Finally there's an opportunity to practice my night photography at Esplanade area... Thinking back, it had been almost 3 years since I brought my tripod & cam there. That time was wif Ruby & Zf, after I bought my Fuji cam & we did lotsa whacky poses at my suggestion, keke! I was pleased wif the results despite using juz a normal compact camera.
Last sat, I wanted to bring my cousin for a stroll down Esplanade but alas, the rain spoilt my plans. On friday, i was thinking to myself, better let it be an early downpour if the skies going to rain on sat.... Guess wat? When i woke up at 9.30am on sat, my area had a torrential downpour all the way till afternoon! Cool, I could proceed wif my plans of solo photography, since none of my playmates were available!
Stepped out at 7pm & stopped by Funan for a Subway dinner....Wow! my fav cheese steak now comes in bigger beef chunks! Not too bad, thou i also like the orginal version! Then, i started my stroll from city hall & decided not to take the usual route via citylink... Instead, I walked thru' Coleman street & cut to Padang, saw the starhub activites buzzing there... walked behind the St. Andrew's Cathedral... felt abit like a tourist manz! Cos never taken this route before, haha! My backpack was abit heavy, wif umbrella & water-bottle, this time have to be kiasu, cos last wkend i din pack my umbrella & was caught off-guard by the 2nd round of rain!
About 8pm+, I reached Esplanade & did some test shots...no ideal ones! can't figure out why...Then i decided to walk to the waterfront & saw an uncle placing his tripod on the bench, i tot that's a gd idea & follow suit, keke! But my standard kit lens couldn't zoom as much, so the Merlion looked rather tiny! I walked the whole stretch along the riverfront, right up to the Float @ Marina to snap shots of The Flyer...but i felt that the angle from there not nice! By now, i was sweating liao...despite the rain during daytime, it was super humid & wind-less at nite! The action of adjusting my tripod, retracting & expanding it was indeed tiring! Wonder if i keep lugging my tripod & SLR hor, will it train a little mouse on my arm? wakaka!
The evening at Esplanade waterfront was vibrant wif a live band playing music & attracting a small crowd...while diners were enjoying their dinner either at Makansutra or the restaurants. As I strolled towards the Esplanade Bridge, i noticed there's really alot of young avid photographers around... I tried to set up my tripod on the bridge but also made an effort not to block the footpath. Suddenly, i heard a guy who walked past me told his fren, ''I will never buy a canon.'' Hmm...beats me, wonder if he spoke fr some neg experience? I bochup & continued to focus my ideal angle. There's quite a few ladies photographers nearby too, except they usually come in grps or wif bf, haha! Followed on, i set up my tripod at the traffic light to snap The Fullerton hotel, this certainly tested my patience as i needed to wait for red light for the vehicles to stop!
Ever since the One Fullerton area was refurbished, I had never walk to this area... I saw that the neon lights (wif changing colours) pillars had indeed 'liven' up the area around the Merlion. It was super challenging to set up tripod & waiting for the right moment to click the shutter, cos too many people flocked the area. (end up, i really spent quite a long time waiting to get a clear view) When i turned around, i saw at least 5 other ppl set up tripods too! I guess wif the affordability of DSLRs now, there's a growing group of shutterbugs! I spent the longest time in this area and I'm still not really satisfied wif the results.... There's a super glaring light from afar, that will cause a flare when u frame the Merlion. While i was trying to shoot from its side view, a guy approached me to snap a pic for his family. He also found the flare disturbing & requested that i shoot them, using his head to block it! haha! When i asked if his cam has a Night Portrait mode, his reply quite funny, ''i also not sure leh, it's ok lah, we r not pros...'' keke! Then, he seems satisfactory wif the shot, ok lo!
Gosh! I had lost track of time & was sweating big time....i packed my stuff & walked over to Boat Quay. Over here, also another funny thing happened. When i was at the Cavenagh Bridge, i saw a guy who was focusing on his photography too & I recognised him as the guy who was next to me at Merlion earlier! I tink he was too engrossed on taking photos & din notice me.... but later, when he packed up & walked off, he turned around & glanced at me! I bet both of us had same tots: 'Oh, u again ah?' But rest assured, i din stalked him! haha! If he is a shuai ge, maybe will steal more glances at him, but too bad, he's Not!
After i packed my gear & walked towards UOB Plaza, I was surprised to see quite a few heavy armed policemen wif their rifles patrolling.... how come all stay at that location only & not at Esplanade area? I dun quite understand. By now, I was dead tired & my legs were sore from walking over 4hrs! My arms & back were tired from carrying my gear, no assistant to share my load is so chiam! Finally i manage to hop onto the last bus home, but i definately will want to practice again as I felt that my shots can be better!
Dreamer's Photography Tips: For the Merlion polariod shot, I used a slow shutter of 0.3 & increased aperture to 5.6, ISO 800 & turn off flash for all the nite shots. I like the slow shutter speed as it creates a smooth flow of water sprouting out!
