Hort Park

Here are some photos from Hort Park, emjoy!

Lucky to have been able to catch a good photo of the butterfly. 

A very small flower named Angel Hands.

See the grasshopper?

Extremely small and very fragile looking but if he jumped on me I would have screamed!

Happy Friday!!!

Bukit Batok Town Park, Little Guilin

Today I took a taxi to the Bukit Batok town park. I saw this park once a few years ago when we were getting our Singapore driving licenses. I've never used my license but it was fun getting it anyways and during the drive there we went past this gorgeous park. I've always wanted to go back but it is so far. Funny, its such a small island I suppose it truly isn't that far but it feels like quite a journey. The harsh mid day light proved to be not the best backdrop so now I still want to go back only next time after 6pm to get the "blue hour" light in the background. 

On this map, it is hard to see but we are at Marina South and the park is near Jurong East, there is an icon of three trees in a green circle covering Bukit Batok. So really not so far, but far. 

Used to be a granite quarry and converted into a park in the 1980's.

There are condos and HDBs close by. I think it would be nice to live right here. It is on the park connector and so close to the Upper Pierce Resevoir and MacRitchie.... oh yeah. I don't like MacRitchie, that is where the monkeys live and I don't go there, EVER. So maybe downtown is still best for me.

I didn't adjust the color on any of these photos. Everything is super green naturally. The park is named Little Guilin because the granite rock formations resemble those in Guilin, China.

Some of the photos I did use the Mimic HDR tool but not on this one. When I tried the tool it really changed the coloring and texture of the rock and it wasn't at all how I remembered seeing them just a few hours ago. So for this photo I only cropped it.

This photo has the Mimic HDR effect. Lots of little turtles have found a home here.

The walkway is smooth rock, larger stones on the side for seating, lights for night walks. 

Love the bokeh effect of the light coming through the trees in the background.

The half dome is a rain shelter, pretty, huh?

Love all the trees and beautiful parks in Singapore. 

Looks like a jungle!

This is one of my favorite photos. The tree is sooooo pretty, almost glowing in the light.

Happy Friday!!!

Cracks, Spirals and a Sign

I have been trying to understand why my photos aren't as sharp as I'd like them to be and I cannot figure it out. I thought I would research a bit and then try a few settings but I am still not happy with the outcome. Guess I'll have to research more than a bit and give it another go next week. Until then, here are a few photos I took out walking around town today that I do like.

This door was smaller than an entry door but not by lot. About 2 feet higher than ground level with no step and no windows close by. Must be a utility door of some sort. Enjoyed the cracks and the texture and colors. 

Interesting sign in an alley in Chinatown. The alleys are the best part!

This wall was my most favorite photo today. For some odd reason I just loved this crack, the texture and the color and without manipulation it goes from one corner to the other perfectly. I want to come back to this wall with a colorful umbrella or an orchid to add to the photo for contrast. I need to think of some small prop I can bring with me on these photo walks. 

This spiral staircase always gets my attention. I had to use the Free Distort feature on Pixlr to get the building in the background to look straight. Without Free Distort the photo just was not as nice. See below.

See how the lines are slanted? I don't like it...so I changed it.

 Wish everything in life was that easy, lol!

Happy Friday!!!