Jurong East - MRT Station, Bus Interchange, JEM, Big Box

Jurong East - MRT Station, Bus Interchange, JEM, Big Box

A lot happening in this photo. MRT station in the center (with a train pulling in). Bus interchange at the bottom. JEM (Jurong East Mall) at the top left. Big Box "Warehouse Retail Scheme" (light green) at the top right. 

Photo taken from JCube, another mall. Jurong East is crowded with malls (Westgate is out of the frame, to the left of JEM). Which is good because it means that the malls are less crowded. 

Was at JCube to watch a movie. Light was good so I decided to take this photo. It's about 5pm. The Nikon V1 is now my EDC (Every Day Carry) camera because of its light weight and good image quality. Carrying a DSLR every day is too much of a pain.

• Nikon V1, 18.5mm f1.8
• At 18mm, f2.5, ISO 200, 1/400 seconds
• Program exposure, matrix metering, auto White Balance
• Picasa: Straighten, auto contrast

Yishun Aerial View, Night

View from a HDB flat (common corridor) a few hundred meters north of Yishun MRT station. You can see an MRT train at the bottom left. Photo is exposed about two stops brighter (4x) than what you would see with your eyes, which is why night photos look prettier than real life. 

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At 35mm, f2, ISO 1600, 1/8 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, incandescent white balance
• Picasa: Crop, glow

Incandescent white balance to correct for the sodium vapor street lamps. 

You can get a surprisingly wide depth of field at f2 with the 35mm lens, so don't be afraid to use it at f2 for landscape photos. I don't use the 35mm much. I carry the 35mm as a backup lens in case the zoom breaks. It's good to use it once in a while so I don't forget how it handles.  

I wouldn't dare use the 35mm handheld at less than 1/30 seconds (the lens has no image stabilization) but I was supporting my hands on the balcony, so 1/8 seconds worked out okay.

Kallang Aerial View

Aerial view of Kallang, looking south-west. Kallang MRT station in the center (you can see a train entereing the station from the lower left), Kallang river at the center top, Suntec City and financial district skyscrapers on the horizon.  

You can just make out the Marina Bay Sands and Singapore Flyer ferris wheel at the top left. Gardens by the Bay at top far left. Yellow rectangle at the center top is the Golden Mile Tower. Not many yellow buildings in Singapore. 

I was in an apartment, photographing my friend's wedding. 

• Nikon D7000, 18-105 f3.5-5.6
• At 24mm, f8, ISO 100, 1/250 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast, straighten

Lots of light, so set ISO 100 for low noise, f8 for good lens sharpness and depth of field, use aperture priority and let the camera take care of shutter speed. 

Natural reaction when photographing scenery, is to place the horizon in the middle of the photo. You need to stop and think about how you really want to frame the photo. I got lucky with this location. Problem with many scenery shots is that there is nothing interesting in the foreground. The LRT station makes this photo work.

Throw in some margin around the edges to be safe, you can decide the final crop later on your PC. I ended up throwing away 20% of the left and bottom of the photo.  

Marina Bay MRT Station

This is Exit A of the MRT station. Exit B is on the other side of the East Coast Parkway expressway, closer to the skyscrapers of the Marina Bay Financial Centre in the background. 

The underground MRT is actually a good way to cross the expressway on foot. Unfortunately you need to pay because the only way through is via the ticket gate. 

I seem to remember this station being called Marina South, not Marina Bay. But I could be wrong. Marina South is now a new station on the Thomson line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Bay_MRT_Station

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_South_MRT_Station

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At 35mm, f2.8, ISO 1600, 1/30 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast, fill light

Simple night shot: the difficulty is in finding the location. Set maximum ISO that you can tolerate, safe shutter speed to avoid camera-shake, then only stop down the aperture (for depth of field) if there is any spare exposure margin. Fine-tune the exposure later on the PC.

Jelapang Road Sunset, Aerial View

Nothing much to say. A lot of photography is being at the right place at the right time.

It's 7:15pm. Long, low building in the center is a car park. The buildings are HDB public housing. Track is for the LRT, station is Jelapang. 

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At f2.0, ISO 400, 1/30 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Auto contrast

MRT Escalator Entrance, ION Orchard

New buildings are all organic curves now, no longer square boxes. This basement entrance is a simple but striking design, a popular photo spot for tourists. Unusually, it's the main design element at the front of this large mall or shopping center. The escalator leads straight down into the Orchard MRT station. 

ION Orchard website is http://www.ionorchard.com/

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

Ministry of Education Building, Singapore

Trains everywhere, even in front of the Ministry of Education. Buona Vista MRT station is on the right, just out of the frame.

This isn't the city center, it's more like a science or industrial park in the middle of a residential area. This one is called the Biopolis. Singapore government wants to make it a hub for genetic research. They seem to be succeeding.

The two black cars are both Mercedes Benz. Don't ask me why, they just are.

• Nikon D7000, 18-200mm f3.5-5.6.
• At 38mm, f4.2, 1/250 seconds, ISO 100.
• Aperture priority, auto white balance, center weighted metering.
• Picasa: cropped, graduated tint fake blue sky.