The Singapore Skyline and Nature’s own way of rewarding un-laziness!

The Story:

I have been wanting to get this shot for about 6 months now and it happened on the most unlikeliest of days. Almost every time I planned this, I got lazy and decided not to do . So, I had this carefully planned for a Saturday evening a week ago and as you might expect, the day turned out to be a damp squib – It was raining the whole day and sun never really bothered coming out. I was still lazing around at half past four in the evening when I should really have gone out and start scouting for the best location if I were to shoot. Instead, I was calling shoot buddies and cancelling the plans.

But amongst them, Jay was determined. Probably just because he was already out and waiting for me to join him for the shoot. So he pushed me to come and we agreed to have a rain-check (literally) in another 30 minutes. Things did seem to clear up in that time, so off I went to our meeting point and setup shop at nice little vantage point.

The sky was still dull and grayish and it wasn’t a promising shoot. I was hoping to get a nice little blue hour shot at least if it didn’t rain for the next hour or so. But what happened about 15-20 minutes before sunset seemed nothing short of magical. The fast moving clouds opened up a vast playground for the evening sunlight and what more can a photographer ask – It was pure delight. I’m really really happy that I moved my lazy bum out of my bed that day and I think that it is nature’s own way of rewarding us.

The Scene:

This is one view of Singapore that I haven’t been used to because I live in the other part of the city. Also, Singapore Flyer, the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world, is in a corner of sorts and doesn’t really fit into other Skyline views of the City. So, that was definitely something that I wanted to include in my shot. Also, the new Garden’s by the Bay domes have curious shapes too. Funny how this particular “mid-ground” here – the Gardens By the Bay, the Sands, the Arts Museum, the double helix bridge and the Flyer have only evolved in the last 2 years or so yet have become very strong symbols of Singapore! Comparing this to, say Rome – where I was last year - photographing Julius Ceasar’s palace, the Coliseum and Saturn’s temples in the middle of the city makes this a very different experience and reminds us how fast the world is moving! (and the lazy bums that we have got)

The Shot:

[3 shot HDR, (+ 1.6s, 3.2s, 0.8s) . f/16.0 . ISO 100 . 10 mm]