Friday Night at Orchard Road – Crowded!

Just got back home. Had dinner in town and Orchard Road was jammed packed as usual on weekend nights. So many people waiting at the traffic junctions to cross the road – hardly any space! Will post pictures in a short while. Be right back.

Updated : Photos uploaded below.

Busy Orchard Road on weekend nights

Orchard Road during Singapore Christmas Lights Up 2011

The road crossing heading to Heeren and H & M Store in the diagonal direction were specially jammed. The waiting area and pavement are much too narrow for a large crowd like that. Be prepared to wade through a throng of people if you are heading here during weekends.

Have a great weekend!

Orchard Road on a Thursday Night

Just came back from Orchard Road and running short of time. Haven’t got a chance to look at the pictures yet to see if there is any worth posting. In summary, the whole stretch of Orchard Road was lit in blue and silver christmas lighting. It was raining now and then. Even after 10pm when most shops had closed down, there was a constant stream of people. Not advisable to take bus or taxis at that hour. Traffic jam and cars horning constantly. Best to take the MRT instead. Be right back later with pictures.

Update : Pictures uploaded.

Orchard Road in Silver Blue Lights for the Singapore Christmas Light Up 2011

Crazy traffic at Orchard Road during Christmas Light Up

A few things to note. Wisma Atria at street level is undergoing renovations. The side street in front of CK Tangs  and ION Orchard are under construction too. November is not the optimum time to take christmas lights in Orchard Road it seems. Wait till December, once renovations are done, to take those pictures.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Last Christmas…2010 Christmas Light Ups at Orchard Road

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart. The very next day you gave it away……and so the song goes….

I am going down the memory lane today. I am not at home now and don’t have access to my pictures cache. It was only last year that I focused more seriously on photography even though it has been a hobby for a long time. Sometime last year, I dusted my old Olympus DSLR and went about Orchard Road photographing the Christmas Light Up. So these are 2010 pictures of last christmas light up in singapore. I am going to photograph this year christmas lights and see if I like them better this year.

Christmas Tree at ION Orchard

Christmas Tree outside Paragon

Crowd in Orchard Road during Xmas Light Up

Xmas Deco at Paragon

Preview of Singapore Christmas Light Up 2011

Just came back from Orchard Road about an hour ago to check out this year’s preparation of Singapore Christmas Light Up 2011. ION Orchard, CK Tangs, Takashimaya and Paragon have their christmas trees decorations up but a work in progress signboards are still around. The christmas lightings are up but no lights yet. This year’s theme – elephants! Have to see them elephants yourselves.

Meanwhile, pictures to show before the official launch of Singapore Christmas Light Up 2011 this weekend on 19 November 2011 which ends on 2 January 2012. Note : some news report state the starting date as 20 November 2011. To me, it makes more sense to have the opening on 19 November 2011, a saturday instead of sunday.

Get your cameras ready!

Orchard Road Christmas Lights 2011

Orchard Road Blue Chrismas Lights Decorations 2011

2011 Christmas Lights at ION Orchard

ION Orchard Golden Christmas Tree 2011

Vertical Landscaping

During lunch today, I went by Orchard Road. This time around, I walked along the stretch from Wheelock Place to the Hilton Singapore Hotel. This section of the road is usually not too crowded. Have not been here for a while. Today I notice this vertical landscaping box along the walkway. They looked good from far away and from a perspective angle. Though a more timely maintenance will make them look better.

Anyways here are the pictures.

Have a great weekend!

Camera, get set…..Shoot!

This is what I think of when I look at this picture “Camera, get set….Shoot!”.

ION Orchard

It was almost 7.30pm today and the lights had not darken yet. All thoses photographers getting their cameras ready and aiming at the shopping mall – ION Orchard – quite a tourist attraction here in Orchard Road. Wait till christmas and the whole street are lighted on their best display.

Anyway, from monday to wednesday, it is not so crowded on the streets. Come the weekends, hard to get the best spot at this location. I was there at the back, against the railing and had a nice view of all the actions in front.

Catch you on the next post.

Late Evening in the City

Looking back at an old photo, I saw this. Sunset in the city with a background of skyscappers.

Late Evening in Orchard Road, Singapore

I plan to head to town regularly sometime next week. A number of photo shoots for consideration. The hustle and bustle of city living, here I come!

Sky View of Buildings from Orchard Road

Orchard Road is a blend of old and new buildings if one really look closely. This was taken from the top view of Orchard Central Shopping Mall.

On the left frame, construction are still ongoing for the condominiums. This is prime estate. Expect cost for a small apartment to be at the very minimum S$1 million though I suspect it costs a whole lot more.

On the other hand, those terracotta type roof tops of the shophouses are the remains of the old history of Singapore. Peranakan Place have such beautiful architecture. Must remind myself to do a close-up next time.

In the distance are the skyscraper buildings nearby Novena and Newton and what looks like the housing estates of Toa Payoh in the far horizon.

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View of Singapore Landscape from Orchard Central

Indoor Water Fountain at Takashimaya Shopping Mall

Water Fountain at Takashimaya

I took this photo a few months ago and didn’t think much of it since it was so blurry. A few days ago, I downloaded GIMP and have a bit of fun doing photo editing.

A few minutes later, after a bit of sharpening and color touch-up, this is the end result. This was taken at Takashimaya Shopping Center or Ngee Ann City in Orchard Road. Located at the basement. The seats along the water fountain is a great place to sit back, relax, eat your meals or people watch.

Water fountain or waterfalls are always very cooling.

Tomorrow I will have another version of the water fountain, done in a different way. See ya!

Photograph in colour, sepia and black and white

I was originally going to title this post as “Juxtapose : 3 Red Cars” from this picture.

3 Red Cars at a Juxtapose

By some coincidence, three red cars of similar design just happen to cross path at a road junction.

By the way this was taken at Orchard Road, at the Hereen traffic side of the road. No matter how many times I come here, the photos always end up grainy, too much noise artifacts and direct sun facing the camera. Wrong timing I guess. I do like the circular building with that billboard. Nice architecture. Lots of photograph potential here.

Anyway, one way to reduce noise is to switch to monotone instead or reduce the pixel size. Don’t always work though. But it was fun to experiment. So this is the sepia version.

In Sepia - urban city landscape

And this is the black and white version.

Black and White - Orchard Road

I think I like the Sepia version best. Still grainy but I think it goes with the look.