The Esplanade Drive bridge over Marina Bay here in Singapore makes for an interesting spot for morning photography, both before and after sunrise. I found the early morning sun lighting up the underside of the bridge today and it reminded me of the wide range of zones of light in the slot canyons in northern Arizona--well almost!

Singapore Artificial Slot Canyon

November 21, 2009

I went for a morning walk through Meiji Shrine in Tokyo last Monday and spotted this shrine attendant on his way to start his day in a very inspiring scene. These shafts of light are fairly common in the morning at this spot, although capturing an image that seems to work doesn't happen too often.

Walking to Work in Meiji Shrine

November 14, 2009

From Clifford Pier, Singapore

October 31, 2009

I walked over to Clifford Pier here in Singapore this morning and made a few images while the sun slowly rose. Here are two of my favorites: the 1st looking out toward the Fullerton Hotel and One Fullerton, and the 2nd looking across the bay to the casino under construction. It is interesting to note the roof is being built around the cranes, which makes you wonder how they will be disassembled once the construction is finished.

Singapore Early Morning from 450 Feet Up

October 18, 2009

I walked over to the observation area on the 44th floor of the taller of the two towers of The Sail @ Marina Bay in Singapore early yesterday morning and made a couple images of the view. The first looks down on the Esplanade area and is straight from the camera, with no adjustments. The second looks out to the Marina Sands casino sight under construction, showing the work that has begun to connect the three towers at the top.

I stopped in at Sahalie Falls last week on the west side of the Cascade range, on the way back to Eugene from central Oregon and walked the short distance to see how good the light was on the falls. I saw another photographer there with a Canon series one DSLR busily framing photos of the beautiful rainbow that was showing across the falls in the bright sunshine. I rushed back to the car and brought my Canon DSLR and made a few images.

My experience with attempting to make photos of rainbows has not been successful in the past, and this image is only moderately better, but it is reasonably close to my memory of the scene at that moment.

Sahalie Falls Rainbow

October 16, 2009

Wizard Falls on the Metolius River, Oregon

October 08, 2009

We spent last weekend at Black Butte Ranch across the Cascade mountains in central Oregon. On Saturday we drove to Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery a few miles from the spring at the source of the Metolius River. It was an overcast day which made for very even and diffuse light. The water at this spot is a remarkablly beautiful shade of blue-green in the channel near the small wooden bridge, and is a favorite spot for photography.

We saw this little red crossbill perched on the black lava at the top of the Dee Wright Observatory at the summit of the McKenzie Pass on highway 242 in Oregon yesterday afternoon. It was snowing lightly yet this little bird was very calm, and allowed us to get within about 5 feet of him. The limiting factor in taking this image was the minimum focusing distance of my 400mm lens rather than concerns about scaring it away (I even had time to take images with two different cameras).

Red Crossbill

October 04, 2009

We spotted this very unusual all-green'Thai silk' duck yesterday in one of the ponds next to the bicycle path along the Willamette River in Eugene, Oregon. I went back today with my DSLR and a 400mm lens to see if I could get a photo. I am interested to know if anyone has seen anything like this before, and can identify it. It is a bit smaller than the mallards that it hangs around with.

Any ideas would be most appreciated!

Green Thai Silk Duck

October 04, 2009

Cannonball Tree

September 06, 2009

It was cloudy and wet this morning here in Singapore, but I wanted to go for a walk with my DSLR. I happened to notice the blossoms on a cannonball tree and stopped to make a few photos in the soft, even light. I lost myself for a few moments in composition until a tourist from China asked if I would step aside to allow her mother to take a photo of her in front of the same tree.

A loud noise from the construction site next door drew my attention to the window this evening in time to capture this view of the full moon, here in Marina Bay, Singapore.

Tonight's Full Moon

September 04, 2009

I noticed an interesting light through the window yesterday morning while eating breakfast and went to take a look. I was enthralled by the scale, complexity, and glow of a bank of clouds and hurried to get my DSLR. Normally I don't make photographs through the window pane, preferring to go to the viewing platform for unobstructed views, but there was no time for that this time so went ahead. After turning off all the lights to eliminate as much glare as possible, I proceeded to take a few shots. Attached is my favorite, which includes one of the cranes from the construction site across the street for contrast and scale.

Sunrises here in the tropics are a very special part of life in Singapore.

Inspiring Clouds

August 24, 2009

The construction site next to our apartment here in Marina Bay, Singapore is busy and noisy 24-hours a day. Lately, we have noticed an especially irritating noise that my wife quickly identified as sounding like a jackhammer. I didn't think so, because the nature of the sound seemed kind of different from the type of jackhammer I was familiar with--the kind that an big, burly construction worker positions under his paunch while he blasts away at a section of blacktop.

As it turns out, my wife was right, it was a jackhammer--but a variety I was unfamiliar with. Late yesterday afternoon, I noticed that one of them was busy dismantling a wall at a spot that looked to be in range of my 200mm lens, so I rushed to the 8th floor and took about 50 images. Here is my favorite of the bunch. Fortunately the work to tear down that bit of wall did not continue overnight, but it is working again now as I write this, so I can tell it won't be a very quiet Sunday at home.

Noisy Culprit

August 22, 2009

Tanjong Pagar Container Terminal

August 21, 2009

I woke up early enough to make it out with my camera and tripod to the viewing area on the 34th floor of The Sail @ Marina Bay here in Singapore to make some photos of the Tanjong Pagar Container Terminal in the warm morning light (unfortunately it was also pretty hazy). As the website describes, this complex of terminals is the "world's largest container transhipment hub", so there is a lot of cargo ship traffic to see every day.

Attached are two un-cropped views taken with the Canon 5DMk2 and a 200mm f/2.8 lens.

Pouring Concrete in Singapore

August 14, 2009

The work crew at the construction next door was busy pouring and spreading concrete this morning over what was a metal grating in one of the 3 photos I posted earlier this week. It was interesting to have a vantage point 8 stories above to see the entire scene. Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to change lenses and make a wide image showing the concrete pumping truck as well as the workers. Maybe next week?

Singapore Construction in Color

August 10, 2009

The construction site next to our building in Marina Bay, Singapore is busy around the clock, including today, a national holiday here. This morning it was overcast after an early thunderstorm making for very even light. At 8 AM the day-shift gathers for a morning meeting which is an interesting time for photography, with all the yellow hardhats gathered together.

I was in Tokyo for a few days at the end of July and had the chance to meet up with a friend for a little early morning photography on the back streets of Harajuku. This provided a wonderful opportunity to try out the new Canon 200mm f2.8L lens I had just bought at Yodobashi Camera the day before.

Attached is one of my favorite images from the outing, converted to black and white with Silver Efex Pro.

Harajuku B&W

August 10, 2009

via ft.com

Some recommended reading on Twitter from the Financial Times. Food for thought, especially for those of us tired of the increasingly banal use of Twitter.

FT.com / Columnists / Gideon Rachman - A categorical imperative to twitter

June 30, 2009

Pre-Dawn Singapore Images

June 20, 2009

This morning I went out to the 34th floor observation area in our apartment building (The Sail @ Marina Bay) here in Singapore and made a few images in the pre-dawn light of the construction sites nearby. The first is looking off to the west/southwest towards the shipping container ports, and the second image looks out to the east/southeast towards the Integrated Resort (i.e., casino) currently under construction.

La Compagnie Malabar: Helios II

May 16, 2009

As part of the Singapore Arts Festival, the French urban theatre company La Compagnie Malabar staged a performance of their show Helios II at the Marina Barrage this evening, May 16, 2009. The highlight of the night was the parade that kicked off the event featuring a large preying mantis. Below are a few images from the show.

B&W Construction

May 08, 2009

I haven't posted for a couple months, while I worked on the Japan Service Quality presentation I delivered in Spokane, Washington on April 22 during Japan Week there. This morning while fixing breakfast I looked out and saw some compelling light and shapes in the sky, so grabbed the camera and tripod and headed down to the 34th floor for a few images.

I concluded that black & white was an interesting treatment for these scenes of the Singapore container port and the Integrated Resort (i.e., casino).