Tanjong Pagar Train Station

[nitewalk]

Was told this place may be gone in time to come, so I went there to take a few snaps. As I am beginning, only started less than a month, I had difficulties initially with the exposures (at that point in time, not yet read any books on exposure, just pure experimentation). This was one of the photo which I liked more.

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Exposure and composition. I hope to get some feed back also on the general feel of this photo, like what impression it leaves you and also the proportioning and angle.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
Personally I like to try to reproduce what I see with my eye. I was looking up at the sky and I thought I like this angle, so I took a shot and did the greyscale in pp.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Glaring day and a complete noob who couldn't handle the glare of the sky and the exposure. Most of the shots had the sky being over exposed as I don't yet have a gnd filter.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the pictures
For me, I remember the times when I boarded the train bound for M'sia when I was young. It has a nostalgic value, and the dull colour of the photo suits a greyscale, imho.

 

[ed9119]

nice perspective..... the grayscale seems to be lacking in contrast but not fatal (to me)

there's plenty of texture in the building .... thought of getting closer to try to bring that out ?

best of luck ! :thumbsup:

 

[nitewalk]

nice perspective..... the grayscale seems to be lacking in contrast but not fatal (to me)

there's plenty of texture in the building .... thought of getting closer to try to bring that out ?

best of luck ! :thumbsup:

Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I reckon the lack of contrast is because of the colour of the building, tried to change it in pp.

I was taking the shot beside the rail, I tried to zoom more but didn't want to compromise the looking at sky feel. Maybe when I'm free I will go down try again to capture the texture of the building, thanks for the suggestion!

Oh ya the pesky malaysian railway man was on to me all the time, had to be really careful cos they don't approve of photography. Haha. A few other photography enthusiasts and photographers also got stopped.

 

[NMSS_2]

where is the focus? i cant tell what are you trying to tell us via this pic.

 

[nitewalk]

where is the focus? i cant tell what are you trying to tell us via this pic.

U mean it is lacking in an idea or a theme? hmm. I was trying to reproduce an angle of the building which i liked. Actually I dont really realised at the point in time that I should be focusing on something. I thank you for that. I will pay more attention to that in future.

 

[wongjunhao]

I can't tell what's the focus/story of this shot too.

 

[nitewalk]

I can't tell what's the focus/story of this shot too.

Hmm... point taken. Thanks. Anyway, mind if I ask if there is any tips for finding a focus or a story to a shot? As in, I think I've never been a creative person at all, and I'm always amazed by how splendid some of the shots are around here and i could see what the photographer is saying without words. Any tips? I mean, skills can practice can be picked up over time i guess, but such stuff needs inspiration or is there a way to like tell a story with a shot? Sorry if that is really noobish...

 

[wongjunhao]

Hmm... point taken. Thanks. Anyway, mind if I ask if there is any tips for finding a focus or a story to a shot? As in, I think I've never been a creative person at all, and I'm always amazed by how splendid some of the shots are around here and i could see what the photographer is saying without words. Any tips? I mean, skills can practice can be picked up over time i guess, but such stuff needs inspiration or is there a way to like tell a story with a shot? Sorry if that is really noobish...

Try to think of a theme/story when you click the shutter. Why am I shooting this? What is my picture trying to say?

 

[nitewalk]

Thanks!

 

[xxdoggyxx]

Hi...

If your topic/story/headline ias about train station, shouldn't you include train tracks or some abandon trains?
I/Most Singaporean knows its the train station... But some who didn't even have the chances to go dere might not know.
I heard the station is closing soon...

Cheers

 

[nitewalk]

Hi...

If your topic/story/headline ias about train station, shouldn't you include train tracks or some abandon trains?
I/Most Singaporean knows its the train station... But some who didn't even have the chances to go dere might not know.
I heard the station is closing soon...

Cheers

Yups. I have taken some. But the sky was overexposed as my skill is bad, plus I haven't got filters at that point in time and i couldn't handle the exposure. It was disappointing, and I only liked this and another photo. When I'm free I will be down to takke a proper one, now that I figured out how to handle the exposure of the sky plus maybe use gnd filter to help out. I have shots of trains but the man don't allow me to take shots involving tracks, so I had to delete some.

Yea its closing soon. What a shame. In my folder where i keep my photos, I keep the photos of the train station I took under 'nostalgia'. Saw a few other enthusiasts taking shots also.

 

[xxdoggyxx]

but the man don't allow me to take shots involving tracks, so I had to delete some.

Hmmm... Why is that so? Tracks aren't highly confidential blue-prints...


Off-topic: Well, where do you live? Try not shoot at that station... For me, bukit panjang/upper bukit timah is the best.

Behind Teck Whye secondary school, follow up the path and see the intersection between tracks and road (At ex-shengsong). Follow on with the tracks, you will reach upper bukit timah road. There are tons of empty cargo train and some 'back-up' rocks for those tracks. Shooting dere will be great.

Tips: Shoot around 5+, Near sunset, Take-away some food with your friend. After the shoots, have your little dinner. When it reach 1845, a long train will go pass. It carries passenger + cargo at the back. Shoot it with the sun. (Y)(Y)(Y)

I have some pic in my com, taken from my olympus tough. Com get reformat, picture gone.

Cheers

 

[nitewalk]

Hmmm... Why is that so? Tracks aren't highly confidential blue-prints...


Off-topic: Well, where do you live? Try not shoot at that station... For me, bukit panjang/upper bukit timah is the best.

Behind Teck Whye secondary school, follow up the path and see the intersection between tracks and road (At ex-shengsong). Follow on with the tracks, you will reach upper bukit timah road. There are tons of empty cargo train and some 'back-up' rocks for those tracks. Shooting dere will be great.

Tips: Shoot around 5+, Near sunset, Take-away some food with your friend. After the shoots, have your little dinner. When it reach 1845, a long train will go pass. It carries passenger + cargo at the back. Shoot it with the sun. (Y)(Y)(Y)

I have some pic in my com, taken from my olympus tough. Com get reformat, picture gone.

Cheers

They say tracks cannot take lor. Even the singapore police officers stationed there also advised me against it. LL. Cos is their land. Haha.

I know where u talking about. Haha. I know of a place near bukit panjang plaza or what, there also got a track with normal road. I'll go these places when I have the time. Now start work abit difficult. haha. location is not a problem as long as its in Singapore.

Wah. Heart pain leh. That's why I always backup on my EHDD, though my photos so far not worth backing up.

 

[Kit]

Was told this place may be gone in time to come, so I went there to take a few snaps. As I am beginning, only started less than a month, I had difficulties initially with the exposures (at that point in time, not yet read any books on exposure, just pure experimentation). This was one of the photo which I liked more.

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Exposure and composition. I hope to get some feed back also on the general feel of this photo, like what impression it leaves you and also the proportioning and angle.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
Personally I like to try to reproduce what I see with my eye. I was looking up at the sky and I thought I like this angle, so I took a shot and did the greyscale in pp.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Glaring day and a complete noob who couldn't handle the glare of the sky and the exposure. Most of the shots had the sky being over exposed as I don't yet have a gnd filter.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the pictures
For me, I remember the times when I boarded the train bound for M'sia when I was young. It has a nostalgic value, and the dull colour of the photo suits a greyscale, imho.

For architectural documentation, its not necessary for evey photo to be tag alone with a story. What's more critical is if you understand the building well. Can you identify the salient architectural features to photograph? Once those are identified, how do you design a composition to document them? Most of the time, its more than meets the eyes. You have to go way beyond photographing what you see there and then because there are a lot of factors to consider.

In your photo, you have isolated a small part of the roof in the foreground and a chunk of facade in the background. Its neither here nor there kinda composition. You are showing a lot but none seemed to be able to invoke any interest amongst the viewers. You need to decide if its better to photograph the building as a scene or isolate its details. If its isolating details you are aftering, then keep it simple. Exclude the distractions which do not add to the composition.

I can't seem to say enough of this but the ambient lighting is sure as flat as hell!! The tones are blend and boring to look at. You have not paid attention to the ambient lighting at all. Good quality lighting can not only improve the photograph, it can also enhance the viewing experience of your work. It will bring you photographs to a whole new level.

 

[nitewalk]

For architectural documentation, its not necessary for evey photo to be tag alone with a story. What's more critical is if you understand the building well. Can you identify the salient architectural features to photograph? Once those are identified, how do you design a composition to document them? Most of the time, its more than meets the eyes. You have to go way beyond photographing what you see there and then because there are a lot of factors to consider.

In your photo, you have isolated a small part of the roof in the foreground and a chunk of facade in the background. Its neither here nor there kinda composition. You are showing a lot but none seemed to be able to invoke any interest amongst the viewers. You need to decide if its better to photograph the building as a scene or isolate its details. If its isolating details you are aftering, then keep it simple. Exclude the distractions which do not add to the composition.

I can't seem to say enough of this but the ambient lighting is sure as flat as hell!! The tones are blend and boring to look at. You have not paid attention to the ambient lighting at all. Good quality lighting can not only improve the photograph, it can also enhance the viewing experience of your work. It will bring you photographs to a whole new level.

First of all, I thank you for taking time to give me the feedback.

The building itself, I guess you know, is pretty dull in colour, I'm wondering how do i capture the image such that it will not be blend or plain? Actually, I got to admit, its because in colour, there was not much colour, so I chose to convert into greyscale. The difficulty comes not when the surrounding has much colours, but in this case when the colours are not vibrant, then I struggle to make the shot look interesting.

BTW just saw your shots and i'm really impressed with your shots. Haha. Esp the esplandade one.

 

[Kit]

Yes, the building does have a pretty monotonous facade so the decision to go with B&W is good. However, the lack of tonal variety in a photograph can be avoided if you know how to make use of ambient lighting to your advantage. Observing the light and the manner it falls onto the bulding creating highlights and shadows is critical for B&W architectural photography. With good quality lighting, you have more options to design your photographs by making use of the highlights, midtones and shadows. All my B&W photographs were done with this in mind.

 

[nitewalk]

Yes, the building does have a pretty monotonous facade so the decision to go with B&W is good. However, the lack of tonal variety in a photograph can be avoided if you know how to make use of ambient lighting to your advantage. Observing the light and the manner it falls onto the bulding creating highlights and shadows is critical for B&W architectural photography. With good quality lighting, you have more options to design your photographs by making use of the highlights, midtones and shadows. All my B&W photographs were done with this in mind.

That's the thing, I have problems with light. I know they've been saying light is one of the most important thing in photography. Still learning how to make use of it. Anyway, with regards to ambient lighting, highlights, shadows and midtones, the books I read so far only deal with it heavily in the post-processing section of the book. Any books to recommend off hand? Or is there any books which influenced your works,especially in terms of architectural and B&W architectural photography? (Coz I'm mainly learning from books then apply it when I go out to shoot)

 

[Kit]

Its quite difficult to find books specialised on Architectural photography, let alone B&W Architectural photography. You can try looking for books on B&W techniques instead. Riceball at Funan or Page One would be good places to start with.

 

[wildcat]

That's the thing, I have problems with light. I know they've been saying light is one of the most important thing in photography. Still learning how to make use of it. Anyway, with regards to ambient lighting, highlights, shadows and midtones, the books I read so far only deal with it heavily in the post-processing section of the book. Any books to recommend off hand? Or is there any books which influenced your works,especially in terms of architectural and B&W architectural photography? (Coz I'm mainly learning from books then apply it when I go out to shoot)

Study Kit. Get nagged often enough, some things may get in. Eventually (given time and enough nagging), may even be considered can do. :thumbsup:

So far my own experience starts with learning techniques, and parallel with studying pics done previously that are considered good. After that emulate while differentiating the good from the bad. And once the techniques are mastered, experiment and maybe even have own signature style.

At the moment, I myself probably can differentiate a good photo, and have been improving techniques and hopefully can emulate some of the good pics done by the masters, but still a long way to go :embrass: rather than trying to short cut things, I am going the long way of taking things one at a time and not rushing it as I expect the learning process to take years.

 

[nitewalk]

Ya man. I looked at his photos for motivation. One thing is I think I can't see things from a creative point of view. Like what you suggested, I'm trying to get a feel of the ideas behind some of the pics i like and emulate the concept behind it, plus at the same time I am consulting books and right now I'm reading books by Peterson on exposure and creativity. At the same time, have to learn photoshop! Argh!