Business As Usual

The Central Business District in the heat of the day. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was seen from the Marina Bay Sands promenade. The capture was underexposed 1-1/3 stops to keep sky details. Shadows were then brightened a bit in post.

It’s Chowtime

Folks settling down for lunch at The Shoppes. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

The waiter and a colleague were interacting earlier on the side. So I had waited until he was alone and assuming the typical posture of their profession before getting the shot.

By The Quayside

A river cruise creating a wake at the quayside. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

The sky wasn’t so fantastic so Nell had instead included more of the wake in the river. This was recorded on a smaller sensor so its generous depth-of-field had easily covered the whole scene.

Spitting Image

A different view of the Marina Bay waterfront. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

A view of the city skyline from the Marina Bay Sands. Pardon me but I just couldn’t recall what I did to create this effect as this image was processed many years ago.

A Tropical Myth

The mythological Merlion under the mid-afternoon sun. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was captured with the exposure biased 1-1/3 stops darker to preserve highlights. In post, the sky was darkened and, cyans and blues were intensified for this final image.

Meeting In The Air

Skyscrapers huddling together to talk about their day. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was taken with the diminutive Panasonic GX1 paired with a manual focus 8mm lens. Exposure was biased 1-2/3 stops darker to preserve sky details. In post, the sky was then darkened and, cyans and blues were intensified to bring out the blues in the sky.

Urban Camping

Tents sprouting up around the Marina Bay. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

The sky was originally just a distracting white patch. Darkening it in post turned the image out this way.

Polishing On The Job

A lady taking on the unenviable task of polishing in this showroom. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

I had originally included more of the pianos in the frame to highlight the worker’s immense task but reflection on the showroom window to the right was simply too distracting. So the right side of the frame had to be cropped off in post.

I could’ve gone nearer and placed the lens against the glass screen to avoid reflection but that could’ve easily drawn the subject’s attention and I might’ve then lost the shot.

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Chandeliers In A Cave

Chandeliers in a ‘cave’ in the conservatory. Photo credit: Eleanor Chua.

This ‘cave’ was still not accessible, so Nell shot the chandeliers from outside at the equivalent focal length of just under 300mm.

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Under The Skypark

The Marina Bay Sands in the mid-afternoon sun. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was taken just after the sun had moved behind the Marina Bay Sands Skypark. I had only used a conservative 1/3 stop of underexposure but cloud details came out still intact, thanks to the ample dynamic range of this old Sony full-frame sensor.

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Skytrain Ride Across The Valley

 

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The Shiseido Forest valley on a typical Friday afternoon. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

As with my usual practice for this sort of scenario, the exposure was kept low for the sake of the tiny folks in the scene. The image was then exposed conservatively to the right in post.

Night Train

 

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An MRT train creeping into a station. Photo credit: Jonathan Chua.

This was actually taken around noon but the sky above, with storm clouds that could probably have made for a dramatic sky after some editing, had a couple of lacklustre buildings sticking out behind the station. So I settled for this night scene instead after darkening the sky and introducing some motion blur in post. Greens and yellows were also toned down a little.