Stewords Riverboat, Marina South Pier, Night

Replica of a Mark Twain-style Mississippi riverboat, permanently berthed at Marina South Pier. There's a restaurant, a cafe, and a multi-purpose hall.

http://www.riverboat.com.sg/

I took this photo on the way back from a boat trip to Kusu island. I hung back behind the rest of the passengers, to take the photo and ended up being the last one through the customs checkpoint.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At 38mm, f2, ISO 1600, 1/15 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, glow

The reflections off the water are an important part of the composition. I had to consciously aim the camera downwards to capture them in the frame.

I carried two zoom lenses on this trip, together with the 35mm f1.8 prime. I switched to the prime when it got dark, not just because it was the brightest lens but also because I was stumbling around in the dark and didn't want a big lens hanging off my camera.

Cargo Ship Xin Xiang Hai

Chinese cargo ship Xin Xiang Hai, anchored off the southern coast of Singapore. Cargo ships aren't particularly photogenic. It's the small boat moving at high speed, that makes the photo work.

Despite Singapore being an island, it's easy to go for months without seeing the sea or a ship. I was on my way to Kusu Island on a small ferry boat, taking photos through the boat's glass window. 

With today's technology, you can track a ship's daily position:
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?mmsi=413347000

• 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: Straighten, crop, auto contrast

Picasa's auto contrast function works well and I use it on most of my photos. It is especially effective for photos like this, where the sea air reduces contrast and makes everything grayed out.

Singapore Karting Championships 2012

Photo was taken during the afternoon practice session. The actual race is at night. It's held at the Formula One pit-stop building next to the Singapore Flyer, but the track is a lot smaller than the F1 street track. 

http://www.skc.sg/

• Nikon D7000, 55-300mm f4.5-5.6
• At 300mm, f11, ISO 800, 1/2000 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, straighten, auto contrast

There's a lot of distracting clutter on the race track. You want to isolate the drivers by zooming in and cutting out the background. It's a bonus if you can add some interesting geometric patterns as well.

Stopped down lens aperture to get more depth of field, a common problem when using telephoto lenses. Telephoto perspective compressed the apparent distance so it looks like he his tightly squeezed in between the plastic barriers. 

With the 1.5x crop of the D7000, effective focal length of the 300mm lens is 450mm. And that still wasn't enough for me to "zoom in" as much as I wanted. Cropping the photo on the PC, pushes the effective focal length to about 1000mm, leaving only a quarter of the megapixels in the image. It's times like this that you really make use of the megapixels in today's cameras. 

First Red Bull Flugtag 2012 Singapore

This is the first Red Bull Flugtag ("flying day") in Singapore. Participants make crazy contraptions and attempt to glide them off a ramp into the sea.

This entry is from Singapore Polytechnic. Wings look weak to me. If you've seen video footage of the flights, you'll notice that most of the time the wings break off in flight. 

The glider is being pushed up the ramp to the launch point. Somehow, the scene reminds me of the Pacific Island Cargo Cults after World War II. 

This is right at the end of Siloso Beach, near the Rasa Sentosa hotel.

• Nikon D7000, 55-300mm f4.5-5.6
• At 116mm, f11, ISO 100, 1/1000 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast, fill light

With a telephoto lens, default aperture is f8 or f11 for usable depth of field. Which means that you don't need a big, heavy and expensive f2.8 telephoto lens for outdoor use (that's an indoor lens). Today's "consumer" lenses are excellent performers, giving you quality optics at a low price. Don't you just love capitalism?

Telephoto applications is one area where the cropped sensor DSLRs have an advantage. On the D7000, a 300mm lens is equivalent to 450mm on a full frame camera.
 
Access is everything in photography. Without an access pass, I wandered around outside the barricaded security area and managed to find this unblocked view of the ramp. Couldn't get a good view of the launch point to photograph the actual flight. Much of the crowd was watching on large video screens instead. 

Sentosa Beach Tram

I'll photograph anything that has bright colors.

Free bus service along the beach road. The bus travels slowly, so the open sides are not a problem. All bus services on Sentosa are free, since you pay an entrance fee to get on to the island ( http://www.sentosa.com.sg/en/getting-to-around-sentosa/getting-around-sentosa/ ).

Traditional-looking buildings on the right (with fake atap roof) are actually part of a hotel.

• Nikon D7000, 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
• At 66mm, f5.3, ISO 6400, 1/90 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast, fill light. 

It was 7pm, already getting quite dark. Difficult to tell from the photo because the camera will expose the photo until it looks like daylight (there was still some light from the cloudy sky to evenly light up the scene, unlike a real night scene).

One indication that it is evening, is that you can see that the passengers in the front are being illuminated by the interior lights (compare with the passengers in the rear), which is why they are slightly yellow and not in shadow. In full daylight, the interior lights would be overpowered by the sunlight and would not be noticeable.

I was testing out ISO 6400 on the D7000. Turned out better than I had expected, but I later bought the full frame D600 anyway for even better high ISO performance. I'm keepng the D7000 as a travel and backup camera.

River Cruise Boats Under Ord Bridge

Ord Bridge is at one end of Clarke Quay. It's an old bridge, built in 1886. Solid industrial design.

This was near noon on a Saturday afternoon. Peak river cruise time is in the evening, so these boats were taking a break. It looks like a lot of boats, but if you count them, there are only four. They do make a pretty pattern. 

• Nikon D7000, 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
• At 105mm, f11, ISO 100, 1/180 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Straighten, crop, auto contrast, fill light

Set f11 to get sufficient depth of field to get all the boats in focus. Lots of light. Not often that I get to use ISO 100.

Segways at Pahlawan Beach, Sentosa

Segway rentals from Gogreen ( http://www.segway-sentosa.com/ ) at Pahlawan ("warrior") beach on Sentosa Island.

I thought that the riders made an interesting pattern. 

• Nikon D600, 28-300mm f3.5-5.6
• At 190mm, f5.6, ISO 6400, 1/1000 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance, -0.5 exposure compensation
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast

Got my new D600 this week. Testing out the ISO 6400 performance. Quite happy so far. The 23-300mm is remarkably sharp considering its high zoom ratio. Sharper than the equivalent (but older) 18-200mm DX lens.

With the high ISO performance of the D600, together with the zoom range of the 28-300mm, you can set the D600 at IS0 6400 and cover almost any indoor or night situation, and still get high quality images. 

I'm experimenting with setting a permanent -0.5 exposure compensation. I'm not sure that the D600 over-exposure problem is as bad as the D7000's, but setting some negative exposure compensation seems like the safe thing to do, no matter what. It's easier to correct under exposure later on the PC, than over exposure.

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.

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.

SuperStar Virgo Cruise Liner, at Harbourfront Cruise Centre

This ship is huge, bigger than most hotels and shopping malls. I couldn't believe how big it looked in real life. I'm sure that it's way bigger than any Singapore navy ship. 

Dark blob on the left is Sentosa island.

http://www.starcruises.com/newweb/our_fleets/cruise_ssv.aspx

• Nikon D7000, 70-200mm f2.8
• At 70mm, f2.8, ISO 1600, 1/30 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, sunlight white balance
• Picasa: Auto contrast, fill light.

Articulated Bus

Also called a Bendy or Flex bus, these are high-capacity alternatives to double decker buses. Not as cool, unfortunately.

The advertisement "Majulah! The Singapore Spirit" is the theme for the 2011 National Day Parade, which is held on Singapore's Independence Day on August 9th. "Maju" means progress in Malay. "Majulah" can be loosely translated as "go and progress." Which explains the use of "lah" in Singlish.

• Nikon D7000, 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
• At 21mm, f5.6, ISO 400, 1/45 seconds
• Aperture priority, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast

I panned the camera, moving it to the right to follow the movement of the bus. This is why the trees and building in the background are blurred.

MG Midget

You don't see many classic cars in Singapore, but they do exist. This beautifully maintained MG Midget ( http://www.mgcars.org.uk/midget.html ) was seen in Kampong Glam. Not to be mean, but the grass field makes it look like the photo was taken outside Singapore. 

It's a British car, but the storied MG name now belongs to the Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation, SAIC ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_Motor_UK ).

• D7000, 18-105mm f3.5-5.6
• At 18mm, f8, ISO 100, 1/30 seconds
• Manual exposure, center-weighted metering, auto white balance
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast

The black paint would have caused the photo to be over-exposed, but I could have used aperture priority exposure and exposure-locked on the road. I used manual exposure instead, because the camera was already set to it, because I was photographing buildings backlit against the sky.

The red and white traffic sign could have ruined the photo, but it's turned edge-wise towards the camera, so you don't notice it at first glance. I hate traffic signs. Hate them.

The car is really short, about 4 feet (1.2 meters). It would be good to have someone in the photo to give some sense of scale, but I wasn't able to arrange for that.

I held the camera at waist-level to get a natural-looking angle. It's usually better to photograph something at its own level, unless you're trying to achieve a specific effect. I see a lot of people photograph their kids, without kneeling down. Their photos are going to turn out looking awkward.

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

Singapore River, Electric Cruise Boat

Night, 9:30pm, next to the Singapore Parliament House. Lights on the left are reflections from the financial district skyscrapers, colored lights on the right are from restaurants along Boat Quay. You can see the driver (pilot? captain?) in a white shirt, on the right hand side of the photo (left of the boat). 

Boat is electric, but modeled after the traditional wooden "bumboat" diesel boats that have been used here for decades. The Marina Barrage (http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/default.aspx) was built a few years ago at the mouth of the river to turn the Singapore River into a reservoir for Singapore's domestic water supply. It stops sea water from flowing upriver during high tide. Diesel boats were considered too dirty for a reservoir, so all the boats are now electric. 

I think there's more than one river cruise service. This boat looks like it belongs to Singapore River Cruises and Leisure, http://www.rivercruise.com.sg/

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8.
• At 35mm, f2, 1/30 seconds, ISO 1600. Set maximum aperture, increase ISO until you get a reasonable shutter speed. 
• Program exposure, center weighted metering, incandescent white balance.
• Picasa: Crop, auto contrast.

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.

Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange, Singapore

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At f9.5, 1/250 seconds, ISO 400. Should have gone for ISO 100.
• Center weighted metering, Program exposure. I've learned my lesson now, no more aperture priority in bright daylight. Leave it on Program mode, not aperture priority. 

Next to the Bukit Panjang LRT station, opposite Bukit Panjang Plaza, but is otherwise smack in the middle of a residential area. High rise buildings in the background are apartments. 

Buses are run by the SMRT (the train operators), not SBS Transit (the bus company). Many of the bus license plates are TIB, which probably means they are from the old TIBS (Trans Island Bus Service). Corporate musical chairs.

Does that matter? The Transitlink smartcard works on both bus services, so you don't need to know who operates the bus when boarding. But the SBS website doesn't carry information on the SMRT bus services, and vice versa.

For photos like this, you need to force yourself to tilt the camera up. Normal tendency is to place the buses in the center, but then you get a lot of empty road at the bottom of the photo, which doesn't look good.

Three part theory: the three parts of the photo are the buses, the trees, and the buildings. Sky is washed out, doesn't count. Imagine the photo without the trees: bland.

SBS Bus and Bus Stop, Singapore

Singapore has double-decker buses. Pretty cool. I remember seeing a tourist family board one, many years ago. The son, about ten years old, was really excited about going to the top level, but the father didn't allow him to. The son got pretty upset. 

There are bus stops about every 300 meters, almost anywhere in Singapore. The bus service is well run. There were a few separate bus companies, but were consolidated into the Singapore Bus Service (SBS). It's now called SBS Transit, because they run some light rail (LRT) systems too. Probably dropped the whole "bus" thing from their name so the full name is just SBS Transit, for all I know.

Until a few years ago, when the SMRT that runs the trains, got into the bus business too. I guess the government thought that competition would be good, after all. 

The signs on the metal post on the right, shows the service number of the buses stopping there. Underneath the bus stop, there are detailed route tables for all the services. All this information is kept up to date. I remember seeing a change in bus service at one bus stop. The new information was updated on the same day the service was changed.

• Nikon D7000, 35mm f1.8
• At f2 (I hate fractional f-stops), 1/2000 seconds, ISO 100
• Auto white balance, center weighted metering, aperture-priority, auto ISO (didn't get a chance to trigger because this is in bright afternoon sunlight)

Driver's face is blocked by reflection on the windscreen. Ah well, you can't have everything. Huge advertisement plastered on the side, but you can't see what it is from this angle. What does work, is the two guys walking to the bus stop. Adds balance to the photo.

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.