Reflections

There are a few ways to photograph reflections, some easier than others. You can find reflections in water, mirrors and shiny objects like glass or metal. There is another contest and guess what...the subject is reflections. For me contests are a good way to keep shooting, keep learning, try new things and get some feedback on my shots. I still feel like a beginner with a thousand questions.

This is the reflection in a hood of a shiny black car in Chinatown during the Mid Autumn Festival. You can tell its a car by looking at the top right corner of the photo I left a bit of the street in the shot. 

This is at the Botanic Gardens in Copenhagen. Not a perfect water reflection but close.

Gardens by the Bay Singapore during the Mid Autumn Festival. There were dozens of photographers lined up next to me to take this shot. In the photo are the super trees that now have more plants growing up the trunks. I think they want them to have full coverage of plants. The flower dome and cloud forest dome is also in the background.

I loved this building with a cool reflection in NYC.

Lau Pa Sat (orange tiled roof with a small white clock tower) reflection in the Asia Square building. LPS is a hawker center across from our condo in Singapore. I was on the 8th floor (pool level) walking around looking for good reflections since we are right in downtown, found this one. 

Watering the lawn at One Shenton. Hard to believe they need to water it since it rains so frequently.

Cruise ship in the Asia Square building. Nice blue sky.

These stools made a good reflection on a polished tile floor.

Flower in a mirror.

Art Science Museum at Marina Bay Sands has a nice lotus pond in front. There are always people sitting there enjoying the day. The reflection is of the museum itself that is shaped like a lotus flower. I was just there last week to see the Karl Lagerfeld Little Black Jacket photography exhibit, it was great!

Same lotus pond.

City skyline in the Marina Bay Financial building. 

Another skyline in one of the financial buildings. I am surprised they didn't call security on me as I was so close to the glass taking photos. Glad they didn't!

Apple in spoon. I wanted to use a spoon for reflections, however, this is harder than it looks. You have to get the angle just right, lighting just right, background, polish the spoon, no flash, etc. But I am happy with how it turned out. Bonus - got to include this bowl I just bought, I love it!

This is my favorite! Spoon on a newspaper. This was also not exactly easy. I think I spent an hour shooting spoons, trying different angles, different backgrounds and reflections AND I thought it was fun. I guess I must be transforming into a photographer or something. ;)

Happy Friday!!!

Mid Autumn Festival

     The Mid Autumn Festival celebrations have begun in Singapore and this is one of my new favorite holidays. It is a harvest holiday held in the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, close to the autumnal equinox. There are a few stories about the origins of the festival. Some say the ancient Chinese observed that the movement of the moon had a close correlation to the changes of the seasons and agricultural production. The Mid Autumn Festival is a time to show gratitude to the moon for the abundant harvest. There is also the story of a man named Hou Yi who saved the fields from the scorching heat of ten suns by taking his bow and arrow and shooting down all but one, ordering the last sun to rise and set according to a schedule. The people were so grateful they made him king, however, he became a mean tyrant. In order to live long without death he asked for an immortality elixir. His wife, Chang'e, stole this from him to keep the people from suffering under his rule and she drank the elixir. When Hou Yi found out about this he was so angry he began to shoot at his wife, she escaped to the moon and Hou Yi was so angry he died. Since then, the moon has been celebrated to show gratitude for Chang'e's actions. Cool stuff, huh? This is one version of the story I found online, there are others that are slightly different.
     A notable part of the celebrations is to carry or hang colorful lit lanterns. I have seen a few places in town with beautiful lanterns hanging and I have a few photos to share.

Chinatown

A few for sale in Chinatown.

Gardens by the Bay

This was put up just for the Mid Autumn Festival, usually there is nothing in the water here.

The same picture as above but taken at night, all lit up.

Not the most traditional lanterns but the most popular with the little kids. 

I liked this shot with the full moon, super trees, flower domes, lanterns and a pretty decent reflection in the water. Like the blues of the sky.

I'd like to get a bit closer to this display. It is roped off and hard to get a good picture. There is a dragon, swans, dragonflies, birds and lotus flowers. Super trees are in the background to the left.

 Everyone out walking around enjoying the lanterns on display. 

Chinese Gardens

These two shots were taken outside of the gardens. I didn't realize that they were charging a fee to enter. Since I had my camera bag and tripod I didn't bring much money, just a few dollars for a water. So I didn't make it inside, bummer. Looked like it had potential for good lantern pics!

This guy was hanging out by the front entrance to the gardens. Guess he didn't want to pay the entrance fees either!

Happy Friday!