Singapore SG50 Through The Years - A School Project

In mid May this year, I received a comment on one of my blogs here in regards of the closing ceremony of our former National Stadium. The comment was made by a nice local teacher from Serangoon Secondary School. They were doing this SG50 project in celebration of our 50th Anniversary of Independence as a Nation, where they would produce a booklet that documents the past 50 major events in Singapore.

The teacher was seeking my permission to use 2 of my photographs which I took back in 2007.  Well you can refer to the blog here. Yeah I was quite excited about this project. I told her about licensing my photos and she gladly agreed to my licensing terms and conditions with a reasonable rate.

So after 2 months of preparation, designs and printing, the booklets are completed and ready for their school distribution in prior to our National Day. Today I received a copy. I am really delighted that my photographs are published in their booklets.

Night Street Portrait - Big Grey Beard

I was out in the street last night, armed myself with an old Nikon D70s on Tamron 17-35mm lens. With past shooting experience, my old dSLR camera's limitations couldn't allow me to take quick sharp images due to slow shutter speed. So for this particular night, I brought along a Nikon Speedlight SB-900 and a flash sync cable SC-29, shooting on TTL mode.

I was roaming around in Little India when something caught my attention. I saw this old man with big grey bread and a walking stick, standing outside an eatery house. I thought he would be a good subject to photograph. He stood there for a few moments and I quickly went over and asked him if I could take his pictures. He gladly agreed. I was thrilled and took 3 shots, off-camera flash and this is the best shot.

More night street photography with off-camera flash will be posting here soon. Do subscribe for new updates.

A Night at a Fishing Village - Kukup, Malaysia.

Sunrise over Kukup streets

For my second visit to Kukup after 11 years, it was a fruitful one indeed. Of course after all these years, Kukup has changed a lot and more Singaporeans are visiting Kukup for a short getaway trip from our city's hustle and bustle. Guesthouse businesses are getting more competitive than ever before.

Make the jump to view the night photographs I made in a single night...

A Night at a Fishing Village (Teaser)

New Nocturne Blog Post Coming Soon Tonight @ 10:10PM (SGT)

384 TIDY

Just a random night photograph I made at the entrance of an industrial company. Thought of playing with lights by casting shadows of the fence upon this truck container with my FENIX LED flashlight.

Nikon D300 on 18-70mm lens f/8.0 15 seconds at ISO400.

A Night at the Last Kampung in Singapore

A week ago, I revisited the last Kampung (Village in Malay) in Singapore - Kampung Lorong Buangkok. Yes I was there once and that was about two or three years ago and that was my first night visit. I had visited in the day time before but nothing can describe my feelings when I arrived there at night.

I didn't quite make many night photos as I used film on my TLR camera back then. So, make the jump to see more digital night photos I made with my Nikon D300.

A Night at Kampung Lorong Buangkok (Teaser)

Kampung Lorong Buangkok - the last Kampung in Singapore; last of its kind. More night photos of this old village coming soon. Here's another teaser for tonight.

A Night at Tanglin Halt

It was a quiet night in a quiet peaceful neighborhood at Tanglin Halt / Commonwealth Drive. I was told that the housing in this area is en bloc and it would be nice to do some night photography here. There are about 7 or 8 blocks of this 3-storey apartment flats (as shown in the photo above). They are all refurbished with new painted walls and windows. Doesn't seem like they are on the en bloc list. Well, the ambience was nice and I managed to find this vantage spot for a little light-painting job on the concrete bench and on the tree. Here's another one.

I wouldn't say it was a good place to make night photographs but I did enjoy the atmosphere and its surrounding environment. Honestly in my heart, I wasn't keen about this place but I would always try my utmost best to capture that atmosphere and hopefully the essence of the place.

Night Street Photo - Walking Silhouette

Walking Silhouette

Nikon D70s on 17-35mm @ f/5.6, 1/125 second, Spot Metering at ISO 1600 EV -1.0, Auto WB. Post-processed in Photoshop.

Sleeping Excavator 2

Sleeping Excavator 2

I took a different perspective of the excavator at a low angle and after a few takes, the clouds set in which all came at the appropriate time. Exposed for 25 seconds with a Variable-ND filter set at 3 or 5 stops down, on my Tokina 11-16mm lens at f/11. One neutral light was used as fill light on the excavator from camera left.

Sleeping Excavator

Sleeping Excavator

Second attempt on star trails at an industrial area. The area was heavily lit with sodium vapour street lights but with proper color corrections in Photoshop, the strong yellow-orange color cast can still be removed. Neutral  cool white light was used to light-paint the excavator. 20 long exposures of 1 minutes and stacked in Photoshop using Dr Brown's Stack-a-matic.

At the time of posting this blog, the excavator was removed and the langlang (long grasses) were mowed.

Stargazing Water Tank

Stargazing Water Tank

This is my very first attempt on star trails photography. 20 long exposures of 1 minute were made and stacked in Photoshop using Dr. Brown's Stack-a-matic. Light-painted green on the water tank with my FENIX TA21 flashlight on green colored gel.

Night Street Photo - Under The Street Light

Under The Street Light

Nikon D70s on 17-35mm @ f/3.2, 1/15 second, Matrix Metering at ISO 1600 EV +1.0, Auto WB. Post-processed in Photoshop.

Night Street Photo - Enjoy The Joy Ride

Enjoy The Joy Ride

Nikon D70s on 17-35mm @ f/3.2, 1/30 second, Matrix Metering at ISO 1600 EV +1.0, Auto WB. Post-processed in Photoshop.

Abandoned Houses

Abandoned Houses

I was in hope that the night sky would be cleared of heavy clouds so I could make my very first star trails exposure. The night weather in Ipoh was pretty good and for this photograph I exposed for 10 minutes. Guess I was lucky to have some scattered small clouds passing by and managed to capture some star trails and clouds motion.

The interiors of both houses were lit with my Fenix TA21 covered with yellow cellophane paper and a light reflector for even and wider light spread. Some neutral lighting as fill-in on the foreground for some texture details.

So, this nocturne marks the last photo from my Ipoh trip. Yes there are not many photographs as you would expected. Personally I go for quality over quantity and I am very satisfied with these nocturnes (a total of 4).

In the next blog I will show my very first successful star trails photograph. So do subscribe to my blog for new updates. Good night and lights off!