NDP Preview 28th July 2007 (From outside, around Marina Promenade/Esplanade)

[Clockunder]

Camera : Fujifilm S6500fd

No. of pictures : 11

Critiques are strongly welcome and sought. That's how we can improve faster. I have seen people not improving even after 2 years because all they got was back patting from their buddies when the posted pictures up. Critiques make us think outside our own mindset. Thanks.

Part I (1-5) : The venue and crowd

Pic 1 : The floating stadium and the crowd from afar



Pic 2 : (taken while the dragon boat race was on). The water surface at river mouth exudes an extraordinary sense of tranquility and calm)


Pic 3 : Lining up for .........(don't know what)


Pic 4 : Boy couldn't see much from there and got tired, decided to turn around, relax and watch the crowd instead)


Pic 5 : Little girl couldn't see anything and was tired already after a long time but I guess the mum was probably more tired

[Clockunder]

Part II : Some of the manuoevres from the Air

Pic 6 : The Red Lions paratroopers in smokes


Pic 7 : One of the Red Lions preparing to land


Pic 8 : Flag carriers flying past while the corporate flag carriers (UOB and OUB) provided the background support. During this occassion, May Bank has to take cover.


Pic 9 : The F16 Falcons fly past


Pic 10 : Chinook in operation (shot in ISO 800. Thereafter, lens got stained by droplets from the splashes made by the Chinook and the light condition was also bad.)

[Clockunder]

Part III : Fireworks

Pic 11 : After running around Marina Esplanade, the only place where there is still room for fireworks shots was from here. However, it was too smoky for any nice shots this time. As I had already given up on shooting the fireworks after seeing so much smokes, this shot was taken to show how smoky it was and was taken with an aperture F/5.6, bigger than my usual F/8, to have a good exposure on the buildings without pushing up my ISO from 100 to 200. With such big aperture, the fireworks trails behind the smoke appeared very thick.

[ransoma22]

The smoke yesterday was extreme...i was there too
Aerial pictures of Red Lions and helicopters are alright...

Anyway, for the non-fireworks pictures, perhaps you can go up close by means of going up nearer cuz the composition wasn't impactful...

For the fireworks, to make the background brighter, you can do a long exposure on the scene first before fireworks. Make this ur background pictures for all ur fireworks pictures.

Use photoshop to layer them and Lighten/Screen. adjust opacity ...etc..increase saturation..

Hope my 2 cents worth.
Keep shooting and Cheers!

[Clockunder]

Originally Posted by ransoma22 The smoke yesterday was extreme...i was there too Aerial pictures of Red Lions and helicopters are alright... Anyway, for the non-fireworks pictures, perhaps you can go up close by means of going up nearer cuz the composition wasn't impactful... For the fireworks, to make the background brighter, you can do a long exposure on the scene first before fireworks. Make this ur background pictures for all ur fireworks pictures. Use photoshop to layer them and Lighten/Screen. adjust opacity ...etc..increase saturation.. Hope my 2 cents worth. Keep shooting and Cheers!

Thanks for your comments.

Really appreciate it.

Will keep in it mind when I shoot again on the actual day.

Thanks for the tip in photoshop too.

[ransoma22]

Originally Posted by Clockunder Thanks for your comments. Really appreciate it. Will keep in it mind when I shoot again on the actual day. Thanks for the tip in photoshop too.

No problem
Cheers!

[FM2 User]

Hi, 7 & 10 have simple & nice backgrounds. I love them!!
The others nice too back backgrounds are distracting.....just my views.

[Clockunder]

Originally Posted by FM2 User Hi, 7 & 10 have simple & nice backgrounds. I love them!! The others nice too back backgrounds are distracting.....just my views.

Thanks for the feedback.

I suppose "Keep it Simple!" and "Subtraction : take out anything which doesn't add to the picture's composition" very much apply here.

Will definitely keep it in mind.

Cheers!

[feimao07]

i luv-ed #10!

[chuanren]

i like 10..the chinook... the blurry effect by the side..due to the heat exhuast

[estronutz]

#10 my pick ...

[LOTUSfairy]

i also like #10...admiring the heli..

[sigg]

Originally Posted by Clockunder Camera : Fujifilm S6500fd No. of pictures : 11 Critiques are strongly welcome and sought. That's how we can improve faster. I have seen people not improving even after 2 years because all they got was back patting from their buddies when the posted pictures up. Critiques make us think outside our own mindset. Thanks.

I can tell what you are getting at.

Here are my personal comments if you dont mind

Pic 1 : The floating stadium and the crowd from afar
Comment: If I didnt know where is the floating stadium, I would have problem identifying the stadium itself from the pic. Perhaps you could go closer on this one. And taking people back from this angle doesnt suit.

Pic 2 : (taken while the dragon boat race was on). The water surface at river mouth exudes an extraordinary sense of tranquility and calm)
Comment: If what your title suggest, I suggest you crop the heads and the people, kinds distracting

Pic 3 : Lining up for .........(don't know what)
Comment: The bottom head somewhat spoils the pic. There is room for a little more tight crop. Good composition

Pic 4 : Boy couldn't see much from there and got tired, decided to turn around, relax and watch the crowd instead)
Comment: But in this pic I saw the crowd behind him? The foreground head and his background kinda messy

Thats all, I like pic 10 ...has that dreamy effect......

[Clockunder]

Thanks for all the comments.

For Pic #10, the resolution of the orginal picture taken is very bad (most of details in the Chinook was lost) because there was lots of mist (caused by the down-force of the Chinook on the water surface below), under-exposed, shot in ISO 800 jpeg and limited lens resolution power in my camera (actual 66.7mm on a 1/1.7" sensor for Fujifilm S6500fd).

I should have shot in RAW and do my own conversion and noise reduction using Noise Ninja plug-in on Photoshop CS2.

Actually, the background in Pic 10 is messy.

As the picture resolution was bad, I had in post-processing enhanced the diffused glow of the mist around the Chinook.

[Clockunder]

Originally Posted by sigg I can tell what you are getting at. Here are my personal comments if you dont mind Pic 1 : The floating stadium and the crowd from afar Comment: If I didnt know where is the floating stadium, I would have problem identifying the stadium itself from the pic. Perhaps you could go closer on this one. And taking people back from this angle doesnt suit. Pic 2 : (taken while the dragon boat race was on). The water surface at river mouth exudes an extraordinary sense of tranquility and calm) Comment: If what your title suggest, I suggest you crop the heads and the people, kinds distracting Pic 3 : Lining up for .........(don't know what) Comment: The bottom head somewhat spoils the pic. There is room for a little more tight crop. Good composition Pic 4 : Boy couldn't see much from there and got tired, decided to turn around, relax and watch the crowd instead) Comment: But in this pic I saw the crowd behind him? The foreground head and his background kinda messy Thats all, I like pic 10 ...has that dreamy effect......

Thanks for the detailed comments.

Really appreciate it.

I'm already thinking of how to shoot in the crowd to get a better composition on the actual NDP day. There were indeeds lots of heads and hands around to spoil the composition during such events.

[vincecarlo]

Originally Posted by Clockunder Pic 9 : The F16 Falcons fly past

This is my pick, gd shot with Ur S6500fd

[benn8]

agree with many, #10 is unique.
sky in #3 looks greenish. wonder what caused it?

[Clockunder]

Originally Posted by vincecarlo This is my pick, gd shot with Ur S6500fd

Thanks.

Personally, I think it might be better if the F16s have spreaded out a little wider from each other.

I used the continuous shooting top 3 mode on the S6500fd (specified as 2.3 fps) and pressed the shutter release button just when the F16s started to split. It seems that 2.3 fps top 3 mode is too fast and the picture shown above is the last of the top 3 already but the planes had still not spreaded out very wide yet.

I will try again (there is a NDP full dress rehearsal this Saturday?) and try to get a different composition. Would love some buildings or icon within the frame to identify the place but the IR site across the river mouth is just a mess of constructoin barricades and cranes. May be can try using the Merlion as foreground. But then the planes will be extremely small in the frame if I shoot too wide. Thinking.........




.

[Clockunder]

Originally Posted by benn8 agree with many, #10 is unique. sky in #3 looks greenish. wonder what caused it?

I used a different white balance in the original picture and forgot to ensure WB consistency for picture #3 with the rest as I was too engrossed in not getting the sky totally blown out white. Actually, Pic 2 also has a slight greenish tint because it was shot with the same WB as Pic 3. Will have to post-process it again.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[excelglsi]

Originally Posted by feimao07 i luv-ed #10!

same here love #10...