= Stefan's Weekly Singapore City/Landscapes II =

[SomeFormOFhuman]

#196

The Sembawang Colony

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Single Image RAW, 2 image panorama to relief spatial tightness with no filters. Sembawang Estates, Singapore.

Simple one which I first composed with my cellphone's camera, then next with my 7D. Did a very dangerous stunt by leaning the camera outwards to get the composition I desired; any loose ends or careless adjustments will land it 8 storeys down with no chance of survival.

To all my foreign friends, this is how most Singaporeans live: public housing. The estimated price for a simple 3-4 room unit ranges from SGD$125,000 - 300,000. That's about USD$100,000 - 250,000. Yep, living in Singapore isn't cheap.

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

Thank you, mds80.

#197

Road To The Everlasting​

2 Image HDR/DRI 4 image vertorama. Tiong Bahru, Singapore.

When I received her new house address to give Chinese New Year cookies to my aunt, it looked familiar. Especially for a residential tower that tall, I took no chances and brought my camera. I looked out from her unit's view... and I knew this was the place many photographers have been telling me about. Was in luck, and in time when the distant lightshow was about to begin.

 

[drawde]

the view from your Aunt's place is awesome!

 

[stuck]

Thank you, mds80.

#197

Road To The Everlasting​

2 Image HDR/DRI 4 image vertorama. Tiong Bahru, Singapore.

When I received her new house address to give Chinese New Year cookies to my aunt, it looked familiar. Especially for a residential tower that tall, I took no chances and brought my camera. I looked out from her unit's view... and I knew this was the place many photographers have been telling me about. Was in luck, and in time when the distant lightshow was about to begin.

been thinking of this view for the longest time. can this be seen from a public corridor/stairwell? or only from within the units?

 

[Zichar]

been thinking of this view for the longest time. can this be seen from a public corridor/stairwell? or only from within the units?

The stairwell's just fine

 

[stuck]

The stairwell's just fine

Thanks! just wanted to be safe - some point blocks very unfriendly design, save the beat views for residents only :cry:

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

Hey guys, sorry for my late response. Yep, this was taken at the stairwell area. It can also be seen from the unit I was in. This one's pretty good; you technically do no need a wide angle lens to shoot this view. I shot this at 17mm and I preferred a vertorama layout. Thanks everyone!

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

Was taken during a CNY visit to my relative nearby.

After the shoot was over, I visited Star Vista - A new shopping mall in Buona Vista with my relatives. My goodness, the interiors were awesome. I did some scouting around for interior POVs and will definitely come back again to do a proper shoot of the mall's interior.

#198

Ghim Moh's Fire​

3 Image HDR/DRI 3 Image Panorama using GND 0.9 + GND 0.6 soft for higher tonality of the sky + 2 frame Vertorama to include bottom center elements. Ghim Moh Estates, Singapore.

My first shoot of this area because of a nearby Chinese New Year house visitation. I thought the skies were dull and grey, and I initially didn't want to bring my camera. It was only when I heard my family had a planned visit to a relative nearby the vicinity so I figured to just bring my camera and take family portraits for old time's sake. When I reached, the sun was shining very brightly. I knew I shouldn't waste this opportunity. So I went up this tall tower a 5 minute walk from my relative's and had a shot at it.

Time was limited before the sun goes down the horizon and I took a stab at it - In haste, I went up the 35th, which is the top floor of the building. I knew the bottom 25-30 floors would be much better but I didn't had any more time to get downstairs - It's now or never; shoot it or the sun disappears.

Because of the high level I was at, I wasn't able to successfully include the bottom center elements and the trees, so the problem was solved by switching to portrait mode to include these elements to relief spatial tightness. They were later merged with AutoPano and some areas were manually merged with Photoshop.

 

[edutilos-]

Time was limited before the sun goes down the horizon and I took a stab at it - In haste, I went up the 35th, which is the top floor of the building. I knew the bottom 25-30 floors would be much better but I didn't had any more time to get downstairs - It's now or never; shoot it or the sun disappears.

Nice starburst. I disagree with you that going to the lower floors would be better. It's more convenient for sure, but you'd lose a whole load of separation into the distance. It would be subtle but there.

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

Hey there, thanks man. I was told earlier by various photogs. that the lower floors were easier to shoot especially the foreground. Wasn't really sure about this as it was my first visit there. So yeah I just went up to the last floor instead and shoot away.

 

[stuck]

Hey there, thanks man. I was told earlier by various photogs. that the lower floors were easier to shoot especially the foreground. Wasn't really sure about this as it was my first visit there. So yeah I just went up to the last floor instead and shoot away.

That is probably true if you just want to do it in one shot in landscape mode. But you probably chose the "right way" to do it in the end inadvertently, because by using a portrait stitch you got enough of the foreground without losing the separation of the middle to background elements as edutilos suggested due to the height of your vantage point. The foreground of this view is nothing interesting anyways so you're not losing much here.

learnt something new again today - great point raised by edutilos! :thumbsup:

 

[MGohzxc]

Hi Stefan, just a discussion and I just wander about this photo even mine. I have been there twice and of course I need to go back again to have a better sunset. I have been to the top floor and also the lower floor. Due to my height and tripod, the lower floor helps me with more foreground. But this is not what I want to discuss.
If you look carefully which is the MRT station, it looks much bigger than most buildings in the surrounding area especially the block on the right. That block on the right should be more than 16 floor high but the MRT station seems to be taller and bigger. Could it be some kind of distortion or because of pano, it creates that problem. This also happens in many of the photos taken by others. Except for "Shiosaki" image #106, the distortion on the MRT station is much less. I think...

Anyway, Gong Xi Fa Cai.....

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

That is probably true if you just want to do it in one shot in landscape mode. But you probably chose the "right way" to do it in the end inadvertently, because by using a portrait stitch you got enough of the foreground without losing the separation of the middle to background elements as edutilos suggested due to the height of your vantage point. The foreground of this view is nothing interesting anyways so you're not losing much here.

learnt something new again today - great point raised by edutilos! :thumbsup:

Hey there Stuck as mentioned earlier, I actually used 3 frame-pano in landscape mode to shoot the entire scene because the sun was setting very fast. It's true that shooting too much foreground will not have much interest but to use portrait mode for the entire scene will require more frames, by then the sun would have already set. So that's why I chose landscape mode instead... It was only after panning to the middle section I encountered a problem with the foreground as the foot of the HDBs appear super tight at the center bottom frame; the other two left and right frames were completely fine and were wide enough to capture the removed train tracks.

It was only the center that I had a problem of tightness because of the high-position I was at, and I wanted enough tree-space to act as a buffer for the entire shot. This is also an apparent problem when you pano-merge the 3 frames and will somehow force you to end up cropping the bottom, thereby sacrificing alot of tree/buffer space to get to the center. So after shooting the 3 frames I quickly switched over to portrait mode to pan to the center of Ghim Moh where the foot of the HDBs (Where that beige roof bridge is) are and do a 2 frame shot to capture the center foreground space. It was by then the sun's glow was already gone.

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

Hi Stefan, just a discussion and I just wander about this photo even mine. I have been there twice and of course I need to go back again to have a better sunset. I have been to the top floor and also the lower floor. Due to my height and tripod, the lower floor helps me with more foreground. But this is not what I want to discuss.
If you look carefully which is the MRT station, it looks much bigger than most buildings in the surrounding area especially the block on the right. That block on the right should be more than 16 floor high but the MRT station seems to be taller and bigger. Could it be some kind of distortion or because of pano, it creates that problem. This also happens in many of the photos taken by others. Except for "Shiosaki" image #106, the distortion on the MRT station is much less. I think...

Anyway, Gong Xi Fa Cai.....

Hey there Manita!! Long time no see. How's school?

Well actually I'm pretty sure the buildings look like that at the left. Prior to joining the pano, it was totally stretched to the point I knew it doesn't make any sense and appear fat. Rest assured, when I post-process this, architectural proportion is actually the top priority in this shot; I spent hours researching and trying to fix the sides to get to the correct proportion of the architecture of The Star Vista, The MRT, The Fusionopolis and the rest of the The Rochester Singapore buildings.

In fact here is one of the original RAW test shots after shooting the three frames (in portrait mode because less distortions on the sides) just to acquire the proportional side of the buildings to help me with my liquifying. I took enough space and even the included protruded walls of the HDB sure enough to center the buildings and appear as they are:

Here's a closeup:

Anyway I'm glad to share with you Manita, and I'm glad you ask too! And no worries, I assure that I take extra care when it comes to proportion and correctness. Let me know if you need more information!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

 

[Lightsource]

#191

Splish Splash Hole



2 Image HDR/DRI using GND 0.9 soft + GND 0.6 soft for higher tonality of the skies. Labrador Park, Singapore.

Went there again when the sun's back in action with my same shooting buddy. I introduced him to this part of Labrador and we both enjoyed our time.

I never expected a blue sky day to have hindering clouds on the horizon, blocking the sun.

Hi Stefan. Really admire your work! I believe you are one of Singapore's best Landscape photographer. You should have your photos in the postcards of SG so that the world will see more of the hidden beauties of this island. These are Mad Skillz bro! Keep em coming!

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

Hi Stefan. Really admire your work! I believe you are one of Singapore's best Landscape photographer. You should have your photos in the postcards of SG so that the world will see more of the hidden beauties of this island. These are Mad Skillz bro! Keep em coming!

Hey there Lightsource, I read your PM. Many thanks, but now I think that statement's a little unfair - There are alot of people who are indeed great too, if not, even better that I am. I'm just enjoying my time, shooting whatever I can find - Google Earth really helps ALOT. Thanks for your support!

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

Sorry for my absence, been busy but have yet any time to post-process anything lately. Here's to a simple one from Bukit Panjang.

#199

The Sea of Bukit Panjang

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Single Image RAW, 7 image panorama. Bukit Panjang Estates, Singapore.

Went for house visitation. Got myself a road junction and this. Enjoy. One more coming up.

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

My 200th.

#200

Welcome To The Vista​

Single Image RAW, 3x3 image Vertorama + Panorama totalling 9 images to simulate Tilt-Shift lens effect. The Star Vista, Singapore.

Third visit to this amazing shopping mall after various exploration and shooting experiments, I finally made a proper shoot for this place. Designed by UN Studio Architects, except for the shops the entire mall runs without any form of air-conditioning. The columns are tiltled, just so you would know.

I wished I had a 17mm Tilt-Shift lens and a set of pano-tools to play with as its definitely much easier to handle such perspectives. Too bad I only had my 10-22 to shoot, so I just have to make use of what I have, and pano+verto seem to help. I spent about 30 - 45 minutes fixing distortion to retain the proportionate interior spaces and attain very little distortion as much as possible.

UPDATE: Fixed some colour and pano-merge mismatches.

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

Thanks guys.

#201

Best of Vista​

2 Image HDR/DRI 4 image panorama with no filters. The Star Vista, Singapore.

Post-processed this shot many days back but never uploaded it because I initially planned to share more interior shots and saving this exterior for the last. But I had a slew of problems with the interior shots I did, so that might take a while to fix the many errors I faced.

I did three attempts for this view on various days since I first stepped on this part of the building 11th of February, after shooting Ghim Moh's awesome sunset. I remembered I first did a handheld shot of this place first to get the composition right. Then I scheduled a few days later on the 15th but rained unfortunately.

Then I came back on February 19th to execute my third attempt here. To my surprise, it was raining, but wasn't really heavy; I realised I was protected by the building's cantilevered facade that somehow created a "shelter" long enough to cover where I was.

Initial plans were to include the entire sheltered F&B outlet using pano+vertorama as seen but after various comparisons, I've decided to go for this slightly "cut-off" version instead as there were too much empty foreground spaces on the left.

 

[chaoticbusher]

Thanks guys.

#201

Best of Vista​

2 Image HDR/DRI 4 image panorama with no filters. The Star Vista, Singapore.

Post-processed this shot many days back but never uploaded it because I initially planned to share more interior shots and saving this exterior for the last. But I had a slew of problems with the interior shots I did, so that might take a while to fix the many errors I faced.

I did three attempts for this view on various days since I first stepped on this part of the building 11th of February, after shooting Ghim Moh's awesome sunset. I remembered I first did a handheld shot of this place first to get the composition right. Then I scheduled a few days later on the 15th but rained unfortunately.

Then I came back on February 19th to execute my third attempt here. To my surprise, it was raining, but wasn't really heavy; I realised I was protected by the building's cantilevered facade that somehow created a "shelter" long enough to cover where I was.

Initial plans were to include the entire sheltered F&B outlet using pano+vertorama as seen but after various comparisons, I've decided to go for this slightly "cut-off" version instead as there were too much empty foreground spaces on the left.

inspiring!