I'm a Singapore event photographer; specializing in corporate events, weddings and birthday parties.

2012-01-18

Restaurants at Night, Holland Village


Restaurants, bars and cafes along Lorong Mambong (Mambong Lane). It's like Boat Quay or Clarke Quay, lots of foreigners and yuppies. But without the river, and it's in the West of Singapore. Probably more expats and fewer tourists.

I used to walk to Holland Village from Buona Vista MRT, about one kilometer. Now there's a Holland Village MRT station on the Circle Line, which takes you right there.

  • Nikon D7000, Sigma 20mm f1.8
  • At 20mm, f2, ISO 800, 1/30 seconds
  • Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, automatic white balance
  • Picasa: No editing

Actual scene is about 2 stops (4 times) darker than the photo. With a fast wide-angle lens and today's high-ISO DSLRs, you can take evening photos like this without using a tripod. I could have pushed up to ISO 1600, gone down to 1/15 seconds. In other words, I had an additional 2 stops margin to play with if the scene was darker. Today's cameras are fantastic.

2012-01-14

Central Fire Station, Hill Street


Singapore's oldest fire station, located behind Funan Centre.

The fire station is still operational. I was standing there for half an hour, waiting for the right sky brightness. While I was there, three emergency vehicles deployed, at different times, with flashing lights and sirens: two ambulances and one fire engine. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Fire_Station,_Singapore

  • Nikon D7000, Sigma 20mm f1.8
  • At 20mm, f2, ISO 200, 1/30 seconds
  • Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, incandescent white balance
  • Picasa: Crop, auto contrast

Critical part of the photo was getting the sky right. The light on the building from the streetlights is fixed, so you expose for that. The brightness of the sky changes, so take a series of photos at different times (every 2 or 3 minutes) until you get one where the brightness of the sky matches the brightness of the building. This photo was taken at 7:40pm.  

Incandescent white balance was used to counteract the yellow street lights. Which also helps deepen the blue of the evening sky.

2012-01-13

Singapore Management Universtiy (SMU) Concourse


The Concourse is the basement passage underneath the Singapore Management University, connecting its various faculty buildings. There are study benches, shops, a canteen, and a link to the Bras Basah MRT station. It's open to the public. 

It's a few hundred meters long, covering more than half the distance between the Dhoby Ghaut and City Hall MRT stations. I often walk along the concourse to avoid the sun and rain. You can see students studying, practicing dances, and doing other student things.

  • Nikon D7000, Sigma 20mm f1.8
  • At 20mm, f2, ISO 800, 1/30 seconds
  • Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
  • Picasa: No editing

It's the colored posters on the signboards that make the photo work. Other times I was there, the posters weren't that colorful and I wasn't tempted to take a photo.

Still testing out the Sigma at wide open apertures, instead of stopping down like I normally would for a perspective photo like this. Pretty decent depth of field at f2. I'm getting more and more confident with the Sigma. 

2012-01-12

Flower Dragon, Mandarin Gallery


The Dragon year is the most auspicious year in the Chinese calendar. More babies are born in Dragon years compared to other years. Photographically, the Dragon year is good because dragons look cooler than the other zodiac animals.

Chinese/Lunar New Year decorations aren't as fancy or widespread as Christmas decorations. I'd say less than 20 percent of the shopping centers along Orchard Road have decorations outside. Most however do have some decorations in their atrium.  

It's not so clear at this picture size, but there are flowers all over the dragon. I actually saw workmen sticking artificial flowers onto the dragon, a few days ago. It's the Water Dragon year this year (the animals cycle in a series of 5 elements), but I guess a flower dragon looks prettier. 

  • Nikon D7000, Sigma 20mm f1.8
  • At 20mm, f2, ISO 200, 1/30 seconds
  • Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
  • Picasa: No editing

I chose this angle to squeeze both the chinese words on the left and the whole dragon, into the picture. I tried a flat side-on angle first but it didn't look too good, especially with distracting colored lights in the background. This angle closes up the spaces between the dragon and blocks more of the lights. 

I would normally use f5.6 or smaller but I'm testing out the Sigma wide open, getting a feel for the lens sharpness and depth of field. Even at f2, the depth of field is surprisingly deep. The building in the background is only slightly blurred. This would not be the case with the 35mm f1.8. 

2012-01-04

Chinatown Chinese New Year Light-up (Year of the Dragon)


The Chinese New Year light-up is from Chinatown Point (yellow building in the center, now under renovation) to Pagoda street. It's the year of the dragon, the red arches are a dragon (the head is on the left, hidden by the banner across the road).

For a photo like this, you want to cram in as many lights as possible. Which is why I went up to the pedestrian bridge to get both the dragon and the neon lights across the road, into the photo. Well okay, truth is that I just walked around and tried different angles. You can't always plan the best shot, you need to explore.

  • Nikon D7000, Sigma 20mm f1.8
  • At 20mm, f2, ISO 200, 1/30 seconds
  • Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, incandescent white balance
  • Picasa: Auto contrast, fill light

I was testing out the Sigma 20mm f1.8. If not for the large f2 aperture, I'd have to go to ISO 800.

Found out that I wasn't getting clear photos from it because it has a focus offset problem. By setting -4 focus offset in the D7000, the lens is much more usable and I'll be using it more often in the future.

With a wide angle lens, you've got quite a large depth of field, even at f2. For most scenery, you don't have to worry about the depth of field. But for this photo, the neon lights at the bottom of the bottom of the photo are too close and are out of focus. Luckily, that's not very noticeable.