Long Exposure Archives - Jensen Chua Photography

Shooting MCE Light Trails

Jensen Chua — Tue, 19 May 2026 08:15:47 +0000

Welcome to my “Shooting MCE light trails” during blue hour. This is one of the more challenging urban photography experiences in Singapore. While the final images often look effortless – glowing ribbons of red and white flowing beneath the city skyline – the reality on location can be surprisingly challenging.

What are the challenges ?

The first difficulty is simply reaching the shooting position. The well-known overhead viewpoint near Marina Coastal Expressway is no longer as accessible or “clean” as many older photographs suggest. Over the years, vegetation around the area has grown taller and denser. Bushes, wild grass, and even thick patches of mimosa plants now partially block some angles. Photographers often have to squeeze through narrow gaps or carefully navigate uneven ground just to secure a clear line of sight toward the expressway.

Timing is another major challenge. Blue hour lasts only a short window – frequently just 20 to 30 minutes and conditions change rapidly. Arrive too early, and the sky remains flat and bright with weak contrast in the city lights. Arrive too late, and the deep blue atmosphere disappears into darkness, losing the balanced blend between ambient light and illuminated traffic trails. During this short period, shutterbugs must work quickly while adjusting exposure settings constantly as the sky brightness changes minute by minute.

The weather and humidity in Singapore add another layer of difficulty. The MCE location is exposed and often extremely humid after rain. Lenses can fog up unexpectedly, especially when moving from air-conditioned transport into the warm outdoor environment. Strong coastal winds may also introduce slight vibrations on lightweight tripods, affecting long exposures that typically range from 10 to 30 seconds.

Composition itself is also more complicated than it appears. The famous sweeping S-curve of the expressway looks visually powerful only from a very precise angle (and no longer possible now as the plants have grown tall and thick). A slight shift in tripod placement can cause distracting railings, overgrown shrubs, or empty road sections to enter the frame. During peak traffic, inconsistent vehicle spacing can also ruin the rhythm of the light trails, leaving gaps instead of smooth flowing lines.

As the space is seriously limited to one photographer at a time, crowds can become another issue. Multiple tripods are not possible if everyone is vying for same narrow viewing area during weekends or good weather evenings. Setting up without obstructing others requires patience and cooperation.

The Location Map

Ideally take MRT to Marina South Pier (NS28) or for those drive, park at the Marina South Pier. Don’t park at the quiet roadside as the area is CCTV monitored and being fined is a high possbility. Walk out of the station and walk westward with the sea on your left. Walk about 10-15min towards the MCE direction, listen for the sound of traffic. When you spot Marina South Wharve entrance nearby, the hidden spot is on the spot marked X.

In conclusion

But despite all these obstacles, the reward remains worth the effort. When the timing, weather, traffic flow, and composition finally align, the resulting image captures a uniquely cinematic side of Singapore – where engineered highways, glowing city lights, and the fading blue sky merge into a dramatic urban landscape.

Footnote – Jensen Chua Photography holds all the rights to the pictures used in the article. The opinion expressed is factual, objective, and that of the author.

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Blue Boat House in Perth

Jensen — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 03:03:34 +0000

Dear friends, I like to share my experience with travel landmark photography. I just returned a couple of days from Perth, on a photo assignment. Having some free time after work commitments, I enjoyed shooting the famed charming Blue Boat House in Perth, or Crawley Edge Boatshed on Swan River.

A brief introduction to the Blue Boat House

The Nattrass family owns The Blue Boat House which was built in the 1930s). The boatshed was put up for sale in 2001 and purchased by Peter Nattrass, and Lord Mayor of Perth. The boatshed had become very run down by that time. Faced with government threats to demolish and remove it, the family began to rebuild it. The local federal member of parliament Julie Bishop repainted the boatshed in bold blue colour at the suggestion of a friend. The boatshed was re-launched by Perth yachtsman Jon Sanders and sailor David Dicks in February 2004 after the make-over. A facelift in 2015, which included the exterior being repainted and the wooden jetty replaced with a new one with steel pylons was carried out. (Wikipedia)

Shooting the Blue Boat House

Due to the venue’s layout, this landmark has only a single entrance from Mounts Bay. As such, photographing the Blue Boat House can be very “time-sensitive” as a constant stream of tourists starts queuing at the entrance to the pier. There is no admission fee for accessing the Blue Boat House.

I like shooting long exposures (using ND filters) of the landmark but observing the stream of visitors behind me, I had to think fast, act fast and “release” the shooting spot pronto. So my next option would be to position myself at other ideal angles and use the visitors as part of my composition.

Gears used

Camera – Canon EOS 5DmkIV. Lenses – Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L MkII. Filters- NISI ND filter (10 stops), GND 2 stops, and polariser. Camera mounted on Sirui carbon fibre tripod with Manfrotto XPro magnesium ball head.

Footnote – many thanks for checking in on this article. You might like to check out my curated travelogues here for overseas travel inspiration. This article’s pictures are copyrighted to Jensen Chua Photography. The opinion expressed is factual, objective, and that of the author.

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Blue Hour at Marina Bay

Jensen — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 18:16:33 +0000

Dear friends, many of you should have heard of blue or golden hour photography. I like to touch on the blue hour, which arrives shortly after sunset when the sun’s position is just below the horizon and produces those cooler tones. But it doesn’t span an hour, it lasts only about 20-30min. In Singapore, our sunset is around 6.50 pm, so the blue hour lasts about 7 pm – 7.30 pm. In this article, like to share some pictures shot during the blue hour at Marina Bay.

I like to describe photographers doing blue hour (i will touch on the golden hour in a future posting) as “passionate photography”. Why so? Because we would have been at the photo site much earlier checking for the ‘best’ angles, missing dinner time with family, friends or just simply having late dinner. Disciplined photography takes focused commitment, I am sure anyone would agree?

The blue hour at Marina Bay

I attached 3 frames I recently captured at the Jubilee Bridge (Marina Bay) to showcase the scenes as they transitioned from dusk to blue hour. The 1st picture was shot at 7.06 pm as dusk arrived. In the picture above (3.2s, F8, ISO100), it’s in the middle part of the blue hour at 7.18 pm. Observe the receding blue light at the bottom frame (30s, F16, ISO50) at 7.35 pm, that’s when it’s time to pack up and go home.

Photo gears details

The gears used are as follows:

Camera – Canon EOS 5DMkIV. Lens – Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L MkII . Filter – Nisi Natural Night Filter (100mm x 100mm) The camera was mounted on a Sirui N2204X tripod and Manfrotto BHQ2 Xpro Ballhead.

For other photo events and photo tips, please feel free to look right here.

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