RSS Intrepid, Singapore Navy Frigate

The RSS Intrepid was berthed at VivoCity for three days in March 2013 for a public open house - members of the public could go onboard and tour the ship. It carries a Seahawk (navalized Blackhawk) helicopter in the rear. One of six frigates of the Formidable class, based on the French La Fayette class.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formidable-class_frigate

If you look carefully, you can see two Jedi sparring with light sabres underneath the cannon.

• Nikon V1, 10-30mm f3.5-5.6
• At 30mm, f5.6, ISO 3200, 1/5 seconds
• Auto-everything
• Picasa: Straighten, crop, auto contrast.

With a stabilized lens and zero vibration from the electronic shutter, you can take handheld photos with the V1 at 1/4 seconds. 

Singapore Navy, Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats RHIB

These two boats were seen at Marina Bay during a National Day Parade (NDP) practice. They are fast (over 30 knots) boats, used for base defense and boarding ships. Looks like a fifty calibre machine gun in the front, but not a Browning M2HB. The blue box next to the gun is the ammunition box filled with blanks. The cylinder at the top is probably radar.    

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/publications/cyberpioneer/news/2011/nov/02nov11_news2/02nov11_fs2.html

• Nikon D7000, Samyang 800mm f8 (mirror lens)
• At 800mm, f8, ISO 800, 1/500 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast, fill light.

Trying out the Samyang 800mm for the first time. Crazy lens. On the D7000 it is equivalent to 1200mm on a full frame camera. Manual focus, and even at f8 the depth of field is shallow because of the long focal length. Would have liked to stop down to f11 or f16 but it's a mirror lens, so the aperture is fixed.

RSAF, Republic of Singapore Air Force, F16 Shoulder Patch

Photo was taken during the RSAF Open Day at Paya Lebar ("wide swamp" in Malay) air base. I'm guessing that this is an F16 pilot, talking to his friends and family after the air display. Looks like the patch is fixed on using velcro, you can see some velcro peeking out on the bottom right. "Fighting Falcon" is the standard US name for the F16, not the RSAF squadron's name.

"Singapura" (malay for Singapore) is sewn onto the top shoulder. Malay is used for many official military functions, but most Singaporeans don't really understand much. One army guy told me that he gave parade drill instructions in Malay: "Squad, bertelur-telur." Which actually means, Squad go and lay eggs. I'm not making this up.

• Nikon D7000, 70-210mm f4-5.6
• At 210mm, f16, ISO 1600, 1/500 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted meter, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast

High ISO and small aperture are carry-overs from photographing the air show, not optimized for this particular photo. Photo was taken from about 20 feet away, at maximum focal length, to avoid disturbing the guy.

Istana Changing of the Guards Ceremony

The Istana ("palace" in Malay) is the President of Singapore's official residence. It's next to Plaza Singapura, at the end of Orchard Road.

The whole ceremony seems to be handled by the Military Police Command. Even the traffic control was by MPs on motorbikes. However some policemen in blue uniforms were around to look after security. Based on information provided, the band here is either the SAF Central Band or SAF Band A.

It's on the first Sunday of every month, at 6pm, but not in July or August ( http://www.istana.gov.sg/content/istana/presidentsoffice/ceremonialguards.html ). 

• D7000, 70-210mm f4-5.6
• At 210mm, f11, ISO 6400, 1/1000 seconds
• Aperture priority exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Straighten, auto contrast

Took a chance and stationed myself on the other side of the road, to avoid the crowd. Photo was taken at the end of the ceremony. Band is marching out towards Cathay Cineplex, where they disperse. Policemen had just cleared the crowd to make way for the band, so I had a clear shot. You can see the gate of the Istana in the background. The gate might not be a main part of the photo, but it's important for establishing the location, giving the photo a unique look.

1/1000 seconds is too fast, should have reduced ISO. But needed the high ISO earlier for when the band was in the shade, didn't have time to switch. Should have used auto ISO. Needed small aperture because depth of field at telephoto focal lengths is small. Which means that a super expensive f2.8 70-200mm isn't necessarily worth it because many times, you can't use f2.8.

F15 Taking Off, RSAF Open Day, Paya Lebar Airbase

RSAF (Republic of Singapore Air Force) F15 taking off for the flight display. It looks fuzzy because of heat shimmer from another jet that just passed in front of it and is now out of the photo.

I stood back from the crowd, maybe 20, 50 meters, because I hate crowds. I thought heck, you want to see the planes in the sky anyway, so no point squeezing to see them on the runway. Luckily stumbled onto this shot because of that.

If you take a photo of the airplanes alone, it's pretty boring. You need to add people to make it come alive. If I were close to the crowd, I wouldn't be able to get the jet looking this large plus so many people in the crowd, into the same photo, because the perspective would be different.

The open day is an annual event. Anyone can go. You don't need to show any identification, but all your stuff goes through an x-ray machine, like in an airport. Cameras are allowed, but lenses are limited to 500mm. The open day is popular and is crowded. 

The RSAF has official photos on Flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyberpioneer/tags/rsafopenhouse2011/show/ ).

• Nikon D7000, 70-210mm f4-5.6
• At 135mm, f16, ISO 1600, 1/1000 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast

Stopped down quite severely to get decent depth of field because DOF is really shallow at telephoto focal lengths. Lots of light outdoors plus the D7000 at ISO 1600 still looks good. Could have sacrificed some shutter speed and stopped down even more.