My 2011 Favourite Shots 。。。

This is my 2nd year in learning photography...

Following my practice last year, I shortlisted my favourite 12 shots to summarise my photography's journey for the year. I'm glad that I got to try out different types of photography for 2011, ranging from landscape, nightscape, light-painting, wildlife, nature, street shots to kids photography!

Thou my production for 2011 is not as many as 2010, it's still a learning journey indeed! Not too bad for someone who have never enrol in any photography courses!

Ok, i'm definately not complacent.

As i was sifting thru' my albums, I felt that those I could qualify as my best 12 shots to summarise my 2011's photography journey are not that many...

I strive to try out more challenging shots in 2012!

It's not the quantity that matters, but Quality ^_^

Christmas Street Shots 。。。

Whenever near Christmas, there will be a flash thought thru my mind...gosh, the year is coming to an end soon! I'm pretty sure many people will probably tink alike?  Still remember last year's christmas season vividly, cos i started a month-long fotoshoot project to gather different christmas shots around Sg.  I even gathered my poly frens go orchard for dinner & had fun shooting... however, juz a matter of 1 year's time, this year had been rather impossible to gather. Everyone is busy either wif work or family...

This time round, i invited CK to join me for an evening shoot at Orchard Road. We had known each other for awhile in our photography group but had never gone out together! Lately, I realised we do have some similarities, maybe cos we r both Geminis? keke! After 2 hours of shooting, we both agreed that this year's orchard decor dun hv much 'feel'!  Last yr's displays and colours were nicer! Hence, there's not much rewarding shots :(

Here's juz a few of my street shots along Orchard Road.

20th World Orchid Conference & Flower Dome Preview 。。。

I'm quite excited about today as I had planned to visit the 20th World Orchid Conference (WOC) held at Marina Bay Sands Expo. However, I woke up feeling really tired but I'm determine to visit WOC today! Headed to Mac for a good brunch & boarded the bus to MBS. Located the ticketing booth at Basement Two & exchanged my Groupon deal for my admission ticket! It's really a good deal ~ saving me 50% off the usual weekday ticket.

This is the Olympics of the Orchid World indeed, with 55 displays from 19 countries competing for the 20th WOC Awards.  Held every 3 years, Singapore is honoured to host the WOC after the last one held here 48 years ago! This is my first visit to MBS Expo & I'm surprised at its sheer size! Upon reading the brochure, then i realised this exhibit spanned an area of 16,000 sqm!

Upon stepping into the Expo, I was at a lost where to start from, haha! I tried shooting the orchids wif my kit lens initially but realised couldn't reach those orchids further off... luckily, i packed in my zoom lens at the eleventh hour! For the first time, i'm using my zoom lens for floral shoots! It's challenging to shoot due to the lighting & crowd! I lugged along my tripod too but only used it 3 times or so. After nearly 1hr, i still found myself walking around the 3 exhibits near the entrance! Geez!

Seriously, I had never seen so many variety & hybrids of orchids in my life! There's so many of them, that at times I was feeling quite lost... It's also a test of patience as I had to wait for people to move off bef it's my turn to shoot. The show's centrepiece features a worldmap of more than 130 orchid species & hybrids & the theme for the 20th WOC is "Where New & Old World Orchids Meet". There's also a section ~ VIP Orchids Display, orchids named after visiting dignitaries over the last 20 years.

The various countries dressed up their sections with nice landscaping efforts...i especially like the one wif a gushing waterfall lit wif incandescent lights...makes a nice backdrop! As I walked thru' the exhibit, i noticed some plants were dead, due to selfish people who trampled upon them despite barriers! There were many retirees as well, one aunty tried to shoot a flower some distance away wif her handphone, ended up wif her legs breaching the barrier... i'm glad the staff on duty warned her to move off!

Fancy a pair of boots?

Besides orchids, i like the Pitcher plants on display & I'm amazed that besides insects, some of these Pitcher are capable of eating mice! At one end of the Expo, there were floral displays done by students. Gosh! By the time I'm done, i had took 4hours! I spent another 30mins to do some wide angle shots missed earlier.

At 4.30pm, I went to the shuttle bus area & was shocked to see a snaking Q! There's at least 100 people & waited 20mins for the shuttle. I'm glad there's a shuttle service as the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay is some distance away. By now, I'm already dead-beat!

Arrived at the Flower Dome at 5pm & was glad to observe a nice blue sky & pretty clouds! It's an air-conditioned indoor garden, something really different from Botanic Gardens! Currently, only the Flower Dome & part of the exterior is open for preview till this weekend. Gardens by the Bay will officially open in June 2012. The temperature inside the Dome is controlled to suit the baobabs, cactus & other plants which thrive in the Mediterranean climate. My favourite view is looking at the Singapore Flyer & the waterfront from inside the Dome!  

After 1.5hours touring the Flower Dome, my arms & legs were aching & vision blurry! Shooting for a total of 6 straight hours, no joke! Thou' no sweat this round, but still a test of stamina!

More photos from the WOC are available at my Photo Gallery. Expand the widget; click & drag to extreme right to start full-screen slide show. Enjoy! ^o^

Deepavali at Istana (Part I) 。。。

It had been some years that Ruby & I wanted to visit Istana... finally, we had an opportunity today. Today is Deepavali & the Istana is Singapore's Presidential Place, which usually conduct Open House on major Public Holidays.

There were two queues, 1 for Singaporeans & PRs, the other for foreigners (need to pay an admission of S$1). After clearing the security checks, we strolled along a pathway lined nicely wif trees. On one side, there's a pond wif two swans swimming gladily.  We didn't walk over as the ground was muddy after a downpour.

As we walked thru' the gates, we saw tentage set up by Jurong Bird Park, wif some macaws entertaining visitors. I felt that the lush green field here makes a nice backdrop for portraits! As we walked on, we saw a student band playing & it turned out to be juniors from my alma mater! When the police requested by-standers to clear the pathway...we speculated that the President will be arriving soon!

While waiting, we noticed many nice old trees in the compound & decided to take photos wif this huge old tree. Soon, a couple of tourists saw us using the old tree as backdrop & followed suit! However, these tourists were not very much civic-minded as the women sat on the branch of the old tree!

Then, I spotted the newly minted President arriving in a golf buggy & quickly went to position myself for a clear shot! Suddenly, the media & visitors were all crowding around the tentage hoping to get a clear photo of the President, haha!

Next, we walked past an ice-cream stall & decided to buy an ice-cream cone each to cool ourselves. We walked to the main Istana building & wander around the area taking photos of the beautiful flowers. At the end of 2hours, we left Istana & made our way to Little India to meet Julie...

Deepavali at Little India (Part II) 。。。

We met up wif Julie at Little India MRT station... she requested that we show her around Little India before leaving Sg. Upon exiting the MRT, the skies started pouring again! Gosh! We were stuck at Tekka Market & decided to explore the 2nd level. There were a couple of stalls selling the indian traditional costumes ~ saree. The biggest stall near the staircase sold a wide variety of saree & Julie was interested in them. However, the particular one she eyed cost a whopping $200+! Hence, she dropped the idea of purchasing.

After some time, the rain stopped & we proceed wif our plans... I had went to Little India 3 days ago to racee.  It's really not a place I am familiar with! It's also our first time celebrating Deepavali at Little India. I was glad I did a racee over the wkend as there was a bazzar on-going & I managed to take some shots of the festive-feel then... cos the bazzar ended yesterday.

We strolled along the main street & walked toward the temple area. It was bustling wif devotees... We didn't step into the temple thou, instead Julie bought a small wreath of fresh flowers fr a stall. The fresh flowers are meant for praying use. There were lots of foreign workers and tourists basking in the festive spirits... When the streets decorations lit up at dusk, we took photographs together.

As it's getting late, we detour back to our starting point as I tried to recall the restaurant that I planned to go... Felt abit lost & decided to re-trace the route I took... Finally, we spotted the The Banana Leaf Apolo! This restaurant served north indian cuisine & used the traditional banana leaf for diners to eat their meals. From my research online, their speciality is the Fish Head Curry. Hence, we ordered the Fish Head Curry, Tandoori Chicken, Rice & 2 types of Nan (Garlic + Cheese) to share. Thankfully, the dishes were not that spicy afterall! In fact, the meal was delicious & the serving was juz nice for 3 of us.

Our tummies were all happily filled & I'm glad I had picked the right place for our korean friend!

Arab Street Walkabout 。。。

Today's walkabout at Arab Street was to play tour guide to my new korean friend ~ Julie! In fact, we almost didn't make it today as the sky broke out into a thunderstorm in late morning... I decided we will proceed if the rain stop at 2pm. Thankfully, the storm reduced to a drizzle & we met up in Bugis at 3pm.

From Bugis, we strolled to Arab Street... this area is also known as Kampong Glam. Our first stop was of course the famous landmark ~ Masjid Sultan Mosque. During the 1920s, Arab Street was a bustling trading centre & today we can still see a variety of shops along the shophouses. Some shops sold retro stuff & will bring you down memory lane...i saw toys such as styrofoam DIY airplanes (sold in packs); also sell this small tube for u to blow into a sticky bubble etc... When we stepped into this retro shop, the uncle immediately asked if I'm from HK? When i replied, I'm S'porean... he was disappointed, haha! He told us $2 fee required to visit the toy museum upstairs.

This area evokes a mixture of arab/turkish culture as you can see men smoking on their sheeshas at the cafes... There's also a row of shophouse dedicated to selling textiles & carpets etc...As we started walking, the sky started to drizzle again... We came across a B&B as well, which i tink will appeal to backpackers...the ground floor consists of a small cafe.

There's no lack of eateries lining the shophouses, ranging from turkish cuisine to muslim food sold in the coffeeshops... food is definately not an issue here! I wanted to show Julie the various alleys which had different graffiti sprayed... this may be a common scene in USA/Europe ctries, but not in Sg. Julie mentioned that there's alot of such graffiti in Spain! We chanced upon a soldier graffiti & I got Julie to do a kissing pose! haha! It's a hiliarious shot LoL

As we walked into Haji Lane, we discovered a quaint boutique, which is located on the 2nd level shophouse. As we pushed open the door, we like its decor along the staircase...full of creativity! The usage of poker cards idea to form phrases & flowers in vases lining the side of the stairsway... I tot this is a nice place to do portrait shots! After spending some time in this boutique, we went on to explore another 2 more.

We finished exploring the area despite the drizzle & decided to find a stop for tea. I saw a recommended coffeeshop online but upon locating it, it was closed! Hence, we went to the nearby Zam Zam instead. We ordered a Prata wif Cheese & Mushroom & 2 cold Teh Cino! Both are a first to us (ME too!). The prata choices here is good!  Serving is big enuf for both of us too & we love it, thou abit saltish! We had a good time chatting & eating here... Overall, it's a fun afternoon!

Mid-Autumn Festival @ Clarke Quay 。。。

It's Mid-Autumn ~ my fav chinese festival once again! I dated Wei to go fotoshoot at Clarke Quay. Too bad, ruby couldn't join us.... However, Wei's frens ~ James & LV joined us for the evening. We met up for dinner at Santouka & they agreed wif me that the pork cheeks ramen was yummy!  We chit chat for an hour there, while Wei shared her travel tales wif our new frens...

At 8pm, we proceeded to the river side & i decided to 開張 my shiny red Fotopro tripod! After more than a year's wait, i finally got it at a good deal during the Comex fair. It's carbon fibre & light-weight; suitable for my travel needs. LV joked that i could always use mid-autumn as my tripod's anniversary! Great idea! LoL

In the past, i usually did my mid-autumn's fotoshoot prior to the actual festival...this year is the 1st time shooting on actual day. There's nothing fantastic abt the decor as it's perpetually the same yearly... The fun kicks in when James suggested we try different shooting techniques, such as zoom focusing & panning. I like the effects of the zoom focusing on the dragon lantern + the effects on the colourful windows of MICA building! Cool!

The panning technique was tougher to master as we tried to pan the bum-boats moving across the river... I didn't quite succeed in doing nice ones.  Then, James suggested that we try panning on the people walking at the underpass beneath us.... Wei & I tried playing wif our cams & consulted our 'shifu' accordingly, haha!  The haze & humid weather made us sweat like mad....

Next, we strolled down the river side towards the main bridge. James shot a nice image of the water reflections & encouraged us to try it too! It was fun! All of us produced different results & Wei used her new 70-200mm Canon lens...the results was fabulous! As we walked to the bridge, I went to explore new angles...while doing so, i spotted a group of Chinese students playing sparkles... This certainly enhanced the festive spirit & i took candid shots of them!

We walked on & stopped for some time, doing our respective shots. Wei & LV shot the round lunar Moon wif their zoom lenses!  I only got my kit lens wif me so i decided to find other subjects to shoot. Subsequently, we went to watch ppl playing wif the remote kites which created a nice touch of colours to the night sky! We ended the evening by viewing some lanterns exhibits made from recycled materials...

Overall, it's a great 2011 Mid-Autumn, being different from previous years becos of the new frens found & able to celebrate wif my buddy! ^o^

Nature Trail @ Pulau Ubin 。。。

My alarm buzz at 5.55am! It's been a long while since i woke up so early, probably the last time was to catch my flight! In view of the long journey to Changi Ferry Terminal to mit the rest of the digital photography Meetup group at 7.45am... i gotta be punctual! I never tot that on a sunday morning, the bus & train were more packed than i expected! I reached Tanah Merah MRT at 7.25am & smoothly boarded a taxi... I turned out to be the 1st to arrive!

This is my First visit to Pulau Ubin (yes, i know i'm suaku s'porean...) Wif rapid urbanisation on our sunny island, Pulau Ubin is probably one of the last rustic places around!  I met Gary ~ the organiser & Andrew ~ our guide for this trip. For the first time, the females outnumbered the males photographers! 16 of us boarded 2 ferries & the journey from mainland to Pulau Ubin was 8 mins. Andrew explained that we gotta depart early as it's a good time for us to spot the sea creatures during low tide.

2 vans were hired to take us to the Chek Jawa Wetlands... today's weather is extremely hot & humid. Before setting off, we were reminded to apply insect repellent & drink more water... As we strolled along the boardwalk at Chek Jawa, Andrew pointed out to the calls of the cuckoo birds... Along the way, he set up his binoculars on a tripod & thru' the binoculars, I saw fascinating sights of migratory birds perched on the branches in the middle of the waters! They are real beauties which I had never seen before! Despite the scorching heat, it din drouse our group's photography passion...

Lovely 'feather-clouds' ~ with a plane flying past

I find that the pretty clouds sighted was really rewarding... as it had been a long long time since i saw such nice clouds!  As we peered down into the waters beneath us, we spotted 2 species of stingrays swimming... one of them is the Blue Stingray. However, it's a challenge to shoot them as the water was murky. Next, Andrew pointed out a school of mudskippers on the opposite shore! When i used my zoom lens to shoot them, i realised they were quite cute afterall! Luckily, i brought all my 3 lenses today ... worth to lug a 2kg bag! Without the zoom, i wouldn't be able to observe these creatures so clearly!  As we soldier on, we saw tiny crabs on the shorebed... some digging holes in the sand!

We had a short break & proceeded on to the mangrove boardwalk ... here we also sighted a pretty red bird on the tree. We saw the Nipah fruits, whose young seeds are the 'attap chee' we eat wif our ice kachang! Next, we reached the Jejawi Tower, only a portion of us climbed up the long flight of stairs! It's a look-out tower & enjoyed a bird-eye's view of the surrounding! We continued to the Brown's House, an english cottage built in the 1930s & refurbished to become the Visitor's Centre now.

Our 'Fisheye' View at the fenced up area!

   "Cat Whiskers''

By now was late morning & we got onto our van...we were brought to this area, to my dismay... it was fenced up & i could only do blind shots overhead. Andrew mentioned that previously this was an open area. At noon, we were ferried back to the starting point & break for lunch. After lunch & some rest, we were left without a guide & headed to the Sensory Trail, a garden filled wif spices & plants.... along the way, we could smell the scented pandan leaves.  We spent the afternoon shooting here... ruby & i got abit bored as we dun seems to see any interesting stuff. 

The Stick Insect is the 'Best Model' as it DUN MOVE!

Then, as we walked to this particular plant, wif small white fruits, we spotted pretty bugs! In fact, there were 3 species of insects on this plant! I tried using my 50mm to shoot them, it's my 1st attempt at macro shots... the conditions were tricky as wind was blowing & the leaves moved! So does the beetles!  After numerous shots, we got abit tired & soon, the rest of the group came flocking over too! Those who were not keen on macro left early. As i chat wif Rebecca, who was using a Canon 100mm lens, she lent it to me to try out! It's a sweet surprise! Wif the macro lens, i discovered a different view... as I got to see the fine details of the bug's shell! Amazing!

At 3pm+, we ended our session wif coffee break & boarded the ferry back to mainland at 4pm. Ruby & I decided to head to Changi Airport to chill out... It's been a year since I went there... we even got a surprise by spotting taiwanese actress 林依晨 filming there! We ended up at Pasta De Waraku for dinner.... shared a Scallops & Prawns Pizza + a Dory Fish Pasta! We were really dead-beat after such a long day!