much about. All I know is that with the labels and all, they have wonderful colours and may be used for compelling photos. Good stuff for me to practice on! I had a field day just lining them up. Whoopie!!
As I had already seen a preview of the National Day fireworks on my last night photography outing with my buddy Wilfrid, I did not feel the need to see it again. Captain Warden, who happens to be none other than my father-in-law, suggested having a family dinner at ONE°15 Marina Club, which is nested within our tourist attraction – Sentosa Island. He claimed we could watch the fireworks from there.
Since the club sits among the hip and luxurious neighborhood along the waterfront, I have not had the privilege to take a look. It sounds like an interesting opportunity to see how the rich spend their weekends, and for once pretend to be among them – something which I am definitely not. I got lazy and left my D90 at home, which was probably a mistake on hindsight. The above picture was taken using my Nokia E65.
Just a quick rundown of my first impressions from this exclusive club – the staff are friendly, helpful and responsive. The atmosphere is wonderfully relaxed, as the sea breeze cools down the heated land, and you can enjoy a host of facilities, such as a pool right beside the Bistro. For me, I love the changing room (aka restroom) which is spacious and comes with its own LCD TV on the wall. If you have got nothing else to do, you may consider just hanging out in the changing room
Food-wise, there is a choice of buffet or “À la carte” at the restaurant. Frankly, the food is nothing to shot about, but it is ok I suppose. Food, coffee for me, and finally we did managed to catch a glimpse of the “budget-constrained” fireworks of NDP 2009 that was like miles away. Warden and I headed up to the second storey and had a better view compared to the view from the restaurant.
National Day wish? …nah… I will pass on that.
