ION Orchard Basement Escalator

This is the escalator leading down to the basement food court of ION Orchard. The bright colors are really something. Simple but effective design - ridged curved ceiling lit by colored lights. 

Wall-sized advertisements are stuck onto the light panels that form the walls (the blue rectangles are video screens, also displaying advertisements). On this day, the walls are displaying a Fancl cosmetics advertisement.

• Nikon V1, 10-30mm f3.5-5.6
• At 10mm, f3.5, ISO 400, 1/60 seconds
• Auto-everything
• Picasa: Straighten, crop, auto contrast, fill light.

Took the photo on my second trip down the escalator. On my first trip, there was someone wearing a red baseball cap in front of me. It was too distracting, changing the focus of the photo. So I went back up and down again.

Light Panels, ION Orchard

An entire backlit wall. It's used for large advertisements, but was empty on this day. The bare texture is still interesting enough on its own. Girl with the phone happened to be there and is the final piece of the puzzle. Photo would have been too plain without her in it. It's a common trick, having someone in the photo to add interest, but it works. 

Orchard MRT station is only a few meters to the right.

• Nikon V1, 10-30mm f3.5-5.6
• At 21mm, f5, ISO 1200, 1/160 seconds
• Auto-everything
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast, auto color, glow

The actual scene was brighter, the camera was fooled by the bright light. I think it looks better this way, so I left it alone except for some minor tweaking in Picasa.

SingTel Crab on SBS Bus

Another SingTel crab. This one is of a different species from the one at the bus stop ( http://sgsnaps.blogspot.com/2011/05/singtel-crab-advertisment.html ). It's a green crab. Poor thing is now red, which means that it's already cooked. It was spotted along Selegie Road.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At 35mm, f4, ISO 100, 1/60 seconds
• Program exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Auto contrast, crop

SingTel Crab Advertisement

The crab, of course, is not real. It's plastic, beautifully and realistically painted. Pretty spectacular and eye-catching, as far as advertisements go. This is a Singtel (Singapore Telecoms) advertisement, for their "Red Rewards points" for restaurant discounts. Unfortunately, you need to read the fine print to find out what it's about, so I'm not sure how effective the advertisement is, no matter how good it looks.

Advertisement is at a bus stop opposite the National Library (you can see the library in the background). I'm not certain but I'm guessing that the advertising company pays for the construction of the bus stop, in exchange for permission from the LTA (Land Transport Authority) to sell advertisement space. I love capitalism. I'm just wondering who keeps the crab after the campaign is over. 

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At 35mm, f1.8, ISO 100, 1/90 seconds
• Program exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Auto contrast, crop

Detective Agency Advertisement on Taxi Cab

Ummm, no comment.

• Nikon D7000, 18-200mm f3.5-5.6.
• At 75mm, f5.6, 1/750 seconds, ISO 400.
• Aperture priority, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Auto contrast, crop.

JobsDB Advertisement on Double Decker SBS Bus

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At 35mm, f5.6, 1/125 seconds, ISO 100.
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast.

Advertisements on the double decker buses can be pretty spectacular. Large, bright and colorful. If it looks like this in a photo, imagine seeing a full-sized one in real life. 

The advertisers get exposure, the bus company gets revenue, and people like me are entertained. Everyone wins. Isn't capitalism wonderful?

The parts of the advertisement that cover the windows, don't block the view entirely, and actually provide shade from the sun. There are a matrix of holes punched through them, so you can still see out.

Neon Sign, Karaoke and Night Clubs, Peace Centre, Singapore

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f4, 1/30 seconds, ISO 100. Couldn't get everything in, was already backed up all the way to the edge of the pavement. That's the problem with a prime (non zoom) lens, but it's 4x brighter than a normal zoom (2x brighter than a f2.8 professional zoom, and a lot cheaper and lighter), so I'm happy.
• Manual exposure (checked against LCD screen, best way to get a good exposure for neon), center weighted metering, auto white balance.
• Picasa: No editing.

I didn't expect Karaoke clubs to last so long. They've been around since the 1980s? This is a combined sign for what looks like karaoke clubs and night clubs. I'm not a night life guy, so I really don't know. This is Peace Centre, Sophia Road.

They all seem to be sponsored by some kind of brandy or other (alcohol, not the singer). The signs are:

• DYNASTY CLASSIC KTV, MARTELL, CHIVAS REGAL 12, DANCING - LIVE PERFORMANCES - @ 2ND LEVEL REAR PODIUM
• Level 3, The Soprano, Exclusive Club, COURVOISIER
• Club Monte Carlo, LEVEL 4, CHIVAS REGAL
• MARTELL, Club Jade, Level 6
• Level 7, CHINA DOLL, Hennessy (this one is a flat screen TV, the picture keeps on changing)

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/

Rice Delivery Truck, Singapore

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At f4 (if you've got light to spare, stop down a bit as margin against focus error), 1/1000 seconds, ISO 400.
• Auto white balance, center weighted metering, aperture-priority, auto ISO (didn't get a chance to trigger because I set the minimum ISO to 400, and this is in bright afternoon sunlight)

Old-school advertisement on a rice delivery truck. Wouldn't look out of place in a photo from 30 or 40 years ago. For a more modern design, take a look at this refrigerated delivery truck.

Truck says:
AH YEOW PROVISION SUPPLY
Golden Palace
100% Premium Fragrant Rice
THAI HOM MALI RICE
CHEE HOE PTE LTD

Refrigerated Delivery Truck, Singapore

• Nikon D7000, 34mm f1.8
• At f2, 1/60 seconds, ISO 125
• Auto white balance, center weighted metering, aperture-priority, auto ISO (set to trigger at 1/60 seconds, which explains the fractional ISO)

This is a refrigerated delivery truck. Love the colors. Found it parked in a residential area at 7pm. The driver probably lives nearby and had knocked off for the day. For a more traditional design, take a look at this rice delivery truck.

I can still remember back in school, seeing a pink truck in the driveway of a house near the school, almost every day. Some puppy shampoo company van. 

The truck says:
Cultured Greens
We care for your wellness
Processed & Packed for your Convenience.

Prop Match Taxi Advertisement, Singapore

• Nikon D7000, 18-200mm f3.5-5.6
• At 34mm, f5.6, 1/350 seconds, ISO 100
• Auto white balance, center weighted metering, program exposure, auto ISO (can't remember what minimum shutter speed I set, but it didn't trigger because even at ISO 100 the shutter speed is already 1/350, this is bright noon sunlight)

I like advertisements. They seem to tell you something about the culture that is both surface and deep. This photo is a twofer: taxi ad in front of a political banner. 

Taxi ad is:
Need some privacy?
Find your own home
@ www.propmatch.com

The banner behind says:
Dr Teo Ho Pin
Mayor of North West District
MP for Bukit Panjang Constituency
Chairman of Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council
Wishes All Residents
Gong Xi Fa Cai

Glossary:
MP, Member of Parliament
Gong Xi Fa Cai, Happy Chinese New Year
Bukit Panjang, Long Hill (in Malay)

Small banner on the left is from the police:
O$ps
The
Neighbourhood's
WATCHING!

Taxi Cab With DHL Advertisement, Singapore

• Nikon D7000, 18-200mm f3.5-5.6
• At 105mm, f6.7, 1/750 seconds, ISO 6400
• Center weighted metering, Program exposure, Auto white balance

This was on Hill Street, outside Funan. Slogan on the advertisement is "No One Delivers F1 Like We Do." I like the ads on the taxis and buses here. Adds color to the place. I used to work with a marketing manager, who preferred taxi ads over bus ads. Her reasoning was that a taxi will run all over Singapore and get more exposure, while a bus is limited to one route. I still prefer bus ads because they are nice and big. 

Tech products age fast, gives photos a sense of history. I have an old photo of a bus ad taken with a Sony digital camera that uses 3.5 inch floppy disks. The ad is for Iomega Zip drives. 

ISO 6400 is a bit high for daylight. I was testing high ISO on the new camera. This is frame number 52 on my spanking new D7000.