A fisheye view in Singapore - The courtyard in Raffles

A fisheye view in Singapore - The courtyard in Raffles, originally uploaded by Photomike07 / MDSimages.com.

Wow, I think I finally have it! I spent what could be calculated by any sane and rational man as an eternity over the past few days searching for a new blog theme and layout for my new site and think I finally have it covered. Not sure when I will switch over for sure, but I'll let ya know. Seriously though.....I uploaded wordpress onto the server at least 3 times, had it freeze up, screwed up the permissions settings, had import challanges, couldn't see the images while experimenting with one of the cool themes I liked, you name it. There was one session is which I don't think that I left the chair from about 8PM till 4AM! Not sure if that can be labled as tenacity, dedication, or insanity!

All that being said, the real reason for my Dallas visit was not one of a creative visit, but more about additional education in my real estate investment ventures. My vision of the trip before I had left was to balance out the long and couped up days with evenings of exploration of the Dallas night scene and capture it thru the lense. Well, not so much LOL!

Anyway, I am pretty excited about the new possibilities for the blog now with a totally new look, format, and direction.....so stay tuned!

As far as this image, it was taken during one of those trips in which I DID allow myself to wander about a new a foreign city. Singapore, as is South Florida, is humid.....very humid. This shot was setup and exposed in a pretty cool hotel called Raffles right in the heart of the city. I don't like to overuse the "fisheye" effect, but this spot seemed like the perfect place to play with it!

One more thing....

I came across this video that another blog posted while catching up on my email this evening. Its a bit long, but cool if you are a fan of Tim Ferriss's book called the Four Hour Workweek. I had never seen him speak and was a bit surprised at how good he presented his message live too. Check it out!


Tim Ferriss keynote The Next Web Conference 2010 - Love the Haters from Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten on Vimeo.

Night sky at Raffies in Singapore

Night sky at Raffies in Singapore, originally uploaded by Photomike07 / MDSimages.com.

Alrighty now...

Here's another taste from the Singaporean buffet of images I have. Ok, that sounded kinda stupid.....but I continue....

I waited a bit outside of this rather cool hotel in Singapore called Raffes, or was it Raffies, or Raffles, definitely not waffles.....Aaannnnyway...

There was a lot to explore inside and my memory card proves it. I set up this shot just outside of the front valet area and tried to blend in. Kinda hard with a Nikon D3 and a huge Gitzo tripod, but I tried.

After a bit of processing the images in Photomatix and Photoshop CS4, I had a hard time getting rid of the incredible amount of popcorn sized noise nuggets in the sky, so I tried a different approach. I decided to mess around with a few textures that I combined together until I had a color and feel that I liked. I then used a little radial blur trick I picked up from Trey Ratcliff from Stuck in Customs, used a layer mask of just the sky (remember the noisy one that I wanted to get rid of), and then painted in my own little creation. Sure its fake, but its fun....and looks kinda cool I think!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Freedom Flyer in Singapore

Freedom Flyer in Singapore, originally uploaded by Photomike07 / MDSimages.com.

Well, I'll be the first one to admit that this ones a wee bit of a disaster. Having never really cleaned it up or liked what I had so far, its been staring at me as the first image in my "ready to post" folder for quite sometime now. I tend to work on these images a few at a time but usually like to release only one a day, but that pools getting a bit shallow.

The air here in South Florida has been freaking stifling and incredibly humid lately. I have made several references here on the blog to the humidity in Singapore while I was there as it might be one of the most humid places on earth. I remember taking this shot with a couple of my photo buddies late in the evening as the sweat poured over my glasses and into the viewfinder. We arrived back at the hotel a few hours later, memory cards full and drenched from head to toe!

I hope to post a few more from Singapore soon as I have received some really great comments and possible opportunities from that part of the world. As always, I sincerely appreciate the views, so I'll keep em coming :)

Merlion Fountain - Singapore (and a couple of New Years Clips from the Paradise Ball with a bit about 2010) ... wow, long enough title or what??!!

Merlion Fountain - Singapore (and a couple of New Years Clips with a bit about 2010) ... wow, long enough title or what, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Well, first post of the year.....what to say, what to say....

For one thing, for me anyway, the new year is always a great time to reflect on past accomplishments and give gratitude. This past year has rewarded me with a bit of travel....visits to places I never dreamed I would visit, and for that....I am sincerely thankful for. Iceland, France, Italy, Switzerland, and of course the US. And with a cool sounding year (Twenty Ten.....I like the sound of that don't you? Has a positive and energetic ring to it), I am sure to be treated to more opportunities!

Being in the events industry, I must admit, New Years Eve is always one of those evenings that I am usually working, but I love it....so that makes it fun actually. For the last 25 years, I have for the most part been on one of our events. This year was no exception. The countdown is always a kinda cool deal when you are responsible for a few effects to happen on Q. Sure, I've witnessed my share of balloon bags that never opened or confetti cannons that for whatever reason, decided not to go off....but this year, like most so far....we rocked the house! Here's a little clip from the countdown here in Palm Beach at the Paradise Ball while the second one is a little rough handheld psuedo timelapse clip created from a few images a couple of years ago.

Enjoy, and oh yeah, Happy New Year! May yours be safe, prosperous, loving, and full of self growth. More on that in future blogs to come. :)

Temple in Chinatown - Singapore

Temple in Chinatown - Singapore, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

You know, I can't even figure myself out sometimes. For example, this post. For about a half a year, this image has sat in line waiting patiently for its send off into cyberspace. Waiting patiently every evening since its inclusion in the lightroom "to blog" file about 6 months ago, it has seen me blaze by it saying...."ahhhh, naaa, what else do I have"......

So why tonight?

Not sure.....but for whatever reason, its time for it's 20 minutes of fame!

Temple in Little China - Singapore

Temple in Little China - Singapore, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

"In a little followup to my post last night, I decided to show another from that trip."

Soooo, what's the deal Mike...what is this?

"Well, kinda stuck again. I don't remember a lot of details on this one. Taken during a humid afternoon exploring the temples of little China in Singapore."

Good grief, lets hope he's got something a bit more interesting tomorrow, eh?

Singapore

Singapore, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

If there is one thing I remember most about Singapore, it was the humidity. Quite a challenge for keeping the camera lense clear, thats for sure. As you can kinda see from this image, there seems to be a dense dome of haze over the city. Well, after a late night walk up to my local Starbucks here in South Florida here in mid July, I think we may have ya beat there Singapore. I'm now remembering why I liked escaping the summers down here!

I'm looking forward to the next few weeks as we have some events going on. Not exactly locations of exoticness, but a few good opportunities to refuel my creative energy both with lighting and with the camera. More to come!

Checking in at the Shangra-La

Checking in at the Shangra-La, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

My post this evening has us taking a little trip back to a place I was a few months ago in the wonderful city of Singapore. The reason I decided to grab these out of the file and throw out there to the world has a bit to do with a little lecture I went to last night. The guest speaker at the South Florida Camera Club was a well known local architectural photographer named Jerry Rabinowitz. A great photographer and entertaining speaker! His clients such as Architectural Digest, Florida Design, and Mara-Lago demand quality and realism out of his work. I often start my images out that way, yet frequently go down that road of slight surrealism in the processing. I guess that's ok though, as my client is, .... well....., me :)

Click on each of these to take it to a larger view on black! The detail is pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I remember running about this lobby like a kid with my tripod and kit. The marble, glass, light, and details were a perfect combination for my style of HDR work. As I have said before, some people love it and some absolutely HATE it. Impressionism was also heavily disliked in France in its early years. I suppose all art movements are fought with a little resistance at some level or another.

Atop of the hotel, there was a cool little patio just off of an area that was used for the VIP breakfasts. It had a very hip kinda feel to it and was a nice place to wake up to the vibrant city of Singapore at sunrise. Of course, you have to plan about 15 minutes for the fog to burn off your lenses before a shoot as it is HUMID there! I have a few more from this trip to post someday, so stay tuned :)

Round the clock construction in Singapore

Round the clock construction in Singapore, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

As promised, we continue with the "what is it" post week. While on a short little show in Singapore that I was fortunate to be a part of, I had a chance to go out shooting with some of the crew. I have always enjoyed the serenity of heading out on my own and shooting. I tend to get a bit tunnel visioned while out there, so this kinda works out OK. I must say though, that sharing the experience with a couple of friends is kinda cool too! While Steve, Rob, and I were riveting thru exposures of the huge ferris wheel called the Freedom Flyer like there was no tomorrow, something made me stop and look over my shoulder. The pace at which Singapore is expanding is absolutely astounding. This low angle shows a bit of that development just past the bridge. The sparkly looking 5 finger kinda thing on the upper left was actually a crane pod of sorts. KInda cool to see the pace here!

More detail

Little India in Singapore - Vertical Collage

An hour or two was barely enough time to scratch the surface of this colorful ethnic quarter of Singapore. The uniquely Indian hanging Jasmine Garlands, spice scented alleys, and brilliantly painted architectural elements were what I had hoped to capture in that short little visit. Upon return to the hotel a little later that night and a quick glance through the images captured, I felt that a composite was the best way to tell the story. I have always loved the look of the 4 or 9 picture spreads of Conde' Nast Travel Magazine, and that look was the original inspiration for this layout when I started it. It then quickly turned into more of a poster look. Hope you like.

View On Black

Poolside at night at the Shangri-La in Singapore

After a cool dinner with the crew in Singapore, there was one last place I wanted to capture....the hotel pool. I've been to some pretty tropical locations, but this one has them all beat by a mile! Heading outdoors with camera gear and lenses from the air conditioned comfort of the Shangri-La Hotel late in the evening means one thing......you're hanging out for about 30 minutes to an hour to wait for the fog to clear off the sensor and lenses. Unless, of course, you like that effect. But hey, I can think of plenty worse places to have to kill a little time!

Boat Quay in Singapore

Wandering the safest city I have ever been in at night, I was on a mission to capture the color and the light of vibrant city of Singapore. Not sure how that circular look happened in this image, but I kinda like it. Maybe it has something to do with the arch of the bridge on the right side. Enjoy :)

5 continents in 5 days - Asia - Shangri-La in Singapore

In the infamous words of Anthony Bourdain, Singapore is Asia 101 or Asia light for the westerner. Having never been to Asia before, I was OK with that! After the 20 hours or so of travel, it was quite a treat to be able to rest my weary head here at the Shangri-La Hotel. Thanks for the opportunity to work there Rick...let's do it again!

Well, hope you have enjoyed this little virtual trip round the world. Knowing that I have a hard drive loaded with images from trips this past year still waiting to be processed, I have a strong feeling that this little jaunt might happen again soon :)

Hope you enjoyed the ride.

Have a great weekend!

Raffles in Singapore

I am sure I have mentioned this before, but wandering around Singapore was quite a delight. Safe, clean, vibrant, and very colorful. As I was attempting to capture as much as I could in my short stay there, this was a plus. After our work days ended, I frequently wandered for hours in a daze till the wee hours, trying to soak in all I could. I didn't know much about this hotel called The Raffles Hotel when I stumbled upon it. I still don't know much about it now either actually, other than the fact that I have many many shots to process someday from that evening. They are also known for a drink called the "Singapore Sling" (tasted like sugar cane, pineapple, coconut, and chalk to me, kinda yuccy!)

Wikipedia says this about it:
Raffles Hotel (Chinese: 莱佛士酒店) is a colonial-style hotel in Singapore, dating from 1887, and named after Singapore's founder Sir Stamford Raffles. Managed by Raffles International, it is known for its luxurious accommodation and superb restaurants. The hotel houses a tropical garden courtyard, museum and Victorian-style theatre.

Kinda nice to relive these little journeys, especially when the stress of the South Florida season kicks in. Enjoy :)

Temple in Little India - Singapore

Temple in Little India - Singapore, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

In a tunnel visioned quest for HDR content, we blazed into the temple grounds of this area of Singapore. I am always, (at least I hope I am), sensitive to the people worshiping in these great places. Little India is a maze of streets with colorful displays, unique sounds, and unusual smells.....a rather fun place to explore. I hate to overuse the fisheye effect, but I like what it does with these tiles.

Singapore - A walk near the Esplanade

I am sure I mentioned it a million times already, but I have never felt safer in a city than I did in Singapore. As a city going through a construction phase at what appears to be an alarming rate, its look is bound to change by the time I make it back someday. This was taken on a bridge between somewhere and somewhere else...(Nice one Mike!) Well, I could dig out the map, but you get the idea.

Suntec Fountain in Singapore, without the water

Apparently, the only dry area in this humid city of Singapore that evening was the Suntec Fountain. I made a special trip down there after our event wrapped up to try to capture the waterfall and colors. Even though the local schedule posted several shows that were scheduled for the evening, this puppy was bone dry. Not sure what was going, so I captured this anyway.

Temple in Little India - Singapore

As I timidly walked thru the front gate of this temple, I had no idea what I was about to find. Being a little bit ignorant, ( all right, a whole lot ignorant), to what I what looking at, I couldn't help but appreciate it. The whole temple area had various worshipers in various states of prayer, so I was careful to not be too obtrusive. An American wandering around with an oversized camera can stand out a bit, if you know what I mean. I loved the colorful details all over the place, so I had a little fun processing this one.

A quiet night in Singapore

Time to get a quite post in before I do a face plant on the keyboard and fall asleep on the laptop. 38 hours of travel and I am home safe and sound. Singapore was great, Shanghai was awesome! More images to follow soon.

From the roof of the Shangra-La in Singapore

As I looked out my window at the crack of dawn, I saw the sun start to line the edge of the clouds with some incredible light. It was time to grab the camera and tripod and scramble up to the tops floor of the hotel to capture the sunrise. I wasn't prepared for the 1/2 hour wait for the camera lense to defog however. To say that Singapore is humid is, well, an understatement!

This post finds me on my last night in Shanghai, China. What an awesome side trip and incredible experience to remember. I hope to make it back some day to explore a lot deeper. Too many little bits to mention now as it is late, so more in the next few days or so. Till then its time to get a little rest....and dream about the 30 or so hours of travel I have ahead of me. Yikes!