ARPS #1: Emeralds of Spring

The photography talk conducted by my dad at the Ngee Ann Photographic Exhibition last weekend brought back some good memories of the images I took on outings with him. A collection of some of those images eventually ended up in my portfolio for my successful application for ARPS in September 2003. The next few updates will feature images from the portfolio together with my thoughts on them. To start off…

Emeralds of Spring was taken more than two years ago at the Botanical Gardens, Singapore. A brilliant (but hot!) day provided wonderful sunshine by the sundial pond which was filled with brilliantly-lit leaves of the Victoria Amazonica. Because of the strong back-lighting, getting a correct exposure was tricky, made even more difficult by having to use the LCD (of my G3) in bright light to compose the final shot. I like the details of the leaf patterns captured as well as the repetitive pattern of the lily pads, whose monotony is broken nicely by the largest leaf at the top.

Exposure information – Camera: Canon Powershot G3, ISO 50, Shutter: 1/400 sec, Aperture: f/8, 35mm effective FL: 43mm, Metering mode: Spot, Exposure Mode: Manual