Shooting the Rising Sun

Single Shot #16

What is it in sunrise that fascinates people? Definitely not the regularity as the sun rises everyday, and sets too. It’s the slowly revealing of the details with the dawning light and the anticipation of a new day. It is the transforming of the darkness and greyness to colour. It is also the dramatic lighting of the clouds from the low-angled light of the sun. That and more.

The sunrise at Angkor Wat attract thousands of photographers every morning. You can say that the photographers are, themselves, part of the landscape. The image below is one of the many that I shot at Angkor Wat and Siem Reap.

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Photo Technical Data:

Canon 6D, EF 24 – 105 mm /f4, 1/400 sec @ f/6.3 ISO 200

Quiet Comptemplation

Single Shot #15

Some photos communicates the mood better when processed in black and white. I took this image in my walk about on a hot afternoon in a crowded market. crowds were milling around, visiting and shopping and that was why this image seem especially poignant as the man seems to be lost in thoughts amongst the crowd.

 

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Photo Technical Data:

Canon 6D, EF 70 – 300 mm /5.6, 1/200 sec @ f/5.6 ISO 640
Post processing using Silver Efex Pro.

HK International Commerce Centre

Single Shot #14

The Hong Kong International Commerce Centre (ICC) is a 490m skyscraper is located on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. The 108 storey building is the tallest in Hong Kong (2016). Because floors ending the number ‘4’ were omitted, the building is marketed as a 118-storey building. It houses banks, retails outlets, restaurants and two hotels.  There is an observation deck aptly names Sky100 on the 100th floor. The Ritz Carlton Hotel occupies floor 102 to 118.  The swimming pool at the 118th floor is the highest in the world.

ICC was developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties and was completed in phases between 2007 and 2010. The tower was officially opened in 2011. The design architects was Kohn Pederson Fox Associates in association with Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd.

The photo was taken in November 2010 catching the reflection of a late morning sun on the top façade of the tower. The flare is real. Post processing was done to simulate the feel of film.

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Photo Technical Data:

Canon 7D, EFS 17 – 55 mm /f4 at 17 mm. 1/800 sec @ f/9  ISO 200 (cropped)

Elephant and the house

Single Shot #13

An elephant statue was given to Singapore to commemorate the visit of Chulalongkorn’s in March 1871. The bronze statue was originally installed in front of Victoria Memorial Hall. It was moved to it’s current location which once was the Court House, then the Assembly house and currently the Old Parliament House or the Arts House in 1919.

King Chulalongkorn was also known as King Rama V. His visit was the first time a Thai Monarch visited a foreign country.

The plaque inscription reads:

His Majesty Somdetch Paramindr Maha Chulalongkorn, the Supreme King of Siam, landed at Singapore, the first foreign land visited by a Siamese Monarch, on the 16th March, 1871

 

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Photo Technical Data:

Canon 7D, EFS 17 – 55 mm /f4 at 28 mm. 1/125 sec @ f/7.1 ISO 100

Changi Control Tower

Single Shot #12

Most airports are identified by their control tower and Changi Airport’s is no different.  The tower is 80m tall and provides aerodrome control service to the airport as well as aircraft manoeuvring within the airport perimeter.  Approach, Departure and Area air traffic control services is performed in another building outside the Changi Airport complex.

The dome at the top houses the ground radar which provides an additional aid to the controller to show planes and vehicles on the ground. It comes in useful during period of poor visibility.

The tower handles more than 700 aeroplanes daily. The control tower is a 16 sided panoramic windows which allows the controller full view of the entire airport.

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Photo Technical Data:

Canon 6D, EF 24 – 105 mm /f4 at 88 mm. 1/200 sec @ f/5.6 ISO 640

Solar Eclipse – Partial

Single Shot #11

We witness a partial solar eclipse on 9 March 2016, something that’s pretty rare in this area. The maximum obscuration of 87% occurred at 8:23 am. The photo below was taken at 7: 40 am. I was able to capture the horizon line as the sun was just rising above it to provide a silhouette of trees on a nearby hill.

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The next solar eclipse that will occur here will be on 26 Dec 2019 with an annular eclipse which the next best thing to a full eclipse. Looking forward to this event.

This photo was taken through a ND3 filter which reduced the exposure by 3 stop. A higher ND filter would have been preferable.

Photo Technical Data:

Canon 6D, EF 70 – 300 mm at 100 mm. 1/1000 sec @ f/8.0 ISO 100 (with ND3 filter)

National Gallery – Padang Atrium

Single Shot #10

Singapore’s National Gallery was opened officially on 24 Nov 2016. It is dedicated to Southeast Asian modern art.  The National Gallery comprise the old City Hall and the former Supreme Hall. The architects responsible for the restoration are studioMilou Singapore and CPG Consultants.

The Atrium between the two buildings (photo below) shows the patterned glass roof supported by a tree structure. The glass roof provides shade and also allow in natural lights. We can also see the 2 sky bridges which were constructed to linked the galleries between the two buildings.

IMG_6393 Photo Technical Data:

Canon 6D, EF 16 – 35 mm /f4 at 16 mm. 1/200 sec @ f/4.0 ISO 100

 

Pulau Bukom Fire – 2011

Single Shot #9

A fire broke out at the Shell oil refinery on Pulau Bukom at 1:15pm on 28 Sep 2011. It lasted 32 hours before it was put out. The affected area was at an open area at the refinery where there were a network of pumps, valves and pipelines carrying gasoline, kerosene and other refined oil products.

The fire is at the centre of the photo. The plume from the stack is not a fire. It is a flare stack which is used to burn waste hydrocarbons.

The photo was taken from Palawan beach at Sentosa Island which is about 6 km away. The time was 7 pm.

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Photo Technical Data:

Canon 7D, EF 70 – 300 mm at 300 mm. 1/20 sec @ f/7.1 ISO 400
(effective focal length is 480 mm)

You can read up on the background information on the fire in the Singapore Infopedia website.