SOFT LOCK-DOWN WEEK 7

It is hard to believe this “new normal” has already been in place for 7 weeks. A quick heads-up for the near future : a phased “unlock” will start from first of June, the only sure thing is that schools will reopen on on a rotational basis. So it looks I will be able to write a few more of these posts.

I did not take the camera out of my bag this week, or did not even took a bag. Finally today, I decide to put the M262 + 28mm Cron around my neck on my walk to Chinatown to collect my dinner.

Excellent light when crossing from People’s part to Chinatown

The old Samsui woman seems lonely without any tourists around. I hesitated taking pictures of the stalls of Chinatown, all curtains pulled down, but the light was not great.

On the area in front of Chinatown Complex a few old folks were hanging around in relative self distance.

 

In front of the Buddha tooth relic temple, the incense burner was covered with a cloth, an unusual sight,

Finally I think I managed to capture the new life of the F&B outlets adapting to the crisis by offering take away and delivery, Above in front a a Korean BBQ, delivery men waiting on social distanced chairs.

And below patrons waiting outside the popular  Kok Sen local eatery in Keon Siak Road.

Or a Japanese restaurant spelling out loud.

It seems that the female figures will be masked for a while on the pictures

So long…

 

All shots Leica M262+28mm Summicron Asph V1

SOFT LOCK-DOWN WEEK 3 and 4

The soft lock down was extended two weeks ago until 1st of June, so all in all that will be 8 week of lock-down.

No swing!

Conditions are a bit more strict, but all in all I cannot complain. I can work from home, we have plenty of hardware here so we don’t fight over PCs, and we can within reason go out if we wear a mask.

Fort Canning at dusk

We are allowed to go out for shopping in the neighborhood or for exercise, which is flexible enough and can be used without abuse. We generally walk an hour at the end of the afternoon, go for our food shopping and go home.

Anderson bridge

The photographic practice is a collateral victim of the lock-down, I am quite busy with work, so I have no leisure to (re) invent a “shoot at home” activity, and while going out, there is not so much happening and we always roam the same aeras.

The Summitar Swirly Bokeh

I have stopped shooting film after the first week : I do not process at home so there is no incentive until the labs open again. I am carrying the Leica M262 Body (Coming to its 4th birthday soon)  and some vintage lenses : the Summaron 35mmF3.5 ltm on the first two shots and the Summitar 50mmF2 for the others.

Exercise by the Merlion

The Summitar is back focusing a bit, but its quite easy to adjust after a couple of shots. Wide open it gets this “swirly” Bokeh, which is funny.

 

The colors for both lenses are quite nice, but unfortunately the weather is also pretty nasty, it generally rains lightly when I can go out.

The philatelic museum

What to shoot to show the emptiness and halted activities? Not much really. Although activity is very quiet and the traffic is noticeably smaller, it is rare to be able to picture a usually busy street that is empty.

Singapore Management University

But surely there are a lot of signs like the public areas where seats are blocked as above.

Window shopping at Camera hospital (not for sale)

Or below, bar areas who are wrapped away.

orchard road

Chinatown

Empty parking places in the city center are definitely a sign that something is going on.

This seating area seems to be still functionning

 

 

Hairdresser

Hairdressers which were ordered to close two week ago, will now reopen before the rest of the businesses.

Circular road was pretty quiet today

 

Finally when reaching the river on the way back home today, there was a very nice light on the buildings of the city center.

Central

Court of justice

Once George Street

SOFT LOCK-DOWN WEEK 2

Yeah, we made it through another week. I my case work from home means being super busy, so I just have the time to go out shopping for food everyday and take a bit of fresh air and exercise a bit, generally I walk 3 to 6 km. Only today, Sunday, did I found the courage and energy to go fur a quick ride.

unattended bar

So this week I did not had much time for photography, Friday I did not even stepped out of the house. Saturday we had a long walk (for food) and I brought the camera along, under the disapproving eyes of the family.

No sitting

Clark Quay was our first stop and a funny (funny as in strange, no as in Ha Ha) sight, no bars, no boose, no tourists, no waitresses : just joggers and cyclists.

The picture that does not work

Some pics do not work : I found the juxtaposition of Ice Cream and temperature check funny (funny ha ha) , but that is unreadable.

We continued to the Fullerton

The memorial to Joseph Konrad

Who remembers that the author of “Into Darkness” was once  a sailor heading to Singapore?

On Raffles place the sound of advertisements is still playing full blast for no crowd, except maybe this uncle.

The Providore is open as most food businesses trying to take their chance with take away food.

The Arcade passer by

The Quadrant, once hosted the Bank of China (Or a Bank of China of some kind)

Maxwell good market

Through Telok Ayer and Club Street we head to Maxell and then to Kon Siak road.

We said no sitting

Above the picture that works.

No fear of avian flue

Finally a real street shot from Orchard road today!

All pictures taken with the Leica M262 and the Summaron 35mmF3.5 LTM.

 

Soft lock-down day minus 3

For my foreign readers, in these hard times, up to the 3rd of April,  not a lot have changed in Singaporean’s lives. Obvious places of mingling, like bars and discos, had been closed a few weeks back and we were encouraged to work from home when possible and apply social distancing, controls were put at the border and a quarantine system was put in place.

Quarantined Buddha

Things changed Friday when the prime minister announced a “soft lock down”, basically we are going to be on lock-down like a big part of the human kind. Nearly all public places will be closed, but for the soft part, we will still be allowed to walk out.

Panic buy

So Friday saw a moderate panic buy (including massive queues at Victoria Secret, LuluLemon  and Louis Vuitton, more reassuring of the human race people were also queuing in the Japanese library Kinokuniya.

Our Community Center, during free mask distribution

Restaurants will close next Tuesday night, so after what looked like a dreadful Friday night, a lot of places where pretty full, Saturday and Sunday, of course respecting  mandatory social distancing. We also visited some friend’s restaurant Saturday, as we fell the need to support the businesses and share a bit of love and friendship in these hard time.

Wat Ananda Metyarama Thai Buddhist temple

I did not really dig in the details of the soft lock down, but just in case I started the Sunday by a 37 Km ride with my son. And in the afternoon we had a long walk to our Community Center and back to collect our free reusable masks (Thanks guys). These shots were done along the way with the Leica M262 and the Summaron 35mmF3.5 LTM.

Wat Ananda Metyarama Thai Buddhist

First stop, a few clicks down the Community center, was the Wat Ananda Metyarama a Thai Buddhist temple, a very nice Thai temple (surprise !), an at the back are more buildings. Including one for nuns or monks.

The mice

Birds and gods

I don’t know what this building is. A king of shrine, with drying laundry, birds in cages and gods effigies.

Polis

I want to shoot this little police hut for a while (Polis is Police in Malay), geographically  it looks like it was commanding the entrance of the Malaysian enclave that was containing the railway station and the railway tracks up to Malaysia. But I am not 100% sure.

ST MATTHEW’S CHURCH – NEIL ROAD

St Matthew’s Church is now all wrapped up, you can check my post about it here. I cannot really give any information about the new development there.

Social distancing

Shake Shack Mural

Social distancing v2

Or dance steps.

Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple

As part of earlier measures places of worship are now closed, but devotees congregate (in small numbers) in front of temples.

The odd guy

That’s it for today! Keep safe, follow the rules, and read many posts ever after.

Feb 2020 in Singapore with the Leica III

Regular readers already know the Leice IIIc is my go to camera when I just walk around without goals. This roll was loaded at the end of a supposed Hasselblad walk with the Hasselblad User Group Singaore (HUGS).

Masks and hankies are out to fight the Coronavirus

This is a roll of cheap Kodak Color Plus. I shot a few of them so far, and I think it is good enough when you have no special goal.

Reading your fortune for the year of the rat

This is quite an easy film to scan, the ISO 200 is quite convenient for color street shots on a nice day.

Roasted Chestnut stall

Walking from Bugis and Waterloo street area, the weather was beautiful, and I think the colors are very nice, vivid enough but not over saturated.

The newly renovated Indian temple on Waterloo street

That day I had the Voigtlander 21mmF4 mounted on the Leica IIIc, and as above and below I think it realy renders movement very nicely.

The shy passer by (cropped)

The colors on the next two shots are outstanding, but light was exceptional too.

HDB block at Middle Road

Ezekiel the HUGS master

The Chinese tourists at Chimes

Of course sometime as above the 21mm gives a bit too much negative space.

Capitol theater

Over this last year I shot a lot of with the 21 VC and I like it a lot. On the negative side I would say that sometimes it gives a very crisp and modern look to the pictures you may or may not like.

Man at work

From this point the pictures are taken with the vintage Summaron 35F3.5. They are mostly taken in the afternoon where the light if not as good.

Miror Miror

The ugly Jag in from the Raffles hotel

I also think the Summaron is an excelled lens. 35mm is a lot more manageable than 21, but I also have a 35mm finder,

Boom

The above is taken inside the National Design Museum, but there was plenty of light.

The Man Machine

I don t realy know the relationship between the expo and Kraftwerk, but…

Beaty Street Tibetan temple

A random arcade game

A Hot Road is a rare sight in Singapore

Film is scanned at home with Epson v800, I do a bit of colour and exposure correction in Light-room .

Singapore road side market

I was a bit surprised when I was invited by my friend KC Eng to a night outing starting in the a “road side wholesale market” in the center of Singapore.

The market is located in Toa Payoh area which is in the central part of the city, it is open six days a week from around 11pm to 6.30am. It is closed on Sundays.

From 11pm the stalls are set-up, the vegetables align of tarpaulin.

… and customers start to gather

This is supposedly a wholesale market, so you sea the hawkers sorting and preparing big packs of vegies, probably for smaller merchants.

Individuals can buy, but don’t expect to be able to get chilies by the piece.

Sorting bhindies (or okra or lady-fingers) at the light of torch light.

dreamy green leaves (Summilux wide open)

More greens.

Chives for our guide.

For this challenging light, I picked up the Summilux 50mm V2, not the fasted lens to use, but the widest I own. Combined with Iso set to 2000 on the M262, I can shoot between 1/30 and 1/125.

Some wide open shots are very soft and the dark areas can show some banding.

and now its past midnight and time head to the Senoko fisheries port, but this is another story.

Roll 37 of year 2019 – Hanging around Singapore

This is one of the last rolls of 2019, finished on the 31st December morning.

Hong San See temple celebration

It is a Kodak Portra 400, shot with the Sumaron 35mm F3.5 lens on the Leica IIIc.

Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple

As usual I shot the roll over two weeks, I was lucky on the first day to stumble upon a ceremony at Hong San See temple around the corner, where deities coming from China to be worshiped here were sent back home by the lion head lorry. A few moments later I went to Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple in Chinatown for a the temple consecration ceremony after its renovation.

Rainbow

December is a wet month in Singapore, umbrellas are out (and colorful).

Focused

Pre-Christmas the Orchard road shopping area was busy.

Girls in uniform

At the “wings” watering hole in Clark quay I finally managed a decent picture of girls in uniform. I just printed it for them, to give away next time I walk by. This was shot wide open at 1/60 or 1/30.

Banana

To the top

The newly opened Funan mall with its climbing wall is just around the famous Peninsula shopping center with its many cameras shop and my fav lab.

 

I like the Portra for many reasons, I think it is very good for shots as above with muted colors.

Orange is the new black

Christmas is also an opportunity to visit churches for office or to watch the Christmas cribs.

Off to work

Burning Angel

Finally on the 31st of Dec, I carried the M4 along, to finish the roll. This was to Chinatown again with a group of photographers. Weather was just great.

I must say I also love the Portra for its saturated colors.

All shots, Leica IIIC, with the Summaron 35mmF3.5 LTM lens and assorted 35mm Viewfinder. Kodak Portra 400

Leica IIIc, Summaron 35mmF3.5 with filter, hood and viewfinder

Scanned at home with Epson v800

Dropped for processing at Ruby Photo (not sure who does the actual processing)