shades of autumn: finale

All good things must come to an end. The beautiful blogs Bumbles & Light, Live & Love Out Loud and Project Alicia have been hosting a photography challenge based around the shades of autumn. As I've said every week for the past couple of months, at only 70-ish miles from the equator there's no traditional northern hemisphere change in the seasons here in Singapore. I thought this might be an interesting exercise in sharing the shades of a tropical Asian autumn; lush, vibrant and dripping with sweat colour...

And while I haven't been able to indulge in the sumptuous, cosy, enveloping autumn of blazing leaves, pumpkin patches or first frosts, it has certainly been fun showing you around autumn in this part of the world. I've loved the enthusiastic feedback, and I'm so proud to have had a picture chosen each week for the Shades of Autumn Pinterest board. Okay, so I'll admit that I don't really understand Pinterest, but to have been "pinned" feels pretty cool (no... yes... maybe? Fill me in!). What I do know is that the SoA Pinterest board is a seriously beautiful place that I go to often. I commend it to you.

So what to do for the last week of the project? Well, I'll start with my personal challenge winner: this sweet shot, taken at the Marina Barrage here in Singapore, was selected by Rebecca, Alicia and Kristi as one of their top pics of the week for "red" at the end of October.

Now I LOVE that this was recognised by our wonderful hosts, despite its flaws, not least because it's the only photo I included of The Boss during the whole project.

But, maternal pride aside, I think one of my favourite shots of the season was taken back in week one: green week. A torrential thunderstorm had just ended, hence the fallen, dripping frangipane flower. (Yup, it's the one I've tried to make it into a banner; but I know I've still a little work to do there. Hey, I'm no designer... oh, you can tell huh!?)

This flower and these colours and that rain captures Singapore in a nutshell: beautiful, vibrant, and usually wet. It perfectly illustrates this two-year adventure of ours that will soon draw to a close.

Since this project has helped me to see what a beautiful rainbow-coloured city I live in, lets see if we can't make a SoA paint chart for finale week...

And, last but not least, I wanted to show you a sooc picture that didn't fit into any of the colour categories (some of you have seen it before, soz!). Strictly speaking this wasn't taken during the autumn, but I was amazed to have it printed in the October issue of a glossy magazine as a competition runner up - so a photographic success of autumn rather than a shade of autumn! I didn't win a prize or anything like that but it was a major creative ego boost, and I love showing it to anyone who'll sit still for long enough.

 

I'm itching to see what everyone else posts for SoA Finale Week. And in the meantime, for many, many more pictures, drop by my green, yellow, orange, red, purple, brown & white posts from previous weeks!

Thanks for a wonderful project Rebecca, Alicia and Kristi, I've enjoyed every. last. minute. xx

shades of autumn: white

The beautiful blogs Bumbles & Light, Live & Love Out Loud and Project Alicia are hosting a photography challenge based around the shades of autumn. You can find out all the details by clicking on the button below.

At only 70-ish miles from the equator there's no traditional northern hemisphere change in the seasons here in Singapore. I thought this might be an interesting exercise in sharing the shades of a tropical Asian autumn; lush, vibrant and dripping with sweat colour...

...except for this week. Which is white week. Warning: there will be no snow, no frost, no ice in my photos. But there is white EVERYWHERE in this rainbow city. Perhaps it's all the white that makes the colours stand out all the more vibrantly. I'm afraid I have gone a little overboard on the number of pics this week - sorry - I did rather enjoy white, and it is the penultimate week after all! I found white an interesting challenge and quickly realised that, for me, it was important to have colour in each shot, even just a damp patch on a wall or the stamen of a flower. The flash of colour tells my brain that I'm looking at a white colour photo rather than a B&W.

This whole SoA project forced me to acknowledge a few things, the first being what an incredibly beautiful place I live in. I knew that before, but I didn't go searching for it in the way that have been this autumn. And the second thing is how much I love buildings. I'm completely mesmerised by them. Too bad I'm too old to follow in my Dad's architect footsteps (seven years at uni - pfff, seriously!).

So here are some of the whites to be found in Singapore this autumn. Kicking off, as usual, with some buildings.

living here has taught me, above all, that conservation needn't be conservative
(oops - that kindof suggests I live actually HERE, which I don't! Probably about $20million SGD short!)

say what you like about the colonialists, they knew a thing or two about decorative plasterwork

the modern city is pretty spectacular too

holland village even has its own windmill

when out and about with a camera, I've learnt to always look up

I've also discovered a real passion for overexposed white heat. The photos which follow are hard to look at for too long, and you can't really make out the details... EXACTLY like a sunny day here in Singapore. They make you want to dive into the nearest shady corner. I know that technically I've forced my camera to take "bad" photos here, but the feeling I get from looking at these pictures is viscerally evocative. (Can something be viscerally evocative?)

faded neon

sizzling hot in Haji Lane

the Sultan Mosque dazzling in the sun

what a lovely wall

And a few randoms others...

you see, without a flash of colour, it's hard to believe this is a colour photo, right?
He's one of the wonderful lions outside the Bank of China - I love these guys!

I can't explain why I love this picture so much. It's a water carrier hanging up outside Papa Palheta coffee house.

more lovely textures at Papa Palheta

And finally, some flowers.

the spider lilies outside our back door, in flower all year round

ooh I like my new macro attachment (need to work on the lighting though!)

look what happens when you put Picnik's cinema filter on a macro of a white flower!

See my green, yellow, orange, red, purple and brown photos from previous weeks here!

shades of autumn: brown

The beautiful blogs Bumbles & Light, Live & Love Out Loud and Project Alicia are hosting a photography challenge based around the shades of autumn. You can find out all the details by clicking on the button below.




At only 70-ish miles from the equator there's no traditional northern hemisphere change in the seasons here in Singapore. I thought this might be an interesting exercise in sharing the shades of a tropical Asian autumn; lush, vibrant and dripping with sweat colour.

I managed to post last week's purple pictures from the departures lounge in Changi airport, and in the intervening days we have been experiencing serious culture shock in Hong Kong. Hence the radio silence; I apologise profusely for not applauding all the lovely purple posts last week. Normal service will now be resumed!

So here are some of the browns to be seen in Singapore this autumn, plus one from Hong Kong.

Little India shophouses

ramshackle roofs

a shade of brown that makes my life managable

and people say Singapore's too slick and squeaky clean. I love this textured street.

a thoughtful macaque by the path on a jungle walk

our favourite coffee/babycino spot, Loysel's Toy at Kampong Bugis

Singaporean cafes are big on latte art, this is one of the cutest we've seen so far at Forty Hands in Tiong Bahru

in my opinion all the best cocktail bars,like Speakeasy on Blair Road, contain cats

a beautiful, if rather redundant, chain

ironmongery, Hong Kong style

See my green, yellow, orange, red and purple photos from previous weeks here!

shades of autumn: purple

The beautiful blogs Bumbles & Light, Live & Love Out Loud and Project Alicia are hosting a photography challenge based around the shades of autumn. You can find out all the details by clicking on the button below.

At only 70-ish miles from the equator there's no traditional northern hemisphere change in the seasons here in Singapore. I thought this might be an interesting exercise in sharing the shades of a tropical Asian autumn; lush, vibrant and dripping with sweat colour.

I found purple rather a challenge, so apologies that this post doesn't perhaps live up to the other colours in the series. Despite living in an urban rainbow, I just didn't spot that much purple. Anyway, here are some of the purples to be found in Singapore this autumn (and a few memorable purple pics from 2010 at the end...!).

the Dance Ensemble Singapore building - all self-respecting ballet schools be lilac with pink shutters!

glossing over some of the more glaring ironies in this picture, don't you just love the wire shutters?
Singapore's amazing variety of old wire shutters is something I hope to explore in more detail soon

a beautiful weed growing rampant beside the Kallang River

veering towards indigo here - porcelain balls for sale - purpose unknown!

OK, time for a few cheats from autumn 2010:

performance art at the F1 Grand Prix, Sept 2010 - the light effect on the dancer's
body is complete SOOC luck. I love it! Their robotic pose, with Norman Foster's
UFO-like New Supreme Court in the background, makes it all looks rather sci-fi

the Old Supreme Court, Sept 2010 F1 Grand Prix

the most amazing mall, ION Orchard, sparkling in it's party lights

ever wondered what the INSIDE of a Christmas tree looks like? Sparkly!

And lastly, another little maternal indulgence. My girl picked this flower for me, put it in a little glass from her toy kitchen and laid it out on a yellow napkin. Bless 'er. No idea what kind of flower it is, it comes from a small shrub in the driveway and smells very strongly of freesias.

See my green, yellow, orange and red photos from previous weeks!

shades of autumn: red

The beautiful blogs Bumbles & Light, Live & Love Out Loud and Project Alicia are hosting a photography challenge based around the shades of autumn. You can find out all the details by clicking on the button below.

At only 70-ish miles from the equator there's no traditional northern hemisphere change in the seasons here in Singapore. I thought this might be an interesting exercise in sharing the shades of a tropical Asian autumn; lush, vibrant and dripping with sweat colour.

Red is quite simply THE colour here. It's steeped in symbolism, enshrined in the national flag, and the country is occasionally even called "the red dot" (referring to the fact that on maps where city populations are displayed as proportionally-sized red dots, the entire country of Singapore is hidden by it's own dot). So here are some of the reds to be found in Singapore this autumn... with some pinks creeping in, I can't resist the red/pink combo.

lanterns in Chinatown

the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

the wonderful Rochor complex

incense outside the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple

chillies in Little India

a little corner in my favourite little corner on the whole island, Papa Palheta coffee roasting house

These last three don't exactly meet the "contain 50% of the colour of the week" rule - okay they don't meet it at all - but red is certainly the focus (and they're my favourites of the bunch!).

mid-autumn lantern in the gloaming

faded glory - not only once red, but once neon too!

look, relak lah!

See my green, yellow and orange photos from previous weeks!

p.s. I decided to go square with most of these photos, cropping in round the most interesting aspects, purely because this blogger template (with photos in a long list) doesn't seem to do a mix of landscape & portrait shots any justice. Even at the "large" size, rectangular pictures are so much smaller and have much less impact than square, while "extra large" landscapes blow the margins and looks daft. Do you know what I mean? I quite like square pictures, but sometimes the composition suffers (it would never have worked in my last photo here) so I don't want to do it all the time. While I'm loathed to start tinkering with my layout already, if anyone has any recommendations for a better blogger template (wrt displaying photos) this novice would really value any help you can give! (for example - how do you get that lovely layout with a strapline menu across the top, under the banner, thus eliminating the sidebar?)