Kranji Primary School

It still surprises me, how much of a difference some bright paint can make to a building. With colors like this, you don't need a blue sky.

Photo was taken from onboard a passing MRT train.

• Nikon V1, 10-30mm f3.5-5.6
• At 22mm, f5, ISO 100, 1/400 seconds
• Auto-everything
• Picasa: Crop, straighten, auto contrast, saturation, glow

Original photo had a gray film over it due to the dirty windows on the train (double glazed too, so more flare). Picasa's auto contrast function managed to neutralize most of that. I also increased color saturation and used the Glow function to punch up the colors. Without any people in the photo, you can boost the color without worrying about skin tones.  

School Band at One Fullerton

Not sure which school these kids are from. There were maybe five to ten different school bands on this Saturday afternoon. At least two played Smoke on the Water. 

This is only a few meters from the Merlion. Marina Bay Sands is in the background. Most of the bay is blocked by the Singapore River Cruise booth.

• Nikon D7000, 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
• At 25mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/1500 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Straighten, crop, fill light, auto contrast, color temperature. 

Should have stopped down the aperture a bit for more depth of field, but there's still lots of depth of field at f5.6 at 25mm. Adjusted color temperature to make the yellow sunset (5:45pm) reflecting off the hotel windows, more noticeable.

Victoria Junior College

This is the view from the canal that runs alongside the school.

Students and alumni call it VJ, not VJC (and are surprised when outsiders find it strange). The few alumni that I have met, are really proud of their school: school spirit seems strong. Website is http://www.vjc.moe.edu.sg/website/

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f11, 1/250 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Straighten, auto contrast.

Chai Chee Secondary School

This is an old school by Singapore standards, over 40 years old. What you see here is probably the auditorium. The classrooms are behind, you can see a bit of them on the left. 

School motto is, Challenged to Excel. Website is
http://www.chaicheesec.moe.edu.sg/

• Nikon D7000, 18-200mm f3.5-5.6.
• At 34mm, f8, 1/250 seconds, ISO 100.
• Manual exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast, crop, straighten, warmify, graduated tint fake blue sky.

ITE College Central (Bishan Campus)

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f6.7, 1/180 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast, crop, graduated tint fake blue sky.

Pretty cool, looks like a cowboy barn or something.

The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) has a few different campuses all over Singapore. It's the technical/vocational school system in Singapore. The Economist has a short profile on the ITE, to start off their article on the success of Singapore's system of governance.

The Bishan Campus web page is at http://central.ite.edu.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=8

Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School, Singapore

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f5.6, 1/125 seconds, ISO 100. 
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Straighten, crop, auto contrast, graduated tint fake blue sky.

The huge posters outside, are to highlight students who did well in exams. They go: Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary congratulates so-and-so of x-class for achieving x DISTINCTIONS in 2009 GCE 'O' Level Exam.

Probably looks strange to people in other countries, but perfectly normal here. The names of top scoring students in national exams, are reported on television news broadcasts. There are "No Studying" signs in some places, like Changi Airport, because school students go there after school to study and jam up the place. In Singapore, geeks are cool. Remember Tiger Mom Amy Chua? Now imagine an entire society like her. Maybe not as extreme, but thinking along the same lines.

That's a football (soccer) field in front of the school. You can tell from the goal posts in the center. The tall fence isn't for security. It's to keep the balls in. Singapore is football crazy. Mainly over English Premier League. Even some girls get the fever.

School's website is:
http://www.kcpss.moe.edu.sg/

Greenridge Primary School, Singapore

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f11, 1/250 seconds, ISO 100. 
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance. If there's enough light and the light is even, you can go full auto, no problem. 
• Picasa: Straightened, auto contrast. The auto contrast did a good job, made the photo glow.

Americans would call this a grade school or elementary school. Children study here for 6 years, from age 7 to 12. First grade is called Primary One (Malaysians call it Standard One). There's a major standardized national exam at the end of Primary Six, called PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination).

The building is one long block, but from this angle, looking from the canal, you can't see the rest of the building. New schools such as this, look pretty fancy. And this is just an average neighborhood school.

It's 9am on a Saturday morning, bright sunshine. I got lucky with the sky. I didn't add any color, honest. And note how effective the splash of green on the left, is. Try and imagine the photo without it.

There are some messy tree branches at the bottom of the photo. I didn't want to crop them out because I didn't want to cut off too much of the building. You wouldn't have noticed the trees anyway, if I hadn't pointed them out.

Of course, the school has a website:
http://www.greenridgepri.moe.edu.sg/