Singapore Cricket Club, International Rugby 7s

You don't see much rugby in Singapore, which is a pity. It certainly has more action than soccer. It's like a combination of soccer and wrestling.

The event was held at the historic Padang ("field") in the center of town.
 

• Nikon D7000, 55-300mm f4.5-5.6
• At 280mm, f5.6, ISO 220, 1/1000 seconds
• Manual exposure with auto ISO, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop

This is one of the few times when I used auto ISO. Most of the time I'm shooting indoors or outdoors at night, where it's more convenient to go to full manual (including manual ISO) because of the tricky lighting.

I set the exposure to manual because I knew what shutter speed and aperture I wanted (1/1000 seconds to freeze the action - you rarely need a higher speed, f5.6 as a good compromise aperture for getting enough in focus while still blurring out the background - which is why I left the heavy 70-200mm f2.8 at home) and let the camera adjust the ISO automatically.

This way, you get to use low ISO when the sun is out (for less electronic noise in the image), higher ISO only when the clouds come out (and they did). 

Racing Boat Crew, Singapore River

Looks like a training session for the oarsmen. Under Elgin Bridge, next to the New Parliament House. Happened to be in the area, was lucky to get this shot.

It's the glow of the setting sun that makes the photo work. The photo was taken at 6:15pm. A few minutes later the sun was blocked by the surrounding buildings and subsequent photos were bland.

• Nikon D7000, 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
• At 105mm, f8, ISO 400, 1/180 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast, fill light.

DBS Marina Regatta

This dragon boat race was held at Marina Bay. DBS is a Singapore bank.

It looks like a traffic jam but it's due to the telephoto lens perspective compression. There's actually a lot of space between the boats.

• Nikon D7000, 55-300mm f4.5-5.6 
• At 300mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/180 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Auto contrast, fill light

The 55-300mm is a relatively cheap consumer lens, but I think the image quality is fine. Much better than carrying around a heavy 70-200mm f2.8. Save that for indoors.