Photo of the Week: Night Lights from the Skypark

This photo was a surprisingly difficult one to get, so I am very happy that I was able to take it at all!

The Marina Bay Sands hotel dominates Singapore’s waterfront with its unique cantilever design. The structure that resembles a boat and spans the three towers of the hotel is actually a “skypark” where tourists, for a S$19 charge, can get one of the best views in Singapore. You can look out towards the Singapore Strait, dotted with ships as far as the eye can see, to the east towards the Singapore Flyer, or to the north towards the skyline of Singapore itself. There is quite a bit of space up there — Marina Bay Sands advertises that it is the length of four A380s — and while only a portion is open to the public, I still spent quite a bit of time ambling about (which appears to be against the conditions of entry which state that no loitering is allowed) on two different occasions (once during the day, and once at night).

Another condition of entry is that you don’t take any “professional camera gear,” including tripods, into the Skypark. I always find this rule to be very subjective and frustrating, especially because it seems to be in place solely so people can’t get “good” photos from the top so they will be forced into buying the postcard. I got lucky during the nightly laser light show to find a cardboarded-together piece of damaged railing to balance my camera on so I could use longer shutter speeds…at least until I got yelled at by the staff. This photo, of the guests-only infinity pool, was taken handheld at 4000 ISO and f/2.8 so I could get as much light as I could while still keeping the shutter speed short.

Here are some other photos from the Sands Skypark/of Marina Bay Sands:

About Kristin
I'm Kristin, a Texan born to an American father and English mother. I've been living in Australia since 2008. My first plane flight was when I was three weeks old and I've been hooked ever since. I never feel quite right unless I have a plane ticket (to anywhere, whether it's Sydney or Sweden) booked in my name. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.
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