Turning Night to Day

Stand By Me

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

I suddenly realized that the moon was almost so full today. Then I remembered I haven't blogged for a loooooong time, and I mean a long time. This is actually an edited photo, very much edited that it. It is almost like I abused the rules of photo editing. Well the end justifies the means.

Finally!

Okay, this is not the best shot I have of the skyline, but finally! At least a have a night photo of the skyline (at last) with me in it. I could have taken using an SLR, but it would be very awkward for me to set it up there with a tripod in front of all those tourists. It would probably feel as if I were having a photo shoot. This photo was taken using a point and shoot camera mounted on a tiny pocket-sized tripod. Tweaked the levels a bit, but I think it would pass as a good photo. Oh, how I love technology.

My Favorite Hangout

I guess now this is officially my favorite hangout on a Friday night. Although I've been here a dozen times and have taken a picture of this skyline countless of times, I never get tired coming here and snapping a few shots or two. I have continuously challenged myself to capture a new perspective even though I always have the same subject, that way I can improve my composition and my night shooting as well. This was cropped a bit.

On a side note, the night really gives the Marina Bay Skyline a whole new glow. Below is a photo of the skyline taken a few hours before, see how bleak and intimidating the concrete jungle is.

Happy Valentine's

Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, Marina Bay, during a live musical performance.
Happy Valentine's Day from Photography-Per-Diem.

Orchids

Realizing that I haven't wrote an entry for more than a month, I was really determined to go on a short hike at Singapore Botanic Garden. I walked all the way from the Tanglin Road entrance to the National Orchid Garden and found this common purple orchid. I was actually attempting to do macro shots, but because of my limited equipment and skill, I've only managed to come up with this shot. Nature has always been a relaxing subject.

Sentimental

Another of my East Coast Parkway shots early in the morning of a new year. This is actually a colored shot. I just rendered it as black and white. I love this photo because it kind of gives me a feeling of wanting to be sentimental when I see it. That is why I love photography so much, it gives me a new way of expressing my thoughts and emotions, all captured in a single, powerful frame.

The Color of Dawn

This is my new year entry. I didn't sleep and welcomed 2009, just to capture this moment and it was all worth it. Taken in front of Goldkist Resort at East Coast Parkway at 6:34 AM on the 1st of January 2009. Happy new year from Photography-Per-Diem.

Esplanade Outdoor Theatre in HDR

Esplanade Outdoor Theatre in HDR. Just a little experiment I did yesterday while taking my day off and idling around Marina Bay. Shot the scene with exposure bracketing and used Photoshop to merge into an HDR photo.

Night Portraiture - Group

As an amateur, wannabe professional photographer, I never appreciated the importance of a good tripod, well at least until now. For the longest time, I loved to shoot night photos hand-held as much as I could (actually I still do). But now I've realized the beauty of having a good portable tripod to carry around every time I will shoot. It allows shooting with a deeper depth of field and longer exposure times, of course, you still need the cooperation of the people you are taking photos of - they need to be still until the end of the shot. I'm also beginning to appreciate the importance of using the flash - but not too much of course. I always disliked having to use the flash as it washes out the color of your subject. However, one shot that I'm really proud of, as of the moment is the photo of my friends jumping in front of a huge Christmas tree at VivoCity, Harbourfront (below). I used to think this wasn't possible with an ordinary kit lens mounted on a D80, the shutter just wouldn't be fast enough. It's really not possible, at least not without the aid of a tripod and flash. Okay it's not the best shot of people jumping but at least I got it on the first try. Can't wait to go out and shoot more night photos. For more photos, visit VEC1.

Bleeding Love

The reason for this Christmas season - Jesus. (Above) Photo of our christmas lantern (parol) made out of recycled items. (Below) Bleeding love. This is the cross at the center of our lantern, which sums up why Jesus came to Earth to become human in the first place - to die on the cross, for ME and YOU. Merry Christmas and enjoy the yuletide season rememberting God's great love for us.

Cityside Skyline

Shot on the 6th level of Avon Park Condominiums, Potong Pasir, Singapore, while having our dinner before making our Christmas lantern (parol).

Esplanade Drive

Esplanade Drive, Raffles Place, Singapore. Taken about a week before the F1 season in Singapore. Anyway, I may have to change my format of posting. There will be times that I will just post a photo and not include any lengthy descriptions due to time constraints since I'm pretty busy nowadays. I hope you continue to enjoy my photos and I will try my best to post as often as possible.

My East Coast Sunrise

Shot just before sunrise at East Coast Park, Bedok. We had our VEC2 Caregroup getaway event. Lots of food, drinks, fun and fellowship in the Lord. Lots of fun but little sleep (for me at least). I just to wait for dawn and see the sunrise in this part of the world and it was good. (Below - photo of sunrise by the beach). Both shot with 50mm. The 50mm is a great walk around lens for me, so far, may it be night or day. Just have to adapt to the very shallow depth of field at large apertures.

Marina Bay Skyline

Marina Bay Skyline. Shot both photos at the same day. Basically waited until around 8PM before it got dark enough to shoot a night photo. Anyhow, I was blessed with a beautiful day when I went out for a stroll and a photo-op down at Marina Bay. The sun is up and shining. The clouds and the blue sky makes it one fine, perfect day. Actually I decided to shoot to see my circular polarizing filter (CPL) in action. The photo above was captured with a CPL. What I noticed was the beautiful color contrast that it gives compared to a photo shot without CPL (sorry, wasn't able to provide comparison, my observations are based on previous landscape photos shot without CPL). Reflections were also reduced giving the water a clear, mirror-like texture. The night shot of the skyline (below) was taken with the CPL on. I've read from other websites that it is not advisable to shoot at night with CPL on, but I guess I was too lazy to take it off so I just left it on. This night shot was tricky. I had no tripod so I had to find a stable surface to put my camera. Shot this at ISO-400, 24mm, f/8 and a 4-sec. exposure.

Haw Par Villa - Tiger Balm Gardens

Haw Par Villa. The Tiger Balm Gardens, located along Pasir Panjang Road, is one the "free" sightseeing spots in Singapore. So, if you are on a tight budget and would love shooting in Singapore for SGD 5 (for your bus fare, max.), this is the place to be. It was fun coming here since somehow I got reconnected to my chinese heritage by viewing the different tableau exhibits scattered all over the garden. There was also a special exhibit, the Ten Courts of Hell, which costs SGD 1.00. The exhibit depicts the ten courts of hell that you would need to pass through for the punishment of different sins committed before being reincarnated into another being, but this is for another post, I think. I personally do not believe in that but still it was worthwhile to view it and learn more about the culture. The photo above is the pagoda view near the main entrance of the garden.

Understanding Bokeh

Bokeh, derived from the Japanese word bokeaji, meaning "blur". Bokeh is the photographic term for the out-of-focus area in the photograph produced by a camera lens rendering a shallow depth of field. Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to eliminate distractions in the background giving more emphasis on the subject (definition quoted and paraphrased from Wikipedia), usually seen in portraits, macro photos and nature shots, such as the one above. Actually I have only encountered this term while comparing specs for 50mm f/1.4 and f/1.8. They say f/1.4 has better bokeh, better blending of colors, and why not, it is far more expensive than the f/1.8 - about 2 to 3 times more expensive. If you're gonna pay more money for that, it must definitely give you better results. Anyway, just wanted to post this to show "bokeh". This photo actually is part of the "50mm - Daylight Series" post.

50mm Edition - Daylight Series

What a great way to start my September series. Pictures shot purely at 50mm focal length. Well what's so special about it? I have never been forced to shoot at a fixed focal length before, because I got so much comfort in using the zoom lens that instead of moving forward or backward, I just let my lens do the work. By the way, this is entitled daylight series since all my photos (more photos here) were shot before 5pm. This picture is one of my favorites. I shot this flower while strolling down the Heliconia Walk of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. You may notice that I always post pictures taken from this place. It just so happens that I have visited this for several times already since this is one of the few places in Singapore that has free admission. But not to worry I will post pictures from other places in upcoming posts. It is a very tiring but rewarding experience. It trains you to think about your composition really well before shooting. It was tiring because instead of the zoom function, you are doing the zoom manually. Good thing there were not much people around, otherwise they might think I'm weird. More photos to come. Side note, I really love the 50mm f/1.8. The money you pay for it is justified.

Orchard @ Night

Orchard @ Night. This shot was taken during one of our early evening strolls down Orchard Road. Orchard is like the Makati City of the Philippines, minus the congestion. I mean there is still traffic but not like what you see at Epifanio delos Santos Ave. (EDSA) during rush hour. We first went to Tang Plaza first, famous Filipino community hangout at Orchard. During weekends, especially Sundays, the place is really packed. I had my picture taken at Lucky Plaza, adjacent to Tangs, and ate dinner at a small cafeteria-like diner serving 2 Filipino viands + 1 cup of rice + 1 can of drinks for SGD 5.00. After dinner my friend and I decided to take a stroll all the way to Plaza Singapura (below), near Dhoby Ghaut MRT. That is about two MRT stations away from Orchard MRT (yeah, Singapore is that small). But it ain't true that you can see all of Singapore in one day (20 years ago, maybe). There are lots of nice places to see and visit. I'll post more in the days to come. By the way, I wished that the sign on the picture above was Canon Nikon (Thank you Lala for the correction), oh well.

Both shots were taken at ISO 1600, thus, they're a bit grainy, but sometimes grain is good.

Birds

The Singapore Botanic Garden is really huge. Actually I haven't had the chance to see the whole place really. These are some of the creatures I shot at the garden. Another reason why telephoto lens are fun to use especially in wildlife photography. Good thing I didn't scare this one away. The one on the below was running away when it felt the presence of people around him. Thus, it was blurred because I had to chase it. The swan (white border, below) was so far away but I was glad to shoot it with the sparkling water effect. Anyway, I know I can do better. I will improve on my wildlife photography in the days to come. Cheerio!