Photographer

Shot for the Day (11 January 2016)

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All creatures great and small

This weekend, I was in Sentosa, an island just to the south of Singapore.  It is a local favourite and the closest proximation to the white sandy beaches of Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia that Singapore has to offer.

Whilst relaxing in the sunshine, this beast settled in front of me.  He seemed utterly unperturbed about our proximities and basked in the heat of the afternoon alongside me.  With only my Nokia 1020 to hand, I was still able to grab this shot.

As they say, the best camera you have is the one with you.

Shot for the Day (06 January 2016)

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West Witterings – Shot 2

Following on from my last entry, here is another shot from the sequence I shot in West Sussex, at West Witterings beach in December 2015.  This shot was taken using a Lee Filter Big Stopper about 10 minutes after the previous shot. You can see the rain falling in the distance, beneath the cloud.  Quite a surreal scene.

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West Witterings – Shot 3

Shortly afterwards, the sun climbed high enough in the sky and started to light the clouds above the main bank.  I had to wait another half an hour until the sun had completely cleared the main bank of cloud in the scene and that created a completely new view of Witterings.  Truly a stunning morning.

Shot for the Day (3 September 2015)

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Following on from my last entry, this was taken a few minutes prior to the last shot (below) in Alcudia, Mallorca. Unfortunately, I was not well positioned for the sunrise, which was behind the head of the peninsula, to my left.  The reason for this was main due to the fact that the westerly facing headland was several kilometres on the other side of a private golf course and I had no idea how long it would have taken me to walk there.  Has anybody ever made this journey?

One thing that resonated with me the most about this particular dawn was the strength of the yellow in the sky.  Singapore tends to be far more orange due to pollutants in the atmosphere.

Shot for the Day (1 September 2015)

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I awoke well before dawn on my penultimate day in Mallorca this summer.  I wanted the experience the serenity one finds at the birth of a new day, surrounded by nature.  My home town of Singapore does have many green spaces but they are a patch of nature juxtaposed against the greyness of manmade objects.  I was craving for the antithesis.

A yacht had moored the previous night and bobbed gently on the rising tide as the first light of day bathed the foreground in a rich golden light. The moon was cradled amongst the wisps of cloud as they glided silently across the sky overhead, travelling on the a light breeze, which rustled the branches ever so slightly.

I think this is going to be my go to calm place for this year.

Shot for the Day (15 August 2015)

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Mount Richie monkey

This afternoon, I went for a walk on the wilder side of Singapore.  In the centre of the island, there is a slither of nature called MacRitchie Reservoir Park.  Just south of Upper Pierce Reservoir, there is a tree top walk, which in effect is a narrow suspension bridge, just wide enough for someone to traverse across the rooftop of the jungle below.

Lining the side of the bridge were many monkeys. They were generally quite skittish but the character in the image above was more than a little bold.  I had a wide angle lens on my camera, meaning he was sat within an arm’s length from me when I took this shot.

Shot for the Day (16 June 2015)

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Langkawi end of days

Bit of eye candy for today’s image.  End of my first day on Langkawi, I was wondering along the beach with my camera and tripod.  The scene was beautiful but it was the delicate hues of different colours that I recall.  The faint orange juxtaposed next to the pale yellow.

I wish I were there right now…

Shot for the Day (13 June 2015)

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The open road ahead

In the mountains of Peru, on the road to nowhere, I stood with a friend, surveying the eerie landscape in solitude.  We ended up trekking up to 5000m and walking on the glacier you can see in the distance a couple of hours later, when the clouds cleared and the sun bathed the landscape.

High on a mountain

I have fond memories of walking up to the glacier above, undaunted by altitude sickness or concerned with the cold.  My companion had to remind me that a T shirt at that altitude and level of cold was not in keeping with an efficient circulation.

I will always have fond recollections of the mountains o South America, with Peru, Bolivia and Chile in particular.  All were familiar but unique in their own special way.

Bizarrely, both images above is about the size of my negative (6cm x 12cm).

Shot for the Day (8 June 2015)

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Back in 2003, after completing a 4 month stint as expedition photographer for Raleigh International in Coyhaique, capital of Region XI in Chile, a few colleagues decided that the best way to end the experience was be to trek Torres del Paine, situated at the southern tip of Chile.

Amongst this ensemble, only three of us were foolhardy enough to attempt the full loop and circumnavigate the entire range.  It was April, the very end of the season and all the refugios were being closed down for Winter.  Consequently, we had to carry all of our food with us for the multi-day trek ahead.

Temperatures varied from a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius during the day to a chilly minus 20 degrees Celsius at night.  We restricted our gear as best we could but our packs stilled weight in at just under 35kg each.

The effort, however, was more than worth it, as we were constantly treated to such beautiful vistas as the one above, with not a soul for miles to break the tranquility.  In the end, it took Tom, Bill and I just under 8 days to complete the trek.  I eagerly hope to return and do it once again in the future.