Solitary Exploration - Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay

1st April

So on April Fool's day, I've decided to get out of the house for some fresh air and avoid the internet for a while. It's been a long time since I've gone out to explore, and I would like to blame that on the weather and the tons of corporate stuff to edit. Heh =P

It was a great hazeless day and I'm so grateful for that! Even though the weather is just scorching hot, the sky is blue, the clouds are beautiful and all in all just a beautiful day to be out shooting. There's another reason for wanting to head out too: to re-vitalise my senses and appreciate Singapore more.

After many shoots around Gardens by the Bay, Botanical Gardens, Lorong Halus, Hort Park etc., there's a tendency to stick to the shots that I've done before. Many times it's due to the schedule, or it's just not feasible for me to drag my clients along when they're perspiring like a dehydrating pineapple (I have no idea where I got that analogy from). The wedding couple or the fresh graduates with their gowns will be melting. In a way I want to start seeing things from a fresh perspective and training myself to find shooting angles quicker.

Here's another shot outside the Flower Dome, from a different angle. I initially wanted to see the Sakura exhibit but I was told by the ticketing agent that it has ended. What?! The sakura in Japan barely started blooming. Oh well, looks like we'll have to wait for the Tulips exhibit starting on 8 April then. Anyone wanna join me? You'll have to bear with me while I take timelapses/hyperlapses/cinemagraphs alright?

Speaking of timelapses, I've taken a different approach in creating the cinemagraph on top. Previously I've always created my cinemagraphs from short video snippets. This time round I've experimented with creating a cinemagraph out of a timelapse sequence, which is why the Singapore Flyer is spinning that fast (it's about 50-60 times faster if my math doesn't fail me). Time to blow away the haze! Anyway, it effectively tripled the amount of time I needed to create a cinemagraph. I had to edit the photos, stabilise them (it was windy), string them into a video sequence, import into PS for the cinemagraph creation process and add in the couple, cyclist and buggy one by one. About 3hrs of post-processing in total.

Okay sorry, I geek-ed off a little =D

I've missed the sakura but I came across these orchids while strolling towards the Supertrees. I love how the late afternoon sun makes these orchids glow. They are all planted around the bases of Supertrees, with each having a different species, so go check them out! I've walked past them so many times but I haven't really noticed them until now. See, fresh perspective helps.

I soon reach the areas where there are visibly more tourists around than locals. Looking from their perspective, this is quite a sight to behold. I really love how the treetop walkway accentuates the scale of the Supertrees. Look at the size of the people compared to the 'trees'! This is also a place where I am able to both appreciate and capture down what I see. Formed using 6 shots, Lightroom managed to stitch this perfectly and it looks awesome without even editing.

Besides literally exploring outdoors, I've also been exploring using Photoshop to edit more of my photos. Granted, it's a much slower way of editing and it's not feasible to use it when I have hundreds of photos to edit for events. It's like driving a manual car initially, when I had to think a lot before making any moves. It takes a lot of practice to get certain actions into muscle memory, and this is the same case with using Photoshop instead of Lightroom to edit. It's challenging the way I approach my editing and I like it very much!

The photo above is edited using a combination of Photoshop and Lightroom. I'm largely influenced by Elia Locardi in the way I edit landscapes, keeping my photos towards a more natural tone and vibrant colours. I wouldn't say I'm done with film presets like VSCO yet, but I'm using them far less now.

I went geek mode again, haven't I? Alright let me just end off with a last photo. It's very rare that I stayed way past sunset for a blue hour shot. Looks like I should explore more! =)

ps. has anyone noticed that my logo changed? credits to Amanda =)