Gardens by the Bay: Supertree Grove

By André Costantini

If you ever make it to Singapore, you might want to check out the Gardens by the Bay. It is a park that recently opened (2011) and is designed to be sustainable, meaning among other things, the "Supertrees" collect solar energy during the day and use it to illuminate them at night.  And the skin of the trees are made up of over 200 varieties of ferns and flowers.  The tallest of the Supertrees is over 15 stories tall.  There are 12 in total and there is even a suspended walk that connects some of them.  

Actually, the Supertree Grove is only one of many sections of the Gardens which also features lakes, indoor gardens, and the world's largest indoor waterfall.  My brief trip to the Gardens only allowed me time to see the Supertrees, which is what attracted me to the gardens in the first place.  I thought their forms and colors would make an intersting subject to photograph.  I made sure to get there just before sunset so I would get the chance to see the trees at twilight, when the light would be ideal to photograph.

I had my Tamron SP 24-70 F2.8 which gave me a nice wide angle perspective and also having the VC function in this lighting situation was ideal to help stabilize the image when the light was the perfect ratio between the sky and the illuminated Supertrees, but the amount of light made the shutter speed a little slow to hand hold without a little help. 

It amazes me how much of a difference a couple of hours can make.  Below are a series of images from when the sun was about to set until the slightest bit of the afterglow was still barely illluminating the sky.  There are alway images you can take in all of these condtions.  While watching the changing light, it is always a great opportunity to experiment with form and color.

ISO 160 24mm f 4.0 1/3200

ISO 160 24mm f 4.0 1/400

ISO 640 24mm f4.0 1/8

ISO 640 24mm f2.8 1/8

ISO 640 24mm f2.8 1/8

Comments

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