altairnative

Descendants-of-the-Sun

Sometimes there are moments so beautiful that are hard to express in words. I felt blessed to witness this magical moment as it took me 3 visits to this place j...
Read more

Sometimes there are moments so beautiful that are hard to express in words. I felt blessed to witness this magical moment as it took me 3 visits to this place just to get the shot that I wanted. Surreal.
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NIKON D5300

settings

Aperture f/9 ISO 100 Shutter 8/1 Focal Length 130/10

location

Singapore, , SG

upload_date

May, 2020

Views

Likes

Awards

Action Award

Zenith Award

Curator's Selection

Spring 21 Award

Summer 2020

Superb Composition

+10

Outstanding Creativity

Top Choice

Absolute Masterpiece

Peer Award

Top Ranks

Top 30 rank

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in Chinatown, Singapore. This temple is called the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and probably one of the most iconic buildings/temples in Singapore. This photo is one of my favorite images that i've taken recently as it took me 3 visits to this place just to get the shot that I wanted.

Time

I remember arriving to this place at 4pm in order for me to have enough time to scout the place and find the perfect composition for my subject. The moment I found my composition from the 11th floor of the building, I started setting up my camera and mounted it on a tripod and fixed my composition for hours to wait for the perfect combination of light from the golden hour and blue hour.

Lighting

On this image, I only depend on the natural light and the city lights that I get on the scene and I used these lights to create the image that i've envisioned before I went to the location.

Equipment

This photo was shot on a Nikon D5300 with Tokina 11-16 DX II lens. The camera was mounted on a Benro System Go Plus tripod and I have also used filters to achieve this image which is the NiSi V6 Pro filter system with Landscape CPL plus 6-stop ND filter and 3-stop soft GND.

Inspiration

Growth. To look back and see how far I’ve come inspires me to keep learning, adapting and experimenting. I aim to make sure that each photograph that I take is in some way better than the one I took before. I try to use photography to show people the way in which I see the world, not just the visuals of a scene before me, but the feelings that I have, the emotion and the spirit as well. I’ve always thought that I’m not very artistic. I can’t draw, I can’t sing, I’ve tried to learn music as well, but it seems beyond me. But with photography, I’ve found an outlet that works for me, something that you lose yourself in shooting, and all your worries and daily stresses just melt away.

Editing

Yes, I did. Most of the time, landscape/cityscape photography requires a lot of processing. On this case, I have two different images in RAW format with two different exposures. The first exposure was to get the details of the sky and the second one was exposed on the buildings during blue hour. After shooting, I opened the files on Lightroom and did local and global adjustments to correct the colors, shadows and highlights as well as the white balance of the image. Then, i continued processing in Photoshop and did the time blending technique which is to merge two different exposures using a mask.

In my camera bag

Right now, the main equipment that I used in shooting cityscape/landscape is the Nikon D7500 paired with Nikkor 10-24 lens. I can't imagine myself going out without these gears. Sometimes, I also bring my telephoto Tamron 70-200 G2 lens. Second thing is the my Benro System Go Plus tripod. This is very essential for me because I usually shoot with slow shutter speeds and it helps me to prevent producing a blurry or out of focus image. This also helps me to fix my composition for hours specially when shooting sunrise or sunsets. Next are the filters, I am currently using the NiSi V6 filter holder system with a Landscape CPL, 6-stop ND, 10-stop ND and 3-stop soft GND. I always bring this system as it helps me to create an epic image from an epic scene. Other things that I have in my bag are extra battery, extra memory cards, remote cable release, lens blower and microfiber cleaning cloths.

Feedback

The photo is taken from an apartment complex across from the temple where you can climb up the stairs to shoot for this frame. 9-12th floor is the sweet spot. It's best to plan ahead like checking out the weather before the actual day of shooting because in Singapore, the weather changes abruptly depending on the day but if you are lucky enough to be there at the right time, you might witness a dramatic fiery sky over it's sky skyscrapers that will surely make you stop for a moment and watch in amazement. Lastly, always keep on shooting and keep the passion burning.

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altairnative

altairnative

Descendants-of-the-Sun

Sometimes there are moments so beautiful that are hard to express in words. I felt blessed to witness this magical moment as it took me 3 visits to this place j... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow altairnative

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Sometimes there are moments so beautiful that are hard to express in words. I felt blessed to witness this magical moment as it took me 3 visits to this place j...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.