Moving Stars

Picture Taken on 5 Dec 2008

As the Earth is rotating, the stars appear to be moving when using a long exposure to capture the path they take as the Earth rotates. For this picture, the shutter speed used was 6 minutes.

Starry Starry Night

Picture Taken on 5 Dec 2008

First night at Kota Tinggi was a pleasant one. Light pollution is not very much heard of but it means the amount of stray light that is cast onto the sky. In Singapore, light pollution is rather high when compared to rural areas in Malaysia. But compared to New York of those bigger cities, it is considered low.

Blessed with a clear sky and a half crescent moon, I was able to see numerous stars in the sky. This provide a good opportunity to try to capture the Orion Belt of stars. To be able to do so, I wandered off to an adventure camp site. The lamps were all turned off in this area and the only light source was from a nearby toilet behind me.

Viewing the scene in the viewfinder was tough as it was virtually pitch black. The auto focus of my camera would not work as well because there is nothing significant for the auto focus to detect. Everything was just BLACK! Long exposure is needed to capture the stars. But to capture a static star field, do not expose longer than 45 seconds (rough guage, normally I would use 30 seconds). At exposure timing of 1 min for this scene, the stars will appear to be moving and will leave star trails.

A larger aperture is required to allow more light to enter to be able to capture the stars. Thus, tweak around the ISO settings and aperture to try out.

Next post will be on star trail.

Across the border into the woods

Picture Taken on 6 Dec 2008

Wei Hao, Jing Jing and I took a short trip into Malaysia. I wanted to go to an interesting place but yet not a very popular choice for others.

At the rainforest resort, life was simple and this provide a great opportunity for us to recharge. In the rooms, there was no TV, radio or phone. Even the thermal flask used is similar to the one that my Grandma is still using (those with a metal cover and a sponge stopper)! Do not despair, basic amenities are still very good. The spacious room is air conditioned with a nice bathroom. The resort, as its name implies, was surrounded by rainforest. Every morning you will wake up to the calls of monkeys and cocks.

We woke up early and I had actually planned to trek out to find a good location to take a picture of sun rise over the hill. Interestingly, although we had quite a tiring day the previous night, we felt rather energetic when we woke up. Thank God Wei Hao volunteered to drive us. We drove slowly looking for a ideal location. Finally we saw this barren patch with a view of the highest peak (the cute bump is the peak). This area might have been a result of deforestation but the exact use of this patch is unknown.

We met an adventure camp instructor the night before and he told us that the peak is a rock climbing site. He also mentioned that the campsite belongs to a Singaporean and that they often organise adventure camps for schools or any other groups.

I will be posting more pictures of the trip these few days. :)

Kallang National Stadium II

Picture Taken on 3 Sep 2008

I was browsing through my pictures again. Sometimes when you take a second look at the pictures, some seem to catch my attention. This picture of Kallang National Stadium sure did so.

In addition, I gave it a de-saturated look to add a moody feeling to the picture. Time flies, but this landmark is still there! Its longevity has long surpass its predicted age.

Enjoy guys! I hope my pictures do inspire people to have a serious thought about photography. I used to be a clicker. With a dSLR, I would simply just press the shutter whenever possible without much thought. But it was when I start putting thoughts into my pictures that my pictures start to 'speak for themselves'. I urge all of you to... think before pressing that shutter! :)

Labrador Park II

Picture Taken on 6 Sep 2008

A wider view of the Labrador Park shore. The shore is packed with boulders and rocks which provides good composition subjects. I walked out to the sea and set my tripod in the waters and took a picture of this scene. I like how the waves come in and out of the shot.

This is a place that I will revisit again.

Ann Siang Hill Road

Picture Taken on 18 May 2008

I was walking around Chinatown when I took this picture. Good thing the traffic wasn't heavy and I could take my time to compose this picture which comprises of the arrow marking on the road as the foreground, the Capitol Tower as the backdrop and the road leading towards the building. Added Urban Acid action using Photoshop thus you will notice a blue tint on the image.

Click here to see effect of U.A
Photoshop Action Script for U.A

Interesting isn't it? :)

Labrador Park

Picture Taken on 6 Sep 2008

I had been thinking of shooting water for quite sometime. Finally decided to visit Labrador Park. It was my first visit! When I reach the jetty, I was greeted by a foul smell! Withstanding the smell, I lug my gear and went down to the waters.

To take this picture, I had to use a tripod and dip myself in water up to my waist. I was kind of scared that water might go into my camera or lens. That was the last thing I want.

With the waves keep on crashing on shore, it was hard to stabilize myself. Thank God my tripod was still rather stable. Patiently, I waited for waves after waves to crash against the rock. Good thing I brought my shutter release and it really helped a lot as I could shoot without touching my camera.

Although the picture looks simple, it sure does remind me of the effort I put in when capturing it. This picture will always spur me on to do better and to push myself further!

Dancing Dragons (Thian Hock Keng Temple)

Picture Taken on 15 Oct 2008

I took a walk from my office towards Tanjong Pagar MRT Station after I knocked off from work. I planned my route so that I would pass by the Thian Hock Keng Temple. To my amazement, I chanced upon a very beautiful scene. The lighting of the temple was turned on and the sky was blue because of the sun set. A second look at the picture, you will spot that the silhouette of the dragons on the roof.

The subtle lighting, the dragons and the darkness and light composition worked quite well. This was something more unusual from the norm as most pictures of this temple was taken during the day.

Kallang National Stadium

Picture Taken on 3 Sep 2008

During my childhood days, the Kallang National Stadium was often packed with soccer fans. During those days, Singapore was still participating in the Malaysia League. The Kallang National Stadium was our home ground. When packed with fans, the atmosphere was intimidating to the opponents. It was like a twelve player in the team. It was also where the Kallang Roar came about.

This sight was seldom spotted once Singapore was out of the Malaysia League. In addition, the Kallang National Stadium will be demolished soon to make way for development plans. Not wanting this landmark to be erased from our memories, I went down and prayed for the best, hoping it was still opened to the public. Thank God, I was able to go in through on of the gate.

Railway Track (orton effect)

Picture taken on 27 Oct 2008

It was Deepavali and Uncle Tiong Chin invited me to join him for a nature walk cum photo shoot session. We started from the drain/river opposite Ngee Ann Poly. Interestingly, you will spot foreign workers hauling up fishing nets from the river. They seem to be resident fisherman and look very familiar with the surroundings. Not to forget, if you ever need waterplants for your fish tanks, there are tonnes of them in the river!

As we continue our walk, we crossed a railway track. What is so different about this scene is that the railway track leads to some private houses and by the sides of the track are abandoned wooden planks which might be left there after track maintenance.

Although armed with a 100-400 telezoom lens, I took a picture of the scene. I knew immediately that this has to be converted to a muted image. With some recommendation from a forum friend, I decided to try the Orton effect. It is an effect invented by Michael Orton. It gives the image a dreamy effect. You can read up more about him in this link.

The Lonely Tree

Picture Taken on 4 Sep 2008

I was on block leave during September and decided to take a trip to Ponggol. It was the first time that I took the NEL all the way to Ponggol. Well, the weather wasn't really what I hoped for. I had hoped for a sunny clear sky but it was dark and gloomy that day.

As I head towards the Serangoon River, I saw this tree. This was definitely a moment that is hard to come by. There are 3 elements in the picture, the gloomy weather, the barren tree and the reflection. I thought by combining all 3 elements it would be quite a breath taking picture. Indeed it turned out to be quite a pleasing one. Not to forget, this picture would not be possible without HDR. dSLR would not be able to capture the wide dynamic range. Either you get a correct exposure for the sky or you get a correct one for the foreground. So I had to take multiple exposure of this scene to be able to do a good HDR. Of course, when taking multiple exposure, a tripod is required to ensure that all pictures of the scene is the same and they will not be huge mis-alignment.