keanpoh Photographer

Matsumoto Castle 松本城

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:50:00 +0000

Matsumoto Castle

I have always wanted to visit this castle since the day I saw a picture of it in Flickr.com sometime ago in year 2010. I wanted to take pictures of this castle myself. It is so beautiful. The opportunity came when I visited World Heritage Shirakawago and the nearby city Takayama early this year. Matsumoto city is located in between Tokyo and Shirakawago and therefore, I stopped by Matsumoto city on my way back to Tokyo, stayed overnight there just to visit the famous Matsumoto Castle. Matsumoto is about 3 hours and 10 minutes bus ride from Tokyo Shinjuku Bus Terminal. It cost 3,400yen one way. You can also access Matsumoto from Takayama Bus Terminal, which is 3,100yen one way. Click here for the Nohi bus time table from Takayama to Matsumoto. For more travel information about Matsumoto, click here.

Matsumoto Castle at night

Matsumoto Castle is one of the most beautiful and photogenic castle in Japan. It is also known as the "Crow Castle" for it's black exterior.

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"The castle's origins go back to the Sengoku period. At that time Shimadachi Sadanaga of the Ogasawara clan built a fort on this site in 1504 which was originally called Fukashi Castle. In 1550 it came under the rule of the Takeda clan and then Tokugawa Ieyasu.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi transferred Ieyasu to the Kantō region, he placed Ishikawa Norimasa in charge of Matsumoto. Norimasa and his son Yasunaga built the tower and other parts of the castle, including the three towers: the keep and the small tower in the northwest, both begun in 1590, and the Watari Tower; the residence; the drum gate; the black gate, theTsukimi Yagura, the moat, the innermost bailey, the second bailey, the third bailey, and the sub-floors in the castle, much as they are today. They were also instrumental in laying out the castle town and its infrastructure. It is believed much of the castle was completed by 1593–94.

During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established the Matsumoto Domain, of which the Matsudaira, Mizuno and others were the daimyo.

For the next 280 years until the abolition of the feudal system in the Meiji Restoration, the castle was ruled by the 23 lords of Matsumoto representing six different daimyo families. In this period the stronghold was also known as Crow Castle (烏城 Karasu-jo) because its black walls and roofs looked like spreading wings." *Source: Wikipedia.

Matsumoto Castle in the morning

Matsumoto Castle during sunrise

Matsumoto Castle in B&W

Matsumoto Castle during sunrise

Good morning Matsumoto

Matsumoto Castle in Sunrise

Matsumoto Castle

Also known as the Crow Castle

Matsumoto Castle

Matsumoto Castle at night

Matsumoto Castle with the Stars

Entrance to the castle cost 600yen. I did not managed to go in as it was closed from December 29 to January 3 each year. However, the pictures above proved that my decision to stop by was a right one. I strongly encourage people who are visiting Nagoya or Shirakawago from Tokyo put this place into their itinerary too.

I hope you enjoyed the article and pictures. I will appreciate if you could click the Like button or Tweet this article to share with your friends and family. I am looking forward to you comments in the comment box below too.

World Heritage Part 3: Suganuma & Ainokura

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:33:00 +0000

This is the Part 3 of my World Heritage series and in this episode, I will introduce you to two more World Heritage sites next to Shirakawago. They are located in another prefecture, the Toyama Prefecture while Shirakawago is located in the Gifu Prefecture. Although located in different prefecture, they are just 30 minutes drive away from each other. The two world heritage sites are Suganuma and Ainokura, both located in a place called Gokayama and therefore, some called them the Gokayama World Heritage sites.

You can access Part 1 and Part 2 of my World Heritage series by click on the link below:

Part 1: Shirakawago - Ogimachi

Part 2: Shirakawago - Open Air Museum

World Heritage: Suganuma of Gokayama

World Heritage: Ainokura of Gokayama

Gokayama world heritage sites are more difficult to access and therefore they are a lot more quiet than Ogimachi of Shirakawago, which is often swamped by tourist around the world. However, it is still possible to access these two sites with advanced planning and research. The two world heritage sites in Gokayama are smaller compared to Ogimachi. Read on for information about accessing these two sites.

From Ogimachi of Shirakawago, it takes about 30 minutes riding the Kaetsuno Bus to Suganuma. Kaetsuno Bus is the only bus company that operates between the three world heritage sites. So unless you are driving, you will have to take this bus to get to all three world heritage sites. And note that the bus only make four (4) trips a day between these sites, so make sure you don't miss the bus you're planning to get on or you will be in big trouble. Click on here to access Kaetsuno Bus time table in English and here for Kaetsuno Bus official website time table but in Japanese only. However, if you can understand or recognize Chinese/Kanji characters, below are the translation for the stops that you need to get on and off:

Ogimachi Gassho-zukuri Area Bus Stop = 荻町合掌集落

Suganuma = 菅沼

Ainokura = 相倉口

It cost 840 yen one way for a ride from Ogimachi to Suganuma and 1250 yen one way from Ogimachi to Ainokura. From Suganuma to Ainokura, it cost 560 yen one way.

Suganuma, 菅沼

Suganuma Village

Suganuma is made up of two different areas namely Suganuma Village and the Gokayama Gassho no Sato area. Both are connected by a tunnel and it takes about 5 to 10 minutes walk from one area to the other.

It is the Suganuma Village with nine of it's Gassho-zukuri farmhouses that were declared UNESCO World Heritage together with Ogimachi and Ainokura in year 1995. Some of the farmhouses are converted to restaurants, minshuku and museums.

Gassho-zukuri farmhouses in Suganuma Village

Quiet Suganuma Village with lesser tourist compared to Ogimachi

Gassho-zukuri farmhouses of Suganuma

Across the tunnel with an elevator to access the car park is the Gokayama Gassho no Sato. Here you can find some traditional farmhouses which were relocated from some other areas in order to protect them from destruction. However, no one lives in these farmhouses anymore and they are used by school groups who will overnight here to experience the Gokayama traditional life style.

Gassho-zukuri farmhouse in Gokayama Gassho no Sato

A farmhouse in Gokayama Gassho no Sato

Farmhouses in Gokayama Gassho no Sato

A farmhouse in Gokayama Gassho no Sato

One can have the bird's eye view of Suganuma village from along the road from Ogimachi to Suganuma. One can either walk up to the road from the Suganuma village main entrance or can walk down along the road from the car park area which can be accessed by using the elevator in the tunnel. However, during my visit, the elevator was closed and therefore I have to walk up the road from the main entrance to Suganuma Village.

Ainokura, 相倉

Ainokura is the largest village in the Gokayama region. Although not as large as Ogimachi, it consist of about 20 farmhouses and is a secondary Gassho-zukuri farmhouse accommodation choice for many who failed to reserve a place to stay at Ogimachi.

There is a lookout point for the view of the entire village at a hill just behind the Tourist Information counter at the main entrance car park area. The trail to the lookout point takes about 10-15 minutes hike (during the snowy and slippery season) although the sign only says 5 minutes. I spent my evening at the look out point taking pictures of the beautiful Ainokura village during sunset and after sunset. It was very cold up there.

A farmhouse in Ainokura

A man clearing up the snow accumulated on the roof of the farmhouse

Tough work. Look at the thickness of the snow!!

Sunset in Ainokura

Evening in Ainokura (when the lights are on)

An evening in the beautiful Ainokura

Ainokura at night

Gassho-zukuri farmhouse at night in Ainokura

My trip to this place was a last minute call and as expected, I couldn't find a Gassho-zukuri farmhouse to stay in. However, I was lucky enough to get a place to stay in a local minshuku in Kaimugura, a place between Ainokura and Suganuma. The minshuku is called Yoshinoya, just in case you can't find a place to stay too, you can try this place. The rooms are all in Japanese style with tatami mat and the bathrooms are shared (they are very clean). There is a hot spring like bathroom where you will be taking your bath. The stay was very unique and was an unforgettable experience for me as I celebrated my 2012 new year in this Minshuku. Let me share the photos of the room.

Japanese style room in Yoshinoya Minshuku

Japanese style room

A personal tea area

This concludes the last part of my Shirakawago and Gokayama World Heritage series. I hope you enjoyed all of the articles and pictures, and also find the information shared beneficial.

You can access Part 1 and Part 2 of my World Heritage series by click on the link below:

Part 1: Shirakawago - Ogimachi

Part 2: Shirakawago - Open Air Museum

I would love to hear your comment in the comment section. Feel free to share this article with your friends and family.

World Heritage Part 2: Shirakawago

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:37:00 +0000

Shirakawago Open Air Museum

Welcome to the Part 2 of my World Heritage Shirakawago series. In this episode, I will introduce you the Shirakawago Open Air Museum, located just across the suspension bridge from the Ogimachi village.

To read the Part 1 of this World Heritage series, click here.

I actually returned to Ogimachi on the second day of my trip because I only managed to spend less than 3 hours of my first day there and it wasn't enough to explore The Open Air Museum. I had to leave for the other two World Heritage sites - Suganuma and Ainokura as there were only 4 buses operating a day that connects these 3 world heritage sites. Therefore, I decided that I could come back the next day.

Gassho-zukuri style Restaurants in front of the Open Air Museum

Entry to the Shirakawago Open Air Museum cost 500yen. It exhibits farmhouses that were relocated from nearby villages to Ogimachi to save them from destruction. This museum exhibits about 20 buildings. At the entrance to the Open Air Museum, you will see this huge Gassho-zukuri farmhouse below.

Huge Gassho-Zukuri Farmhouse at the Entrance of the Open Air Museum

And here are images of some of the other buildings captured in the Open Air Museum.

Gassho-zukuri farmhouses in Shirakawago Open Air Museum

Gassho-zukuri farmhouse

A temporary hut for people who have lost their house due to disaster such as an earthquake

Gassho-zukuri farmhouses in the Shirakawago Open Air Museum

A Water Wheel in the Open Air Museum

And before leaving Ogimachi for Takayama (the nearest city 50mins away by bus), I have wandered around the less visited areas of Ogimachi to take more pictures of the World Heritage site.

Gassho-zukuri farmhouse in Ogimachi

Kanda House in Ogimachi

A smaller Gassho-zukuri farmhouse

The Mask!!

A Gassho-zukuri farmhouse in Ogimachi

The Main Street of Ogimachi where you can find local delights

Some pile of timbers found at the front of a farmhouse

Wada House - The biggest farmhouse in Ogimachi, also being the Village Leader's House

The Wada family was one of the wealthiest in the village. They have been leaders of the Ogimachi village for generations and therefore, they have the largest house of the village. The house was often used as a meeting place to discuss village related matters among the villagers and have a big hall to keep many people in. It is now made a museum and visitors can enter the house with an entrance fees of 300yen.

Before leaving Shirakawago, I have used my tripod to take a self-portrait of myself standing in front of the landmark "Three Gassho-Zukuri Farmhouses of Shirakawago". To my surprise, not many tourists were aware about the location of this landmark as it is located at the southern end of the Ogimachi village. One have to walk a distance away from the main tourist areas of the village and pay attention to locate these three nicely positioned Gassho-zukuri farmhouses.

Self-portrait in front of the "Three Gassho-zukuri Farmhouses"

This will end my Shirakawago Ogimachi village coverage. Coming up next will be the other two smaller World Heritage sites - Suganuma and Ainokura. Both of these World Heritage sites were located about 30 minutes and 45 minutes bus ride respectively from Ogimachi village and are located on the Toyama Prefecture instead of the Gifu Prefecture where Ogimachi is located at.

I carry a fairly old Canon 50D camera that does not support video capturing. However, I have found this Shirakawago Ogimachi village video footage on YouTube that I would like to share here. This video will give you a good experience of this place and it also covers the interiors of these Gassho-zukuri farmhouses.

To visit the Part 1 of this World Heritage Shirakawago series, click here.

Update: To read World Heritage Part 3: Suganuma and Ainokura, click here.

I hope you enjoy reading this travel and photography article. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below and remember to recommend this article to your friends and family.

World Heritage Part 1: Shirakawago

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:17:00 +0000

World Heritage - Gassho-zukuri Houses in Shirakawago, Japan.

Hello everyone, finally I'm back. It's been 6 months since I've last posted here. I apologize for my missing in action. I've been very busy during the previous 6 months, preparing for my wedding as well as working on my new house renovation, furnishing and moving in just last December. So, finally everything is done and now i can get back to working on my blog again. The good news is, I've been taking pictures this 6 months, from Seoul in South Korea to Adelaide in Australia. I just need time to process those pictures and share them with you in this blog later.

Before I forget, Happy New Year everyone!! It's 2012 now. This year's new year weekend had been an exciting one for me, as I have finally traveled to one of the World Heritage sites in Japan - Shirakawago. It was more than 8 hours of travelling time from where I am, Kimitsu town, which is located at the south of Tokyo. I actually wanted to visit this place at the end of year 2009, but cancelled the plan due to long travelling hours and expensive travelling cost. This is the second World Heritage sites in Japan that I have visited, after Nikko which I have visited twice in year 2009 and 2010.

Shirakawago viewed from Shiroyama Viewpoint

The Shirakawago and neighboring Gokayama regions line the Shogawa River Valley in the remote mountains that span from Gifu to Toyama Prefectures of Japan. They were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the year 1995, famous for their traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old.

One of the best season to visit Shirakawago is during the Winter. As Shirakawago is located in a mountainous area, it gets a lot of snow fall. The unique Gassho-Zukuri houses will then have their roof covered with snows, forming a fairy-tale like building. Gassho-zukuri means "constructed like hands in prayer", as the farmhouses' steep thatched roofs resemble the hands of Buddhist monks pressed together in prayer. The architectural style developed over many generations and is designed to withstand the large amount of heavy snow. The roofs, made without nails, provided a large attic space used for cultivating silkworms.

Gassho-zukuri farmhouses in Shirakawago

Gassho-zukuri farmhouse

Ogimachi is Shirakawago's largest village and main attraction. It is a 50 minutes bus ride away from the nearest Takayama City, of Gifu Prefecture. Take the Nohi bus from Takayama bus terminal to Shirakawago. It cost 2,400yen one way and 4,300yen for a round trip. For details about the bus time table, click on here to visit the Nohi Bus English website.

To get to Shirakawago, you need to first get to the nearest city - Takayama. You can get there from Tokyo via the bullet train (Shinkansen) or by highway bus, which is a much cheaper option. It cost 6,500yen one way or 11,700yen round trip from Shinjuku Bus Terminal to Takayama and the journey takes 5.5 hours. For complete guide on ways to get to Takayama from Tokyo, click here.

A hut in Ogimachi.

Hut with Persimmon Tree

Gassho-zukuri farmhouse

Gassho-zukuri hut in Ogimachi

Snowman in Shirakawago

Gassho-zukuri farmhouses

A Gassho-zukuri style hut

A suspension bridge across the Shirakawa river

Gassho-zukuri farmhouses

The place was indeed a fairy land. This is only part one of the pictures to share in my visit to Shirakawago. In the coming days and weeks, I will post the Part 2 of Shirakawago visit, then I will also post articles about my visit to the other two World Heritage sites next to Shirakawago, namely Suganuma and Ainokura of Gokayama, which are also popular for their Gassho-zukuri style farmhouses. So, stay tuned for my winter wonderland trip coverage.

Taking pictures with snow in a cold winter can be tricky. The white snow can easily fool your camera into believing that the scenery is too bright, resulting the camera to underexpose your pictures. I have listed a few of my snow photography tips in my earlier post. Click here to go to that post for some winter photography tips.

I hope you enjoyed this article and look forward to my coming posts. Let me know what you think in the comment section. Do you have other Winter Photography tips? Share them with me in the comment section too. All of the above pictures are HDR treated. I hope you like them.

Update: To view World Heritage Part 2: Shirakawago, click here.
Update 2: To view World Heritage Part 3: Suganuma and Ainokura, click here.

Back from USA

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 05:50:00 +0000

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400P

Time flies. Three weeks of training in New York, USA is over and now I am back to Malaysia. The travelling to the other side of the globe (12 hours time difference) was a challenging one. Total time in the plane was more than 20 hours and if I include layover time at the airports, it was more than 24 hours. My flights were from Albany Airport (ALB) to Detroit International Airport (DTW) to Amsterdam International Airport (AMS) and finally to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL). The picture above was the Malaysian Airlines plane that I took from Amsterdam International Airport to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It is a Boeing 747-400P and it is a double-deck aircraft. Despite being a frequent flyer, this was my first time boarding such a huge aircraft. The 12 hours 30 minutes flight was a comfortable one.

While laying over in Amsterdam Airport, I managed to photograph part of the aircraft parking gates. In the below picture, it was a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines aircraft in blue and a DELTA airlines aircraft in white (further away).

Amsterdam International Airport

I apologize for not been able to post much pictures last month. Getting over the jet-lag that haunted me was a pain. If you noticed the new Header Picture at the top of this blog, it was one of the place that I've visited in this trip to US. It's the Ausable Chasm in New York. I will share with you the pictures in the coming posting. Stay tuned!!

Tulips in Albany

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 15 May 2011 21:10:00 +0000

Tulips in Albany, New York

It's Spring in New York!!

Yes, I am now in Albany, New York, attending a 3 weeks company training. A lot have happened in the past few weeks. I was so occupied that I couldn't work on the blog at all. Two days of pre-wedding photography session, more than 24 hours of travelling from Malaysia to New York (on the same day of my marriage registration) and almost a week of jet-lagging. The good news is, I am now a married man. And I am dedicating all the tulips in this article to my dear wife, who hopefully will be reading this article from home. She loves tulips!!

Just for you, my dear wife

It was a last minute call (again). I only got the email requesting me to attend this training 7 days before the actual training start date. As a result, I traveled on the day we got our marriage registration certificate signed and could only make it to the second day of the class. The following few days in US were all about jet-lagging. Sleeping at 6 pm and waking up at 2am everyday. Well, I am doing a little bit better now, sleeping at around 9.30pm and waking up at 5am today.

Surprisingly to me, it's spring time now in New York. It's May. I have always thought it would be the beginning of Summer already. Travelling around Albany (the capital of New York State) has been pleasant, with ambient temperature ranging from around 7 degC to 23 degC and flowers blooming all around the area. Especially tulips, which are blooming in almost everywhere. Even the petrol stations have them planted!!

Tulips in Albany [HDR]

Blooming Tulips

Tulips in Albany

Blooming Tulips [HDR]

While I was surveying for places to visit in the weekend last Friday, I came across articles about Albany Tulips Festival, which was held last weekend, from 06 - 08 May 2011 in Washington Park. Well, I didn't wait for the next day. Immediately after class on Friday, grabbed my camera from the hotel and drove to Washington Park for these beautiful tulips (I knew it's gonna be a rainy weekend). Although it was cloudy that time, the tulips were simply gorgeous!! This is my second time enjoying the blooming of tulips, and again was complimented with cool and gentle breeze.

Tulips in Washington Park, Albany.

Tulips in Albany

My first encounter with Tulips in Purple [HDR]

Tulips everywhere

Purplish Tulips

Red Tulips

Tulips Beauty

Purplish Tulips - dad's favorite

A bee kissing the Tulip flower

Colorful

Tulips in Albany

Tulip with a different feel

A double blooming

Hopefully these Tulips blooming pictures will bring you some Spring season joy, especially to my readers from Malaysia and Singapore, who are experiencing hot and humid summer all year long.

If you're interested to read about my first encounter with tulips in Japan (lots of tulips pictures with blue sky) or would like to learn some tips of photographing tulips, you can access the article by clicking here.

Did you encounter tulips blooming in other part of the world this spring season? Do you have any tulips photographing tips to share? I would love to hear them in the comments section below.

Last but most importantly, I hope she likes the tulips dedicated to her.

==Just Married==

Another Evening in Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:54:00 +0000

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore [HDR]

If you have been following my tweets or is a fan of my facebook page, you probably knew that I went to Singapore again last Tuesday for an assignment in one of the petrochemical plant in Jurong Island, Singapore. And this time, I flew straight from my hometown, from Ipoh to Singapore. Do you know that Firefly of Malaysia Airlines fly between Ipoh and Singapore twice a day? Although it was a bumpy flight (turbo-propeller plane), it saved me plenty of time without having to travel to KLIA by taxi for a flight from the nation's international airport (minimum 3 hours ground travel from Ipoh to KLIA).

So I reached Singapore a lot earlier than I previously did, about 3.5 hours from home to the hotel room and guess what, I went on a photography outing that very evening, before I started working on the next day. This is odd as most of my previous photography outings were after the completion of my assignment.

Sunset in Singapore

An Evening in Singapore

The Helix

I surveyed the Singapore map on Google Map, looked for the direction of sunset and searched for some highly rated pictures taken in Singapore on Flickr in preparation for this outing. As this was my second trip to Singapore in the same month, things were a lot easier for me. I knew exactly where I am heading to for the best sunset picture. I came out from Raffles Place MRT station, walked passed Merlion Park, went across the Esplanade Drive, walked along Raffles Avenue and reached a DNA liked pedestrian bridge - The Helix. Along my walking journey, I saw a lot of people setting up their DSLR camera, attempting to photograph Singapore's sunset. I must admit that I almost wanted to stop by and take a few shots every time I saw those photographers, but I knew that I only have this one evening for the best shot. So, I went on without stopping to my final destination, The Helix to photograph the golden moment of Singapore's Sunset.

After the golden moment, it was time to capture Singapore's beautiful nightscape. I captured them along my walk back from Marina Bay Sands to Raffles Place MRT station.

Singapore's Nightscape from Marina Bay Sands area

The Helix and Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Nightscape of Marina Bay Sands

The Art Science Museum

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Singapore's Nightscape

If you happen to be at the Marina Bay Sands waterfront, it is worth to check out this spectacular 'The Light and Water Wonder Full Show' that will start at 8.00pm and 9.30pm every night and with an additional 11.00pm show every Friday and Saturday night. To access their official website, click here.

Some photography tips that I wanted to share here:
1. Always survey for the best location to photograph prior to the trip. Use resources like google map, flickr, etc. This way you don't waste time walking around.
2. The golden moment is when the sun have already set, where you see beautiful yellowish and purplish skyline and at the same time, the buildings have started to lit up the lights.
3. Always carry a tripod for nightscape photography.
4. Composition is the key to top class nightscape pictures. Think of how would you get the best composition before hitting the shutter button.
5. Although wide angle lens is best for landscape photography, the sharpness at the sides of the picture tends to deteriorate when you are at the widest focal length.

Note that all pictures in this article are HDR Pictures, a combination of 3 bracketed shots. I noticed that to produce a better quality nightscape HDR picture, taking bracketed shots is a must to get the most light details for the final HDR product. Nightscape HDR picture created from a single RAW file is often plague with noise, caused by the lack of light details.

To access my earlier Singapore Nightscape article with pictures taken during my first trip to Singapore this month, click here. Note the difference in composition and attractiveness of the pictures posted in that article. Those pictures were taken with less pre-outing preparation, compared to the ones in this article. Do you see how important the preparations are in taking better pictures? Do you do pre-outing preparations too? Share with me some of the preparation works you do in the comments section below.

Sakura in Kisarazu

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:25:00 +0000

Sakura in Kisarazu

Did I tell you that I was assigned to an installation project in Japan for more than 2 years? Now you see why I have so many pictures of Japan. I stayed long enough that the company actually moved me from the hotel to a house in a city called Kisarazu, or 木更津 in Japanese, about 20 minutes drive away from the site. Kisarazu is about 1 hour drive distance from Tokyo, and is the other end of Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line. The Aqua-Line is a highway that connects Kawasaki and Kisarazu, across the Tokyo Bay ocean, with part of it under the sea in a tunnel and the other part above sea.

My house in Kisarazu was a perfect one, where there is a canal at the back of the house, with Sakura trees lining up along the canal. I was there in last year's Sakura season. It was awesome. In this article, I will share with you sceneries with Sakura that you won't find commonly on the internet, not like the ones you see in Tokyo or Kyoto.

Scenery of Sakura in Kisarazu

Sakura trees along the canal

Sakura in Kisarazu [HDR]

Did you find the difference here compared to the sceneries of sakura taken in Tokyo area? Yes, lesser people. In fact, a lot lesser. I like it this way more because firstly, it was a lot more quiet and most importantly, I just need to walk out of the house to enjoy this fantastic scenery. With gentle cold breeze blowing towards my face, it was so relaxing. I will never forget the calmness I felt that time.

Sakura in Kisarazu

A bird with Sakura flowers

Young Japanese couple enjoying the Sakura season together

Here, people enjoyed walking along the canal, picnicking with the family by the canal and even had a mini concert. To me, Sakura without the crowd was what I enjoyed most in spring season that year.

Walking along the canal with Sakura trees

Mini concert in one of the weekend

Picnicking with family

Enjoying the Sakura season from inside the car

Enjoying the Sakura Season from inside the car

Sakura in Kisarazu

Sakura blooming will normally last for about 2 - 3 weeks. At the end of the Sakura season, you will see what some called "Rain of sakura flowers", where you will find the petals floating in the air when wind blows. I even found some petals on the windshield of my car!! The following few pictures were taken during those period of times, where the canal was covered with petals of sakura flower.

Sakura petals covered the canal

Petals on the ground

Sakura in Kisarazu

Sakura season coming to an end

I hope you enjoyed my very last article about Sakura in Japan. These are all the pictures I have. If you're interested to see my previous articles about Sakura in Tokyo, you can access them here by clicking on the following links:

1. Ueno Park and Koishikawa Korakuen

2. Chidorigafuchi & Meguro River

3. Yasukuni Shrine, Shinjuku Gyoen & Inokashira Park

Did you went to Japan this year for Sakura viewing (Hanami)? If yes, how did it went? I would love to hear your experience in the comment section below. Did you capture some beautiful sakura pictures? Share with us, send them to my mailbox and I will publish them here.

Night in Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 14:38:00 +0000

Singapore's Night Scenery

Two weeks ago, I was in Singapore, on a short assignment (another emergency call). I was working late until 3 a.m. in the first night and did not have the chance to shoot some beautiful night sceneries in Singapore. On the second night, which was my last night in that trip, I had dinner with some colleagues until around 9.30pm and only managed to reach hotel at around 10pm. Upon reaching my hotel, I got a Singapore map from the hotel's concierge, went to the room, put down my bag and grabbed my camera and tripod. And of course, I changed out my uncomfortable safety boots too because I know I will do a lot of walking after that. My mission, Singapore's Night Sceneries.

Without hesitating, I got myself to the nearest MRT station and got off at Raffles Place station, which is within walking distance to Merlion Park, to enjoy the spectacular night scenery as you see above.

I have been to the Merlion Park in about two years ago, a few months after I joined this company as a field engineer. At that time, there wasn't this new building in Singapore - Marina Bay Sands, which is claimed to be the world's most expensive standalone casino property.

The new Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Marina Bay Sands & Singapore Flyer

I had only found out the way to Marina Bay Sands the next day, and therefore missed the opportunity to photograph this new resort in close proximity at night. I have saw some very impressive night photographs of this new building on the internet. Hopefully the next time I'm assigned to a job in Singapore, I will have time to get close to the resort compound and take some cool night pictures. The following are some of the more commonly seen night sceneries of Singapore. All of the photograph in this article are HDR pictures.

Esplanade - Theaters on the Bay, Singapore.

The Merlion statue in Merlion Park was under maintenance

One Fullerton

The Fullerton Hotel

Maybank Tower & The Fullerton Hotel, Singapore.

I walked back to the hotel that night as I was told that the MRT ends it's operation at midnight. It was about 45 minutes walk and I was back to the hotel at around 1 a.m.

The next day, after submitting my job report in the afternoon, I went out for more travel photography session in Singapore City before flying back to Malaysia in the evening. And this time, I got near to Marina Bay Sands. I will share those day time photographs with you in one of the coming articles. At the mean time, if you've noticed the new blog header picture, that is one of them. A preview maybe? So, stay tuned.

I believe a lot of my readers are from Singapore. Can you suggest some fabulous places in Singapore that I can photograph the next time I go there? It would be great if you can tell the best time to photograph them too (daytime or nighttime). Looking forward to your suggestions in the Comments Section below.

By the way, keanpoh Photographer have now joined Twitter!! You can follow me on @keanpoh to get instant updates. You can also click on the Twitter button on the Wibiya bar below to follow. Remember to Retweet your favorite articles too. I need your support to increase readership of this blog.

Update: My second trip to Singapore after this one - Another Evening in Singapore.

Tulips in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 07:23:00 +0000

Tulips in Sakura, Japan

To avoid confusion, I have omitted the name of the location where pictures of these wonderful tulips were taken in the title of this article. The title would have been Sakura's Tulips. Yes, you hear me right, Sakura. It is the name of a city in Chiba prefecture, in Japanese it is written as 佐倉市.

A lot of travelers who transit in Narita Airport for more than half a day are eager to know how to spend their time while in Japan. Some would hope to visit Tokyo but it would be an hour away from the airport by train and the city is too big to be explored in half a day. What if I tell you that there is a place where you can enjoy beautiful Tulips and it is located just three train stations away from JR Narita Airport Terminal 2 station?

If you are in Japan from early April to the end of April, you can stop by the JR Sakura Station on the JR Narita line, just three stations away from Narita Airport Terminal 2 station and take a short taxi ride to a place named Sakura Furusato Square 佐倉ふるさと広場. There you can find more than 400,000 tulips bloom planted around a Dutch windmill named De Liefde (Dutch for The Love), built by a Dutch Millwright Company "Verbij Hoogmade BV" to symbol the Japan-Netherland friendship.

De Liefde Windmill in Sakura Furusato Square

Tulips and Windmill

Yellow Tulips

Tulips and Windmill

Sakura Furusato Square Tulips Festival

Tulips

Tulips in Love

One of my favorite shot of Tulips

My shot of the day

Tulips field

Tulips and reflection

Tulips field

Blooming Red Tulips

Tulips and Reflection

You can also pickup your favorite tulips by yourself

Tulips

Tulips in HDR

Yellow Tulips

White Tulips

Furusato Square in HDR

Sakura Tulips Festival

Tulips in Orange

Sakura Furosato Square

Some tips for photographing Tulips.
1. Use an Ultra Wide Angle lens to get as much tulips as possible into your picture.
2. Get your camera low, as low as the level of the tulips flower.
3. Get there early. The gentle morning lighting are perfect to photograph tulips and there will be less chances to have people appearing surprisingly in your picture.
4. Use a CPL (Circular Polarizer) to filter away unwanted reflections from the tulips.
5. Look for water to create a reflection for your tulips.
6. Remember to photograph the entire tulips field.
7. If you have an assistant to help you, get a black/white piece of paper to make it the background of the tulips before photographing. This will block away unwanted distractions from other tulips in the background and create a clean picture of just a few tulips only. Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury to have an assistant to help me with this. Try it and let me know how it went.

If you require more information, you can contact Sakura Tourism Association at +81-43-486-6000 or click here to visit their website.

Do you have any beautiful Tulips pictures to share with us? Send them over to keanpoh.chua@gmail.com and I will publish them here. If you have any tips for photographing tulips that I have not mentioned here, or you have interesting information about tulips, I would love to hear them in the comments section below.

Update: Tulips in Albany

KLIA

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:43:00 +0000

KLIA - Entrance to Departure Gates

Here I am, again in KLIA, this time departing to Singapore on a short assignment. Left home as early as 3am and is now waiting to board the flight.

One thing about working as a field engineer, is that you get calls like this, emergency, need you at site A.S.A.P, travel now, thingy. Although I am fully prepared for this time's urgent call, the feeling to leave the family out of a sudden does not feel right. I hate to look into my mum's eyes and say goodbye, I'll be back very soon, please take care, although I knew that everything is gonna be alright once I step out of the door.

Well, I'm out of the door now, and I feel fine and confident again. Hopefully this short assignment goes well and I can snap some shots of Singapore to share with you guys. Saw this interesting symmetrical sight at the entrance in the airport to departure gates, just before passing the immigration counters, and thought it would make a good HDR. I have to say Malaysia's KLIA is pretty beautiful compared to many other airports in the world. What do you think? I would love to hear your comments.

Shibuya Night

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 11:28:00 +0000

At the busiest cross junction in Shibuya, Tokyo [HDR Picture]

After the previous posting of Sakura In Tokyo - Yasukuni Shrine, Shinjuku Gyoen & Inokashira Park article, I was busy reading, researching and learning about ways to improve and optimize this blog. If you have not noticed, the layout and sidebar arrangements of this blog have changed quite a bit. The loading time of the blog have improved, and of course, my favorite changes are the introduction of the header picture and Most Viewed This Week section. I hope you like them.

While doing studies about website optimization, I have also been exposed to some articles about internet marketing strategy, which includes the new FREE Newsletter Subscription Services that you see as an addition to my existing Menu Bar above. I have signed-up to an Email Marketing Company - MailChimp, and have learned about ways to manage my subscribers via emails. Those signup forms, confirmation emails and RSS Feed Emails were customized by myself. If you like my photography work here, why not sign up for my Free email subscription services? All you need to do is to enter your email address and verify the confirmation email sent to you. After that, all new articles (including new pictures) from this blog will be sent to your mailbox directly, without needing to even visit this website itself. To subscribe for free, click here.

Furthermore, the Google Adsense Advertisements on this blog have just been optimized to display more relevant ads on my blog and hopefully should get better in the next couple of weeks.

Alright, let's talk a little bit about the picture above. The picture featured in this articles was taken recently in January 2011 at one of the busiest cross junction in Shibuya, Tokyo. As stated on the caption of the picture, it was a High Dynamic Range Picture and was created from three (3) bracketed shots with different exposures. I have taken a lot of shots that day from this cross junction, and probably have spent more than an hour in that area. For this shot, I established my tripod by the side of the road and stood there for more than 30 minutes, waiting for the best moment to photograph (I remember there was a car stopping in front of my camera for almost 20 minutes, just to drop his wife to do some quick shopping and the car was there all time. However, I waited patiently for the car to leave and of course was cursing the driver for blocking my view inside me, hahaha). I hope you enjoyed this picture and since it is the only picture in this article, I hope your eyes will land longer on it, checking out every detail of the picture.

Do leave me any comments about the picture or even about the blog. It will even be better if you have suggestions that I can look into to optimize and improve this blog. I hope you enjoyed your time here.

Have a nice day!!

Sakura in Tokyo - Yasukuni Shrine, Shinjuku Gyoen & Inokashira Park

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:25:00 +0000

Sakura Trees around Yasukuni Shrine

Entrance to Yasukuni Shrine

This is my third article about Sakura viewing spots in Tokyo. In this article, I will introduce three more fantastic sakura viewing locations, namely Yasukuni Shrine, Shinjuku Gyoen and Inokashira Park.

To access my previous articles on Sakura in Tokyo, click the titles below:

1. Sakura in Tokyo - Ueno Park & Koishikawa Korakuen

2. Sakura in Tokyo - Chidorigafuchi & Meguro River

Due to the current radioactive scare caused by the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, I believe many have cancelled their Sakura viewing trip to Japan this year. I hope that the nuclear crisis can be overcome soon and people can start visiting Japan again next year. While praying for the recovery from the disaster suffered by Japan, these Sakura in Tokyo articles and pictures will serve as an alternative for Hanami (sakura viewing) online. Note that these pictures were taken in Tokyo last year, while actual sakura has only started to bloom at the time this articles is written. They are fore-casted to reach full bloom in about one week from now.

Yasukuni Shrine 靖国神社

Located in Central Tokyo, Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the soldiers and others who died on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. This is also the controversial shrine for the enshrinement of World War II war criminals. The shrine was founded in 1869 as Tokyo Shokonsha, and was renamed Yasukuni Shrine in 1879 where Yasukuni means "peaceful country" in Japanese. There are about one thousand cherry trees planted here.

Yasukuni Shrine is just a short walk from Kudanshita Station, which can be reached by taking the Hanzomon, Tozai and Shinjuku Subway Lines. It is also located opposite of another popular sakura viewing spot, Chidorigafuchi as introduced in my previous sakura viewing article. So, plan to spend more time here as there are two popular sakura viewing locations for you to visit. Another advice is to be there early as these spots will be flooded by both visitors and locals especially during the full bloom period. There is no entrance fees charged to visit Yasukuni Shrine.

Entrance of Yasukuni Shrine as seen from Chidorigafuchi

Statue of Omura Masujiro at the entrance of Yasukuni Shrine

Entrance to Yasukuni Shrine

Yasukuni Shrine

Cherry trees of Yasukuni Shrine

Sakura trees in Yasukuni Shrine

Japanese lady taking picture of a Sakura flower with her mobile phone

A child having a close look at the Sakura flowers

Shinjuku Gyoen 新宿御苑

Shinjuku Gyoen is one of Tokyo's largest park and features more than a thousand sakura trees of more than a dozen different species. With an entrance fees of 200yen for adults, it is one of the most popular hanami (flower viewing) spot in Tokyo where it will be crowded by early April each year. There are three types of garden in Shinjuku Gyoen, an English landscape garden with wide lawns, a traditional Japanese garden with teahouses and a symmetrically arranged, formal French garden.

Shinjuku Gyoen has three gates. The Shinjuku Gate is a 10 minute walk east from the "New South Exit" of JR Shinjuku Station, while Sendagaya Gate is a 5 minute walk from JR Sendagaya Station on the local Chuo/Sobu Line. If you like taking the subway, Shinjukugyoenmae Station on the Marunouchi Subway Line, is a short walk from either the Okido or Shinjuku Gate. My recommendation - get ready to walk a lot in this huge park. While it will be packed with people, it should not cause a lot of trouble enjoying the sakura flowers as the park is very spacious, enough for one to walk freely.

Shinjuku Gyoen

Hanami in Shinjuku Gyoen

Shinjuku Gyoen flooded by people

Sakura tree in Shinjuku Gyoen

Sakura flowers at full bloom from Shinjuku Gyoen

Inokashira Park 井の頭恩賜公園
Inokashira Park is considered a gift from the emperor to the general public. Located in Mitaka, western Tokyo, it is a popular hanami spot for locals. A pond is featured in the park where people can rent a boat to get close to the cherry trees.

The park is located south of Kichijoji Station of JR Chuo Line, at a 5 minutes walking distance. The entrance to the park is free. My recommendation - Although the park is not as spacious as Shinjuku Gyoen, the crowd will not cause much problem for one to view sakura trees. So, you do not need to rush to this place at the beginning of the day. Go to those places that will be extremely crowded first to avoid the peak hours, then visit here later of the day.

A pedestrian bridge to cross the pond in Inokashira Park

Hanami from the rowing boat

Hanami from the pond in Inokashira Park

Cherry Trees along the shores in Inokashira Park

Sakura trees in Inokashira Park

With this, I end my Sakura in Tokyo series of articles. I hope you benefited from my recommendations and enjoyed my pictures. If you like them, please share these articles with your friends and family.

Coming up, I will share some of the sakura pictures taken along a canal behind my previously rented house in Kisarazu town. Stay tuned and have a nice sakura season all around the globe, even if you are not in Japan.

Update: Sakura in Kisarazu

3rd Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:33:00 +0000

Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2011

A few hours before I left Japan for Kuala Lumpur, I came across a friend's posting on Facebook about the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Putrajaya, Malaysia which were held from the day I returned home on 17 March 2011 to the weekend. The timing was just right for me and since I have always wanted to photograph such a beautiful event, I had decided to stay back in Kuala Lumpur area for the weekend.

It was a Saturday morning, that I woke up as early as 6am to get ready for the event, which started with Hot Air Balloon Flight from 7am to 9am.

Hot air balloons getting ready to take off at sunrise

Just as I reached the venue at around 7.15am, the participants were setting up their balloons, which started with blowing ambient air into the balloons and as they got into shape, the burners were ignited to heat up the air. As the air temperature inside the balloon increases, they become lighter than the ambient air outside of the balloon and thus, creates a lifting force upwards. The amount of lift provided by the hot air balloon depends mainly on the difference in air temperature inside and outside of the balloon.

Burners that were used to increase the air temperature in a hot air balloon

Burners in action on a hot air balloon

Setting up the hot air balloons and getting ready to take off

Hot air balloon is a registered aircraft navigated by licensed pilot. It is made of Ripstop Nylon and normally flies at an altitude of 10,000ft above sea level.

The Woodrow C. Greenleaf Hot Air Balloon

The Cathay Pacific and Star Hot Air Balloons

The Country EURE Hot Air Balloon

The big Micheline Bibendum Balloon from Belgium

The popular Doraemon Balloon

First batch of Hot Air Balloons took off

The Micheline Bibendum Balloon

First batch of Hot Air Balloons took off

As the balloons took off, I followed them on foot, photographing them with the beautiful buildings and landscapes of Putrajaya. I believe many went to Seri Wawasan bridge to photograph the take off of these balloons as I walked towards the Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque instead. To my surprise, I was alone there and here are the pictures I got - Hot Air Balloons with the Monorail Suspension Bridge and beautiful reflection on the lake.

Hot Air Balloons with Putrajaya Monorail Suspension Bridge

The weather turned cloudy after the first take off. I was lucky enough to photograph a few balloons with clear blue sky early in the morning. Later, I returned to the fiesta ground and found an interesting subject to photograph - small balloons for sale!!

Small balloons for sale

Another interesting scenery I got that day was this picture, which somehow showed that the Clown balloon dislike Doraemon showing his backside to him.

The clown balloon was in bad mood

Soon after that, I walked towards the Seri Wawasan bridge, hoping to get some good photographs of the entire hot balloon fiesta arena but the outcomes were not satisfactory, mainly due to the disturbed lake water and the cloudy weather.

Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2011 from Seri Wawasan Bridge

Zoom in of the Hot Air Balloon Event Ground

Later that night, I was there again in Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque to photograph the rather short and disappointing Fireworks Display. Maybe my expectation was too high as few of the last fireworks display event that I attended were in Japan, which lasted for at least half an hour.

Putrajaya night scenery while waiting for the fireworks to fire

One of the few presentable photograph of the fireworks display that night

One lesson learned from this fireworks display photography session, is to survey the wind direction prior to the launch of the fireworks. One should stand in the direction where wind blows from your back so that the camera comes first, then fireworks and lastly the smoke. I was careless that night to forget about this, and ended up photographing more smoke than fireworks. To read more of my fireworks photography tips, click here.

Note: 18 of the 21 pictures in this article are HDR pictures. The non-HDR pictures are "The big Micheline Bibendum Balloon from Belgium" and the last two night scenery pictures.

Leaving Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 05:23:00 +0000

I wanted to use the word evacuation for the titled of this article, but I think the word will mislead the readers about the current condition in Japan.

On 17 March 2011, I have left Japan and have already been back to Malaysia for the past 4 days. It was a difficult decision as the power plant that I was working at has not been started yet but I have to leave the Japanese people at this very difficult time. I felt so sorry for the move but the few of us foreign engineers have decided to leave the country for our own safety, partially due to the radiation level concern and mainly due to the scare of being trapped in Japan if a panic strikes the region where we were at. Foreigners like us do not speak Japanese language well, so it will be extremely difficult and dangerous for us if there is an evacuation order or a panic that strikes places like Tokyo. It will be too late to leave by then. Thus, I have decided to support the startup from home in Malaysia.

The flights out of Japan were mostly fully booked while the few seats left available are of double or triple the usual price. I managed to get a flight out from Narita Airport on Vietnam Airlines, but needed to transit in Ho Chi Minh City before arriving in Kuala Lumpur.

My drive to Narita Airport as early as 5.30am was a slow one as the speed limit throughout the highway was reduced to 80km/h due to the fear of car skidding if there is a shake on the road caused by an earthquake. Along the journey to Narita airport, I found that the petrol stations were all in long queue, as told by my Japanese colleague earlier. The queue was so long that I could only see the queue but not the actual location of the petrol station.

Narita Airport was crowded as expected. The queue to check-in my luggage at Narita Airport was crazily long. The queue to my check-in counter at row <I> was as long as to the side of row <M>. It took me one and a half hours to check-in my luggage.

Narita Airport on 17 March 2011

Crowded Narita Airport

Now that I have reached home safely in Malaysia, I am supporting the site in Japan remotely as much as I can as this is the least I can do to help them at this very difficult time. I wish them luck in getting the unit started and adding 500MW into their national grid. We know the 500MW means a lot to the people especially during this cold weather in Japan. I also hope that the nuclear plants in Fukushima can successfully be cooled down as soon as possible, bringing the end to this nuclear radiation scare and I will then be able to return to Japan and support the startup.

To read about my previous postings on the Earthquake, click the links below:
1. March 11, Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
2. Earthquake & Tsunami Aftermath On A Monday in Japan

Earthquake & Tsunami Aftermath On A Monday in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:40:00 +0000

Kimitsu-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan. - It's Monday, and a lot of people wonder if I need to get to work on this day after the disaster last Friday that killed more than a thousand people. Yes, I did get to work, everyone at site did, although I heard that there are offices in Tokyo that are closed today.

Today is Blackout day, a scheduled one. Due to the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the nuclear plants in Fukushima, Japan is now suffering from power shortages. As such, people in Japan have to share the usage of electrical power and will each experience a three hours power outage. When I login to my Facebook account just now, I saw this message:

==================================================================================

"Japan Earthquake Information - Updated Mar 14, 8:05AM

Scheduled Blackout
There will be a scheduled blackout (power outage) starting the morning of 3/14 in Tokyo, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka.
Areas will be divided into 5 groups and each group will experience about 3 hours of power outage.

Please refer to the TEPCO Homepage (as of now, the list is only provided in Japanese) to find out which group you are in and what time the power outage will occur in your group.

Train companies have announced that there will be irregular operation, including out of service hours. Summary here.

JR | Tokyo Metro | Toei Subway/Bus | Tokyu | Odakyu | Keio | Tobu | Keikyu | Keisei

Major out of services are: Tokaido Line (all day), Yokosuka Line (all day), Yokohama Line (all day), Odakyu will only operate between Kyodo to Shinjyuku (all day), Keio will only operate between Chofu and Shinjyuku (during morning and evening rush hours).

The Facebook website will not be affected by this blackout.

About this box: Facebook uses this box to provide information to foreigners and visitors in Japan for the duration of the current crisis."

==================================================================================

I am not sure if everyone gets this message or it is only for people who login through an IP address from Japan, but I think this is very useful at this difficult time in Japan. Kudos to Facebook!! If you think this information might be useful to your friends, just hit the Recommend button above or below this article to post it to your Facebook wall.

As described in my earlier posting about the earthquake on March 11, I am a field engineer who is currently working on an outage in a TEPCO thermal power plant in Chiba. When I get to site today and visited the TEPCO office, I was shocked to realize the absence of light in the office. It was dark and I thought the office must be under-going some electrical panel maintenance work until I was told that they are actually trying to reduce electrical power usage so that more people in other parts of Japan can have a share of the power. Only laptops and computers were powered in their office. Although I know that this measure will only reduce a minimum amount of energy consumption, these people have immediately won my utmost respect to them. I went back to our office and we started switching off our lights too.

Today is a busy day for most of us. The plant is undergoing an outage and will not be scheduled to startup for at least another month. However, due to the power shortage, people here have determined to work extra hours to get the unit back into service and pump in another 500 MegaWatts into the national grid. We know that this 500MW is essential and can save lives. The startup target date has now been brought forward, for at least a week and everyone is working hard to achieve that. People have been making phone calls all day to expedite the delivery of materials, mechanical engineers have been working extra hours to assemble the unit (I have not seen them in the site office since morning until 8pm just now except lunch time) and I have been doing preparation works for the coming startup. I have to say that this is the first time I felt important, that my work can actually save people from cold and hunger, and bring light into the darkness. I am proud to be in the team and unless there is absolute danger that threatens my life, I will stay here and get the unit started up.

After work today, while I was looking for dinner, I found that the entire shopping mall was in darkness. I believe it was closed earlier to conserve energy. On my way driving back to hotel, I somehow felt that the streets and surroundings were darker. When I reached the hotel, I am surprised to find that they too have switched off part of the hotel's lighting to conserve energy. Therefore, I have decided to join the party by switching on only one light bulb when I get into my room!!

Today also marked the second explosion that happened in another unit of Fukushima Nuclear Plant. I do hope the nuclear radiation can be contained and do us no harm, as described by the officials. Hope that the worst is over.

Update: There is an update from the Facebook notification box for Tuesday's Scheduled Blackout. It is as below:
=========================================================================
"Japan Earthquake Information - Updated Mar 15, 0:45AM

Scheduled Blackout
There may be scheduled blackout in Tokyo, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka today.
Areas will be divided into 5 groups and each group may experience about 3 hours of power outage.

Please refer to the TEPCO Homepage (as of now, the list is only provided in Japanese) to find out which group you are in and what time the power outage will occur in your group.

The list has been updated in the last 24 hours. Please check the list for the latest groupings.

Train Operation Information
There will be limited train operation today. Please refer to below links for the latest information.

JR | Metro | Toei | Tokyu | Odakyu | Keio | Tobu | Keikyu | Keisei | Seibu

The Facebook website will not be affected by this blackout."

==================================================================================

You can also access the article about my experience of the Earthquake on March 11 by clicking here.

Update2: Leaving Japan.

Sakura in Tokyo - Chidorigafuchi & Meguro River

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:44:00 +0000

This is my second posting about Sakura in Tokyo. In the previous article, I have introduced Ueno Park and Koishikawa Korakuen. You can access the previous article here.

Due to the recent major earthquake and tsunami that struck North-East Japan on 11 March 2011, this posting has been delayed. I wish all of the affected victims the best of luck in recovering their homes and loved ones.

If you wonder what is the current condition in Japan and is it fine to visit Japan at this moment, you can visit this webpage for a more detailed information about the effect of the disaster on the tourism industry in Japan by clicking here.

Back to the cherry blossom. This article will introduce to you two more beautiful sakura viewing spot in Tokyo, Japan - namely Chidorigafuchi 千鳥ヶ淵 and Meguro River 目黒川.

Chidorigafuchi 千鳥ヶ淵

Meguro River 目黒川

Chidorigafuchi 千鳥ヶ淵
Chidorigafuchi is the northern part of the moat of Tokyo Imperial Palace. You can walk the line of cherry trees while enjoying the cherry trees on the opposite bank of the moat, at the palace side. If you want to get really close to the cherry trees, you can also rent a rowing boat to enjoy the Sakura flowers from the water. Chidorigafuchi is just across the street from Yasakuni Shrine. It can be access by getting off the Kudanshita Station on the Hanzomon, Tozai and Shinjuku Subway Lines.

Chidorigafuchi, sakura at early bloom on March 28, 2010

Walking along the tunnel of Sakura trees - early bloom

Tunnel of Sakura Trees

Sakura trees at Chidorigafuchi

Entering Chidorigafuchi from the Gate of the Imperial Palace

One advice for visiting Chidorigafuchi is to go there very early in the morning to avoid the crowd especially during full bloom period. This is a very popular sakura viewing venue and it can be packed with tons of people, potentially affecting you mood to enjoy the beautiful flowers.

The crowd at Chidorigafuchi during full bloom period on 03 April 2010

Boat rowing at Chidarigafuchi

Sakura viewing on the rowing boat at Chidarigafuchi

The crowd during full bloom in Chidorigafuchi

Meguro River 目黒川
Meguro river has about 800 cherry trees lined up on both sides of the Meguro River bank. Here, you can walk along the river, enjoying the beautiful sakura flowers and at the same time, try out some local foods that are available along the river. There are shops and restaurants along the river. The trees will be lit up in the evening during the Nakameguro Sakura Festival. I have been to Meguro River twice and had not met with a very huge crowd like the ones I had in Chidorigafuchi. So my advice is to put this location as your third or fourth Sakura viewing location of the day. Meguro river can be accessed by getting off at Naka-Meguro station on the Hibiya Subway Line.

Sakura trees along the banks of Meguro River

Lanterns during the Nakameguro Sakura Festival

Train with Sakura from Meguro River

Evening Lighting of the Sakura Trees at Meguro River

Meguro River in the evening

Lantern for Nakameguro Sakura Festival

Nakameguro Sakura Festival

In the next posting, I will put up the final 3 Sakura viewing venues around Tokyo. So, stay tuned. I hope you enjoyed my Sakura series.

Coming up next...

Click here to access my first article of Sakura in Tokyo - Ueno Park & Koishikawa Korakuen.

Update: Click here to access my third article of Sakura in Tokyo - Yasukuni Shrine, Shinjuku Gyoen & Inokashira Park.

Update 2: Sakura in Kisarazu

March 11, Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 02:42:00 +0000

Kimitsu-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan - It has been more than 24 hours since the 8.9 scale earthquake struck North-Eastern part of Japan, causing tsunami of 10 meters that destroyed homes and killed believed to be more than a thousand people. It was indeed a very sad day in Japan - March 11, 2011.

This will be one of my very rare post that will have no picture in it. I want to share my experience in this earthquake.

It was a Friday evening, at 2.46pm Japan Local Time. I was working at a Thermal Power Plant in Futtsu, Japan. At that time, I was just done with checking my email in the site office and was getting ready to go to the turbine deck to checkout some instrumentation before attending a daily meeting at 3.30pm. Just when I was getting ready, the office floor suddenly moved sideways and the movement got stronger and stronger. We immediately ran down the office building to an open space carpark just by the office. We couldn't stand still on our feet. The earth was moving sideways (left right front back) and we had to move our legs to keep our balance. The cars parked at the parking area were shaking too. It lasted for more than 3 minutes, and instantly we knew that this is a big one, a special one, unlike the ones we had in Japan that will usually only last for a few seconds.

People who were working at site in the turbine building stopped work and evacuated the area. Everyone was instructed to return to their office and was prohibited from entering the turbine building. It was about 30 minutes later that we felt the second quake, which I think was stronger than the first one as I could hear the items on the table trembling when I was on my way running out of the office, for the second time. The Japanese colleagues were all putting on their safety helmet in the second evacuation from the office. All of them were seen using their mobile phones to watch the TV news.

After the second shock, the following ones were minor after-shocks that did not seemed to end. I am lucky enough to only suffer from minor sea-sick caused by the after-shocks. My area of Futtsu and Kimitsu were not hit by the tsunami nor suffer from any visible destruction caused by the mammoth earth quake. However, the streets are quiet as everyone stayed in the house watching news about the disaster. The phone lines were out but were restored at around 11.30pm that night. The train system around Tokyo region was reported to be in total shutdown, including the ones opposite of my hotel, Kimitsu train station which was also closed that night. As most of the people in Japan gets to work by the public transportation, they were now stuck in their workplace, many seen sitting and waiting at the train stations in Tokyo. The hotels were reported to be fully occupied too.

On Day 2, rescue efforts continued while the main concern shifted to the nuclear plants in Fukushima, about 250km north of Tokyo and my area, which were reported to suffer from a cooling system failure. An explosion at the Daiichi Nuclear Plant were seen on a video footage in the afternoon raised more concern of a radioactive leakage. Reports have also said that the operators are now using seawater to cool the reactor, a move that showed the intention to scrap the facility in the future. However, it is believed that a partial meltdown have already occurred. Hopefully they managed to cool down the reactor to prevent another major nuclear disaster. I wonder how far can the radioactive leakage reach.

Although it's Day 3 on a Sunday, the after-shocks can still be felt, but not as frequent as the first day. One actually woke me up today. Shelves at the convenient stores were partially emptied due to re-stocking difficulties. Again, all attention will be focused on the nuclear reactors today.

Here are some YouTube videos of the earthquake and tsunami captured and shared by people.

Update: Earthquake & Tsunami Aftermath On A Monday in Japan.
Update2: Leaving Japan.

Sakura in Tokyo - Ueno Park & Koishikawa Korakuen

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:11:00 +0000

Sakura or Cherry Blossom in Japan

Sakura is the term for Cherry Blossom in Japan. With the Sakura season coming soon by the end of March to early April, I am posting some of my Sakura pictures taken last year and sharing some of the best places to view Sakura in Tokyo, Japan. The 2011 Sakura forecast can be accessed here.

This post recommends two of the best places in Tokyo to view Sakura, namely the famous Ueno Park and Koishikawa Korakuen. More Sakura viewing locations will be made available in my coming postings in March 2011. So, stay tuned and bookmark this website if you are interested to know the best locations in Tokyo area for Sakura viewing. Remember to LIKE our Facebook fan page to get the latest update on my postings right at your fingertips.

Sakura in Ueno Park, Tokyo

Sakura season happens at the end of March to early April each year in Tokyo area, Japan. I would say if you are in Tokyo on the 1st of April to 3rd April, you will almost be guaranteed to a spectacular Sakura viewing experience. However, it will also depends on the weather as strong winds and storms can easily blow away the Sakura flowers off the trees.

I was in Japan last year during the Sakura season and I have been to Tokyo twice for Sakura viewing. The first time was on 28 March 2010 and the second time on 03 April 2010. I would say the full bloom was on the second trip. I will show you the comparison between early bloom and full bloom Sakura in the pictures below.

Ueno Park

Ueno Park is a large public park located in the Northern part of Tokyo. It is one of the most popular location in Tokyo for Sakura viewing each year. It can be accessed easily by getting off at JR Ueno Station, exit at the Park Exit. More information on Ueno Park can be accessed here.

My recommendation on visiting Ueno Park is to go there very early in the morning, maybe at around 7.30am - 8.30am to avoid huge crowds especially if you are planning to take pictures with the beautiful Sakura. You will not want to be stuck in huge crowds with little opportunity to stop and enjoy the beautiful flower. Put this place as your first location to visit of the day.

Pictures of Sakura Seaon in Ueno Park on 28 March 2010 - Partial Bloom

Sakura in Ueno Park

Partial Bloom of Sakura in Ueno Park

Pictures of Sakura Seaon in Ueno Park on 03 April 2010 - Full Bloom

Sakura in Ueno Park - Full Bloom

Ueno Park - Full Bloom

Sakura in Ueno Park

I had also met with two of my friends in Ueno Park who visited Tokyo for their honeymoon last year and managed to take their pictures with the beautiful Sakura.

Philip and Faye in Ueno Park, 2010

Philip and Faye in Sakura Season

Philip and Faye [HDR]

My favorite shot of them

The following are some of my closeup shots of the beautiful Sakura flowers.

The popular Somei Yoshino Sakura

The most commonly seen Sakura Flower

Pinky Sakura

Pinky Sakura Flowers taken in Ueno Park

Koishikawa Korakuen

This is one of Tokyo's oldest and most beautiful garden. You have to pay an admission fee of 300yen (as of April 2010). Here, you can find beautiful "weeping" Sakura trees, which are not so commonly seen in Tokyo. If you are in Tokyo before 1st April, you might want to visit this place as these weeping Sakura trees reaches full bloom a few days earlier than the commonly seen Somei Yoshino Sakura. Koishikawa Korakuen is a 5-10 minute walk from Iidabashi Station (various JR and subway lines) or a 10 minute walk from Korakuen Station on the Marunouchi and Nanboku Subway Lines. More information on Koishikawa Korakuen can be access here.

The following pictures were taken on 28 March 2010.

Weeping Sakura Tree at the entrance of Koishikawa Korakuen

Weeping Sakura Tree at full bloom

Koishikawa Korakuen

Giant Weeping Sakura Tree in Koishikawa Korakuen

Weeping Sakura

Sakura in Koishikawa Korakuen

Hanami or Flower Viewing in Tokyo

Koishikawa Korakuen

Closeup shot of Weeping Sakura

Sakura flower buds

I hope you enjoyed my first posting of Sakura season in Japan. Stay tuned as I will be sharing more spectacular Sakura viewing locations in Tokyo area in the next posting. Leave your comments below or share your Sakura experience with our readers by writing in to us.

Remember to support us by clicking LIKE on keanpoh Photographer Facebook Fan Page to get the latest updates of my coming posting.

Have a nice day!!

Update: Sakura in Tokyo Part 2 - Chidorigafuchi & Meguro River is up. Click here to view.
Update2: Sakura in Tokyo Part 3 - Yasukuni Shrine, Shinjuku Gyoen & Inokashira Park. Click here to view.
Update3: Sakura in Kisarazu

Kuala Lumpur International Airport - KLIA

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 02:55:00 +0000

How unpredictable, here I am, in KLIA. Got an urgent call from the manager yesterday at around 2.30pm, requesting me to attend to a customer site in Bintulu Malaysia ASAP, which the site was unable to startup the unit.

So, I got to the earliest flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bintulu (East Malaysia) on Malaysia Airlines (seems like it is the only flight to Bintulu today). Believe it or not, this will be my first time to East Malaysia.

Saw this rather unique view in the airport just now after finishing my McD breakfast. So, I quickly took out my camera with the 10-22mm ultra wide angle lens, took some bracketed shots and converted them to a HDR picture.

KLIA Departure Hall

Wish me luck for this assignment. Hope that I can help the customer to startup the unit as early as possible and return home.

Winter in Gunma - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:12:00 +0000

This is the second part of my first snow experience in Gunma, Japan. To read the first part of this trip, which includes some of my Winter Photography tips, click here.

After having our car stuck in the middle of a blizzard, we walked down hill and looked for help. Finally, we got ourselves into Minakami Okutone Skiing Zone.

Minakami Okutone Skiing Zone

Kids around the Skiing Zone

As we waited for the towing vehicle to come to our rescue, we discovered this small but packed with people skiing area. We knew that we will not be able to make it to our intended destination - Niigata Ski Resort as it will be another 1 hour drive from here and the towing car will only arrive 3 hours later, some-more it was a Sunday morning and we need to go to work the next day!! So, both of them decided to ski here, while I was more than happy to continue with my winter photography adventure here.

Ski and Snowboard Rental Office

Okutone Minakami - The Entrance

Snow-boarders

Why didn't I learn skiing or snowboarding? Well, first of all, the lesson would be in Japanese and I would not understand a word. Secondly, we only have half day of skiing time. So, I have decided to give it a miss. After 3 hours waiting, we've finally got our chain to the tyres from the towing company. We got the car down to the skiing zone, and my two colleagues got themselves ready for some skiing action.

Chris

Tomofuji

We got up to the actual skiing zone with the ski lift, which was also my first time and here's how it looked like. There was no safety belt or any fall protection on the lift, so one really have to sit tight and enjoy the lift.

Ski Lift

The lift to the center of the skiing zone was not too long, it took about 3 - 5 minutes. For not being equipped with skiing or snowboarding equipments, this was the furthest I could go as there was another lift to the top of the hill for skiers and snowboarders only. Anyhow, it was good enough for me as I kept snapping photos of people skiing and snowboarding around the area.

A restaurant and rest area at the skiing zone

Kids and parents with snow sled

Playing with snow

Snowboard

People queuing for the lift to the top

Snowboards

A teenager with snowboard

Tomofuji and Chris in action

If you even wondered what I did up there besides photographing, well here's what I did. I played with the children's sled. Hahaha.

Here's me, covered with snow

After spending about 2 hours up there, I decided to return to the bottom level and explore the area while Chris and Tomofuji were skiing.

Breath-taking scenery on the lift down

Going down hill

Another scenery caught when I was on the lift down

House and cars covered with snow

Switch-yard covered by snow

Winter in Gunma

Bridge in snow

Narnia?

We went home at around 5pm. Although we did not make it to our intended destination, we had a great time, both skiing and photographing. What an experience!! I hope you enjoyed both of my winter photography posting.

To read the first post, click here.

I have also found an interesting video on YouTube about how a car could slide in snow if not well prepared. So, be prepared if you ever need to drive in snowy area.

Winter Photography in Gunma 群馬, Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:16:00 +0000

Winter Photography

With the end of the winter season in the northern hemisphere regions, I am sharing my first experience with snow as well as some tips for Winter Photography. Although it may sound strange to some that my first contact with snow was when I was 26 years old, it is absolutely normal to people who lives near the equator, in hot and humid countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Snow is a big deal to us!! A lot of people here live their entire life not seeing snow except in TV. So, I consider myself very lucky.

My first contact was in January 17, 2010. It happened in Minakami Okutone of Gunma Prefecture, Japan. It was a last minute call when my Japanese colleague invited me to join them for a skiing trip to the famous skiing resorts in Niigata Prefecture of Japan. He said he will be driving and an American colleague is going together. I made my intention clear, that I am there for my first contact with snow and to photograph winter!!

Winter Photography

So, how did we ended up half way in Gunma instead of Niigata? (A little bit of Geography lesson here. Gunma Prefecture is located north of Tokyo, in between Tokyo and Niigata Prefecture)

In the car, I was so excited to see snow around me!!

Our car got stuck in frozen road. It was snowing heavily in Gunma and our dear Japanese colleague had only regular tyres on, no snow tyres, no chain. So this was what happened.

Frozen Road

A car stopping by to put on the chain on their tyres

We can't move forward

Pushing the car to the road side

The car slided sideway, dangerous!!

We finally got the car parked at the road side

With the car parked by the road side, we had no choice but to walk downhill to look for chain for the tyres. I was actually excited to be able to get down the car and start photographing. The snows were so soft and gentle, a lot softer than I thought. But the frozen road was so slippery that every step I made must be with full attention to avoid slipping and potentially breaking my camera!!

Walking downhill and the beginning of my Winter Adventure

Let me share some of the winter photography tips before I continue.

Tip#1: Wear gloves

Most of the time, holding your camera means exposing your hands to freezing or even below freezing temperatures. Be smart, be prepared. Wear enough and put on a pair of gloves. They will keep you warm enough for more photographing actions. I know wearing gloves means losing your finger sense. There are some gloves specially designed to overcome this where there are openings at the finger tips of the glove, just enough for you to sense your shutter button. Check them out if you are serious about photographing in winter.

Tip#2: Keep your feet dry

One of the worst thing that could happen in winter photography is to accidentally stepped into melted icy water and got your feet wet. Once they are wet, your feet will be so cold that you won't be able to last long outdoor. One of the solution is to be extra careful and carry a pair of spare socks and shoe. Another way is to put on water proof footwear.

Tip#3: Carry a plastic sheet to protect your camera and lens

Snow that dropped onto your camera and lens will melt quickly, forming water on top of your expensive gears. Protect them with a sheet of plastic cover or at least bring along a dry cloth to wipe off the waters on your gears.

Tip#4: Carry extra batteries

Batteries drain faster in colder environment. So, carry extra batteries as backup. Also you can keep the camera inside your winter jacket, close to your body when not in use to keep the camera warm.

Tip#5: Use Positive Exposure Compensation Setting

The white snow can trick your camera into thinking that the picture is over-exposed, causing it to choose a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture and resulting in under-exposed picture. One way to overcome this is to set your camera's Exposure Compensation setting to a positive value (example +1EV) and then set your camera to expose the snow. Fine-tune the exposure compensation value until you get a correctly exposed picture.

Tip#6: Shoot in RAW

Like mentioned earlier, winter photography involving snow can be tricky. If not treated correctly, you will get home with a bunch of over-exposed or under-exposed pictures. Shoot in RAW. You will then have ample space to increase or lower the exposure with your post processing software as RAW file carries more light information than a JPEG file.

Tip#7: HDR is a friend to Snow Photography

Although HDR post processing is not always perfect for snow photography, I find that most of the time after converting the picture to a HDR picture (often from one single RAW file), the picture looks a lot more attractive as the HDR technique is able to bring out the details of the white snow. See below two pictures for comparison.

Picture with snow without HDR treatment

Picture with snow in HDR

As we continue our journey downhill looking for help, I kept my camera's shutter working, taking pictures of the winter wonderland. The snow was falling gently onto me and everything was covered by snow! Every sight was breathtaking to me.

A house covered by snow

Vending machine buried by snow

A local restaurant

Winter Wonderland in Gunma

A bridge covered with snow

Bamboo trees in snow

Everything in snow

We started seeing a small village

Small village in Gunma

Winter Wonderland

Some houses

Houses covered by snow

House covered by snow

Exploring the area

Car covered by snow

They found a local ski area and they were excited

The skiing zone was packed with cars

People getting ready to ski

As we were looking for help, we found a local ski area - Okutone Ski and Snowboarding Zone. My two colleagues were excited. Three hours later, help arrived from a car towing company and we managed to get the chains to the tyres. The car was driven to the ski zone and they started skiing while I kept photographing.

Stay tuned to my next posting, as I will share with you more pictures taken when we got up to the skiing zone in this remarkable and unforgettable winter photography trip.

I hope you benefited from my winter photography tips too.

Update: Winter in Gunma - Part 2 is up. Just click here to access the new posting.

Find me in Framework Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:43:00 +0000

Framework Magazine is a new movie review magazine in Malaysia. I have been invited to write short articles for the magazine's photography section. My New York City article is now up in the magazine's 03 issue.

If you are a movie lover, I would recommend this magazine to you. To learn more about Framework Magazine and to subscribe, visit their website at http://www.frameworkmagazine.com/.

To read about my New York City article in this blog, click here.

How I HDR-ed my friends and family

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:20:00 +0000

Two years ago, I was in Dubai and I remember asking an Indian customer at site to wish me Happy Chinese New Year. Last year, I was lucky enough to have my re-union dinner with the family and have left for Japan in the morning of the first day of Chinese New Year. This year is the luckiest year of my field engineer career so far, being able to have a complete Chinese New Year celebration with the family, and of course not forgetting to attend several old friends reunion sessions.

I took the opportunity to take several snaps of my long lost friends in a reunion session 3 days ago. I couldn't resist HDR-ing my friends.

Old school friends HDR-ed

Friends HDR-ed

HDR photography is not so friendly to portraiture pictures as the HDR effect will bring out the skin pores details on the human skin, resulting in making a person look older or grainier. This is not my first time applying HDR photography technique on human beings. I have previously HDR-ed my family in a family reunion session last year as well as when I went to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to fetch my arriving sister from Germany. If you look closely into these pictures and compare them to the ones above which I took several days ago, you will notice that the human facial and skin part have lesser grain (noise) on them. This is because I have learned to utilize layer mask in Photoshop to improve the skin of my human beings HDR pictures. However, doing so also resulted in lesser HDR effect on the pictures.

Family HDR-ed in early 2010

Awaiting the arrival of my sister from Germany in KLIA back in Feb 2010

Sister arrival from Germany in KLIA in Feb 2010

See the difference of my HDR pictures involving human beings taken in 2010 and 2011?

Fireworks Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Chua Kean Poh) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:05:00 +0000

Fireworks Photography

With the Chinese New Year just around the corner, I am posting this article to fire up your festival celebration mood. Wishing everyone Gong Xi Fa Cai and a very prosperous Rabbit Lunar New Year!!

Although it is not very common to see fireworks display during the Chinese New Year, at least not in Malaysia where most of the people leave the big cities and celebrate the festival in their hometown, there will still be opportunity to photograph fireworks display. In this article, I would like to share with you a few tips of Fireworks Photography.

Everybody loves fireworks. It is so beautiful and spectacular that it often evokes emotions in people and is best to fire up a festive atmosphere. Many assumed photographing fireworks to be tough. Well, I would say give it a try and you will find that it is not as tough as you thought. But of course, you will need some preparation if you want to photograph a fireworks display successfully. Although a DSLR camera provides more options and controls when photographing fireworks, a compact camera can do a decent job too. The two pictures below were captured with my Canon IXUS860IS compact camera back in year 2009, which was also my first attempt in Fireworks Photography.

Fireworks captured with my Canon IXUS860IS Compact Camera

Fireworks Captured with my Canon IXUS860IS Compact Camera

Tip #1: Use a Tripod
As you can see from the above pictures captured with my compact camera, all you need is a tripod to hold your camera firm when photographing fireworks because you would like to have a slower shutter speed to allow the movement of the lights from the fireworks to paint onto your picture, forming beautiful patterns as a result of the fireworks explosion. Estimate which part of the sky will the fireworks be, focus your camera towards that section and lock it with your tripod. Set your camera to slow shutter speed settings and get ready to push the shutter button when the fireworks display starts.

Tip #2: Get there early, Get the best spot

Usually in a fireworks event, there will be tons of people waiting around the display area. You will want to get the best spot for photographing the fireworks. Get there early and get the best spot. I remember arriving at the fireworks viewing arena 4 hours in advance when I took the two pictures above. As mentioned in Tip #1, you need to estimate where the fireworks will be fired to and fix your camera to a tripod. Give yourself more time by arriving earlier and survey for the best location to fix your camera.

Tip #3: Use a Remote Shutter Release Device (or at least use the auto timer setting)

For DSLR owners, if you want to capture more decent shots of the spectacular fireworks, get yourself a remote shutter release device. You will find it so useful when photographing fireworks. All you need to do now is just press and hold the remote shutter release button when the fireworks has been fired to the sky and release the button when you think you had enough of the fireworks in your one picture. But remember to set your camera to a smaller aperture size (bigger F number) to avoid over-exposing your picture. I used to set my aperture size to about F/16 to F/20 which allows me to open my shutter for more than 5 seconds without over-exposing my picture. If you do not have a remote shutter release device or if you are using a compact camera, use the auto timer setting to avoid camera shake. What I did with my compact camera was to estimate when the fireworks will fire, and hit the shutter button when the fireworks was released, before explosion. This way, you will need to pay more attention and fine-tune your estimation as the fireworks display goes to get decent shots of the fireworks.

Estimate where the fireworks will explode

Know how you want the fireworks to show in your picture and compose

Include foreground objects to make your fireworks picture looks more interesting

Tip #4: Composition

There are several ways in composing your fireworks shot. You can zoom in to the fireworks to get a single firework explosion into a picture or you can do the opposite and go wide angle to include the surroundings of the fireworks display arena. You can keep your camera shutter open longer to include more than one fireworks into your picture (using a remote shutter release device makes this a lot easier) or you can also zoom in real close to shoot the sparks of the fireworks. The below pictures are some of my way of composing fireworks display.

Yokohama Fireworks Display - Wide Composition

Wide Fireworks Display Composition

Zooming in to the fireworks explosion

Zoomed in Fireworks Composition Style

Zoomed in Fireworks Composition

Longer shutter speed to include more fireworks into one picture

Longer Shutter Speed for several fireworks

Capturing the spark

Magical spark

Capturing the spark

Tip #5: Turn OFF the Flash

The reason is obvious. You are photographing the fireworks (a very bright subject). Turn off your flash. It will not do you any good but to trick your camera for a faster shutter speed. The fireworks is bright enough for your camera.

Tip #6: Video Capturing the Fireworks

Most of the compact cameras have video capturing function and most of the newer production DSLR allows you to capture HD video too. When you are tired of photographing fireworks, why not switch it to video recording mode and record the fireworks display? You do not need to capture the entire 30 minutes fireworks display in video which will be very boring to watch later. Just capture some couple minutes short video clips and you will be able to watch them at anytime you like in the future repeatedly. Below are a few video clips of Tokyo Bay Fireworks Display that I have captured with my compact camera back in 2009.

I hope you enjoy this article and find it useful for your next Fireworks Photography event. Below are a few more pictures to share.

Yokohama Fireworks Show 2010

Again, wishing you 恭喜发财 !! 万事如意 !!