The Gardens by the Bay opened officially on June 29. Finally, I've made a visit there! I took so many shots of flowers, I think I could finish the rest of my project with nothing but flower shots. HAHA. Please visit the site at the URL above for fabulous pre-opening photos. I suck at landscape shots and the ones I had taken are too bad to be posted here. XD
The 250-acre (101-hectacre) Gardens, which include two massive cooled conservatories, were constructed at a cost of a billion (Singapore) dollars. It was a bit of a controversy, not just because of the incredible cost, but also because the Gardens sit on prime land. (We are 5 million people on a tiny island that is just 26 miles (42km) from east to west and 14 miles (23km) from north to south. Land is scarce, coveted and expensive!)
I spent most of my time in the conservatories, called the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. They are massive, and so inviting and cool! Once inside, I didn't want to step outside into the infernal tropical heat again! But then I realized I had to go home and make dinner. 8P
The Flower Dome is full of plants from around the world. I had such a great time seeing trees (there are Baobab trees!) and plants and flowers that I wouldn't be able to see without taking a flight halfway around the planet. The Cloud Forest recreates the atmosphere and conditions of a tropical mountain forest. It features a 115-foot (35-metre) waterfall and walkways around it. If you have a fear of heights, the walkways will prove to be an exciting experience. ;D
Will upload more shots from the Gardens in the next few days. I think. 8)
Wow! What a cool shot and the Gardens you refer us to is incredible. Reminds me of a really old video game called "Myst" . Can't wait to see your other photos of this area!!
Oh, wow, that is a gorgeous project! How great that they are willing to invest that much money in something like that. I always wanted to visit Singapore - now I just wanna go there even more!
What an amazing concept. Thank you for the link to such beautiful images. Thank you for sharing a piece of your precious little island. Like you capture for its minimalist simplicity.
Livia, this is so awesome. I never knew much about your country and it was so interesting to visit the link you provided to see the amazing beauty of the whole city and this new FABULOUS project. I will look forward to seeing more photos. Love your photo & will be great for this wks theme. Thank you!
Cool abstract. Liking the empty space. We are going to be in Singapore for a few days in October, so I will have to put these on the list of places to visit
This is a very creative shot! I think your "branching out" has made you an even better photographer- quite versatile! I like the minimal approach to the picture- capturing just a portion of the tree in the corner and using the rest of the space to emphasize it. Well done! Next photo-style to conquer: landscapes!
This is so unlike your usual photos, Livia - but I love it! A great abstract with pure, clean lines. Love how it's cropped! Thanks for the link - what an amazing project - such a beautiful place! You're so lucky to be able to visit it!
Great shot! It makes for nice lines on the pic, (but as an astronomer and someone concerned about the effects of artificial lighting on ecosystems, I'm a little sad that Singapore would do this too).
The wikipedia page has some good info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pollution (I also had a friend who worked on Christmas Island for a while - apparently the bird and insect life got really confused by all the lights they put on the refugee detention centres. I've heard of turtles also laying their eggs in the wrong places because they use the Moon to orientate themselves - but get lost when floodlights or streetlights are put up when people build near beaches :(
@alia_801 Thank you very much for the URL! I was also reading this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_light_pollution What an interesting subject. I didn't know about how artificial lights would affect the insects and animals. Wow. That's food for thought. We are essentially a very people-packed city on a small island, and we are well lit everywhere. Now I don't think I'll be able to look at the pretty lights at night and not think about the ecological effect they have.
This is amazing. Must be an incredible experience to walk, and explore the entire place. Great capture too. Love all that negative space. Almost like a fractal.
It's fab!
Love the simplicity and the black and white!
program a while ago. Very impressive.
Livia, great shot! And the link was amazing!