Basic Photography Refresher

I took a 6 week Basic Photography course a while back at Knowledge Bowl in Singapore. I had just bought my first DSLR camera and had no idea how to do anything with it. The classes were super helpful and I learned how to do a few cool shots like panning and how to use aperture and shutter speed. Recently I took their refresher course, sort of a review of the Basic Photography class I originally attended. This was so great. The teachers are experienced professional photographers and friendly and easy going. Sometimes it is good to go over things a few times, especially when it is something so new and totally not what you have ever done before. Here are some pictures from my refresher classes. Enjoy!

We met at the Botanic Gardens for these shots...

This picture was taken with a slow shutter speed to get the water to blur and have a more flowing, moving effect. 

This picture was taken with a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion of the water, giving a water droplet effect. See the difference? Pretty cool!!!

We used the Aperture mode to control depth of field. The dragonfly is in focus and the background is blurred. If the background was in focus the dragonfly wouldn't stand out. 

Its better to have a cleaner background like in the picture above. This pic is not as nice with the green and brown but I loved his bright eyes :)

Then we went to Bugis for a few shots...

The main focus in the next few shots is patterns and texture. I wanted to put the windows on an angle to make it more interesting. Loved the bright yellow.

The peeling paint and the carved wood give good texture to the photo. The pattern was repeated as a boarder on the front of a temple.

The brick is a short wall or fence and if you were to look straight at it you could see through it. At this angle you can focus more on just the pattern and texture of the brick.

Cool building in the Central Business District. Wonder what it looks like to look out the windows from the inside. 

Framing. This shot was taken through the holes of a trash can. I had to squat down so the angle is a bit off but it is a nice effect and I can level and crop in photo shop.

Silhouette. Would be a better shot with a full sky background but I was laying on the ground with 4 people stretching their arms and hands over me and I wanted to get it over with. I can photo shop this to remove the building and lamp post. I think I need to invest in some sort of photography software...

We also met at the NTUC Building, by the Custom House for a few night shots. This gave us a great view of Marina Bay Sands and the nightly laser and light show. It rained all day long so we were lucky the weather cleared in time for our class.

Thank you Stephen and Edward at Knowledge Bowl!

Happy Friday!

Sights to be seen.

Here are a few things that you see on a daily basis in Singapore that is a bit off the touristy path. Sort of a behind the scenes but sometimes they are hard to not see anywhere you are. I love them all because this is what makes Singapore so unique.

Cannot go anywhere without seeing cranes. There is so much construction here. I read a book by Lee Jing-Jing titled, "If I could Tell You", I recommend it, great book! When I see these cranes I think about that book. It is about how Singapore's landscape is changing so quickly people feel as if they do not recognize their own hometown. 

A new neighborhood coming along in Punggol.

I like to look at the alleys. The next few shots are alley pics. 

You can even see cranes in the background of the pic below :)

Alley art?

Nice row of shop houses on one of the oldest streets in Chinatown.

Beautiful 5 foot way. Some of the older streets have shop houses with these 5 foot ways to provide a shaded walkway. The first floor is usually a shop or restaurant and the second and third floors can be either shops or homes. 

I love seeing the laundry hanging from the apartments. Most people here do not use a dryer, they just hang their laundry. I wonder how often they loose things?

I know I put up a lot of nature pics but I love that Singapore is known as a garden city. It is very green and pretty, parks are never too far away and there are so many it is easy to escape the city and find a peaceful place to be.

Dragonfly on a lotus flower.

The very small cranes in the background are an oil refinery??? maybe??? I took the pics for the pretty clouds. I was about a minute away from heat stroke and was VERY happy to see clouds coming in!!!