#prepare roughly 4 am pst

[rosesncarnations]

I have finished Feyre’s portrait!!!

But yall get to wait till tomorrow

[animesavior]

“Sometimes i do feel like I'm a failure. Like there's no hope for me. But even so, I'm not going to give up. Ever.”

-          Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, My Hero Academia (Ep. 01)

The Toonami Trending Rundown for May 5-6, 2018. In an event that fans have been anticipating for up to the past two years, the smash hit Shonen Jump anime in Kōhei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia finally makes its debut on the better cartoon show. And what a night it was, as Deku finds himself to have no quirk abilities, but vows not to give up his dreams of becoming a hero, while Jotaro gambles against D’Arby, and Asta argues with the Silva elite(ists)…at least until zombies attack the Capital City.

Unfortunately for us, the Great Trending Drought of 2018 continues as on Twitter, only Space Dandy would successfully trend in the US. On Tumblr, Toonami would trend as with #BNHA, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Hunter x Hunter. We’ve had periods like this before due to changes in trending algorithms and tough competition, and while they stink, all i can say is just continue enjoying the block as always and I’m sure the pendulum will swing back our way before long.

This week, Toonami showcased a second part of their behind the scenes video on the production of the FLCL sequel series. Due to time constraints, an extended version of the interview that was shown on TV was released on the Adult Swim Youtube channel, which you can see below.

This Memorial Day Weekend on May 26, Toonami will be marathoning all 6 episodes of FLCL in a row beginning at 10:30 pm EDT/PST and again at 1:45 am, to get fans prepared for the premiere of FLCL 2 Progressive on the following week on June 2nd.

A little heads up regarding scheduling for the night of May 19, as episode 6 of FLCL has a 45 minute length, every show after will be temporarily shifted back by 15 minutes. No shows will be pre-empted, but for those recording Toonami on their DVRs, you might want to keep this in mind and adjust your recordings accordingly if needed.

Those watching the premiere of My Hero Academia who have previously watched it on other sources may have noticed that there were a few minor language edits in the dialogue (ie. a few “shit” bombs were changed to “crap” bombs). According to Jason DeMarco: “We didn't edit the episode so that's how it was sent to us I guess.”

Despite being one of the most popular anime franchises right now, with high streaming numbers, DVD and Blu-ray sales, and high manga readership, some thought that My Hero Academia’s road to the top would not be complete without a broadcast on the better cartoon show, hence why it became one of Toonami’s most requested shows in recent memory.

As I mentioned when Black Clover joined Toonami, My Hero Academia didn’t come to Toonami earlier simply because they chose Black Clover or another show instead, but rather the show hit a significant snag in regards to internal politics with the distributors and competition, among other things hurt its chances of airing on TV for awhile. Some will mention that that the show’s popularity didn’t start blowing up until around the time season 2 started premiering in Japan that Toonami started seeing massive requests for the show. Unfortunately by the time the show reached Toonami’s radar, Hulu had a exclusivity deal with FUNimation that prevented a broadcast for an undisclosed amount of time, among other issues that we’re not privy to. But as the old saying goes, good things come to those who wait, and eventually Toonami and FUNimation finally got the opportunity to get the job done.

As Deku never gave up on his dreams, fans never gave up on seeing the show airing on the block, and were eventually rewarded, and MHA’s road to joining Toonami could give hope to the fans of Sailor Moon, Mob Psycho 100, Blue Exorcist, Tokyo Ghoul, Darling in the Franxx, as well as fans and other popular shows who are currently facing similar snags that are preventing said shows from reaching Toonami at this time. It’s why we say that if you want to see a show come to Toonami, keep supporting the block and the industry overall, let Toonami and the distributor know you want a show there through their social media outlets, and be patient. Nothing is impossible and if there’s a significant demand for a show, anything can happen.

Unfortunately due to the time it took for My Hero to reach Toonami, we’re 3 seasons behind from where the dub is currently at on FUNimation Now. But since Toonami plans to air all 3 present seasons successively, and since MHA has seasonal breaks (a la Attack on Titan and SAO for instance), it should be roughly a year or so until Toonami will be able to catch up with the current broadcast. Of course, that all depends on when season 4 starts among other things, but considering the difficulty it was to get this show here in the first place, I’m sure the wait will be a breeze in comparison. Starting from the beginning does have a benefit as it will welcome in newcomers to the show such as myself, which is why many fans wanted Toonami to pick up this series in the first place.

What will My Hero Academia bring us with these 3 seasons and more to come, I’m not sure, but as those who have seen the show through streaming and DVDs will attest, i’m sure it will be a fun ride for many newcomers and those watching again as Deku continues fulfilling his dream of becoming a superhero. All I can say is if you like what you’re seeing, keep watching.

Not much else to say other than we’ll see you again on Saturday for another round of the better cartoon show. Later.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

United States Trends:

#SpaceDandy [#9]

Tweet Counts:

#Toonami [4,817 tweets]

#DragonBallSuper [2,935 tweets]

#DBZKai [1,036 tweets]

#MyHeroAcademia [10.5k tweets]

#FLCL [1,528 tweets]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [2,072 tweets]

#HunterXHunter [2,594 tweets]

#BlackClover [1,083 tweets]

Tumblr Trends:

#Toonami

#BNHA

#JoJos Bizarre Adventure

#Hunter X Hunter

Notes and Other Statistics:

#Toonami: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @NotOnDuty__ and @justinbriner started the trend in the US.

#MyHeroAcademia: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @CliffordChapin and @FUNimation started the trend in the US.

#FLCL: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @Clarknova1 started the trend in the US.

#JoJosBizarreAdventure: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @AnimeExpo started the trend in the US.

Special thanks to @coreymbarnes and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.

Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.

[sepdet]

Lava fissure & fountains. Leilani Estates [May 3, ~5PM]

I wrote a post on the likelihood of an eruption this morning, but it felt too ghoulish, so it’s sitting in my drafts folder. But I’ve followed Kilauea for years, and I couldn’t help but watch events unfold today, so here’s what happened.

TL;DR: Kilauea volcano has been erupting for decades, with a lava lake at the summit and a prolific flank eruption (Pu’u O’o) partway down its slope. This week there were major plumbing readjustments, sending magma burrowing to a new location 14 miles downslope. Unfortunately it’s a residential area.

Maps, photos, more details below.

To orient you (screencapped from the Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory’s recent earthquakes map about 8AM PST, before sunrise in Hawaii:) 

Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The summit, where the lefthand arrow is pointing, has had a lava lake since 2008. Kilauea is a shield volcano, spreading out like an upside-down plate instead of piling up in a steep mountain.

Extending east down Kilauea’s shoulder is the East Rift Zone. Eruptions have popped up along this line for much of the past century. (Notice it’s roughly same line as the whole island chain. Hawaii is slowly moving WNW — hitching a ride with the Pacific Plate — while the magma source is fairly stationary. So over time, volcanic activity gradually shifts east and south). 

The current eruption from Pu’u O’o, a bump on Kilauea’s shoulder, started in 1983. It’s been erupting almost continually since 1986, flow after flow building up vast fields of lava that covered all the slopes below it (to the south) and adding new land after reaching the ocean. 

Last week, tiltmeters showed Kilauea was inflating with new magma. The summit lava lake overflowed. Then, on April 30, the floor of Pu’u O’o’s crater collapsed. Fog/clouds made it impossible to see much on webcams, but heat sensors showed the lava it had been holding had drained away. Small earthquakes like a swarm of bees started popping along the east rift zone, moving downhill from Pu’u O’o to the east. Magma was on the move.

On May 1-2, communities downhill were warned to prepare to evacuate. Most of the danger zone is inside the National Park, but some subdivisions have been built outside the park’s perimeter. Downhill from an ongoing eruption. With warnings they’re in a Lava Level 1 Zone, the highest level of risk. (It’s the only cheap land in Hawaii, and lava doesn’t reach this far very often).

Last night, the night of May 2, residents felt earthquakes all night, rumbling under their feet like a subway. This morning, May 3, around 10:30 AM, Pu’u O’o had another dramatic collapse— either triggered by or causing a 5.0 earthquake— and threw pink ash everywhere, sending up a big plume. 

(USGS)

14 miles from Pu’u O’o, the streets of the Leilani subdivision — the “Uh Oh” on my map— began to crack. Evacuations were ordered. Lack of steam or heat from the cracks gave people hope the magma might stop. No such luck.

At 4:30PM, a fissure opened diagonally across Mohala Street in the Leilani Subdivision, seen in the drone footage above. Lava started fountaining ~100-150 feet in a curtain, hurling huge globs in the air (remember, it’s still rock!), gradually spreading out on both sides of the crack. Evacuation became mandatory, and officials went door to door ordering everyone out. They had time — Hawaiian lava usually moves slowly as it pushes into a new area— but some residents hadn’t prepared and had to flee without packing. [ETA: Some people are being stubborn and defying evacuation orders.]

As of 6PM, the fissure is about 150m (164 yards) long.

(USGS)

Geologists warn that just because it’s starting erupting here doesn’t mean it can’t erupt elsewhere. The ominous fact is that the lava burrowed 14 miles following the East Rift Zone before breaking out, but that whole line is weak and could break anywhere.

An eruption almost exactly like this broke out in Kapoho, a little east of the current eruption’s location, in 1960. It lasted several months.

Search twitter for “Leilani lava” to find photos/vids, since regular news media lags behind (but watch out for hoaxers). The Hawaii Volcano Observatory maintains a photo blog here, updated intermittently. Right now they’re posting a few updates a day.

[Friday morning: I’ve posted more updates.]

[pauldeckerus]

Capturing the Milky Way Over Yosemite National Park

Back in June of 2018, I was fortunate enough to make a 9-day trip to Yosemite National Park, California to capture the Milky Way galaxy over Half Dome. My entire trip revolved around capturing this image since I had captured nearly this same panorama two years prior during my first ever trip to the park in 2016.

It wasn’t until mid-2017 that I discovered that the panorama I had photographed in daylight in 2016 lined up perfectly with the Milky Way in May and early June. Immediately I knew that this pano was one that I would have to perfect, whatever I had to do in order to capture it with maximum detail.

Having improved my knowledge and technique for photographing the Milky Way and keeping clean foreground significantly since my 2016 trip, I knew that in order to keep the foreground free of noise I would have a few options.

I could photograph the scene in roughly five images in vertical orientation as single exposures and stack five or more frames per section.

I could blend the foreground from blue hour by photographing the foreground an hour after sunset using a little bit of atmospheric light to illuminate the foreground and then wait to photograph the Milky Way

I could photograph the foreground as single exposures and stack them under starlight, then track the sky to preserve the maximum sky detail and blend them back together.

Or finally I could photograph the foreground under starlight as long exposures at a higher aperture giving me more sharpness all the way through the image and use a low ISO to give me less noise. Then track the sky and blend them back together using a one image single exposure panorama beforehand with the alignment to use as reference.

After considering my options, I decided to go with the final method of capturing the foreground with longer exposures. This method would allow me to capture the foreground under natural starlight and maintain the natural colors and illumination of this time, and minimize the noise using a low ISO. This method also guaranteed I would have a sharp image throughout using a higher aperture and depth of field. I wanted to maximize the quality and resolution of this image to make it as large as possible for a potential future print.

Using the 45-megapixel Nikon D850 DSLR would give me an insanely large file that could be printed in large dimensions. The final panorama would be 27,500 pixels wide, and the final edit and crop was roughly a 350-megapixel image.

Original foreground panorama 500% crop RAW

Final Edit, 500% crop.

I would do this by setting my camera on my tripod in vertical orientation, making sure that my ball head was completely level, and waiting until I was under complete starlight.

Example of my Camera in vertical orientation during a trip to Death Valley, March 2018.

Having photographed the foreground panorama once before back in 2016, I knew that I would need 5 vertical images at 15mm to capture everything I needed, and having captured countless Milky Way panoramas, 4–5 images would give me a good view of our galaxy at 15 to 20mm.

In order to keep my exposures steady and keep my shutter open for long enough to capture all the light in a clean foreground image, I would need to use a shutter release remote so I wouldn’t bump the camera by pressing the shutter button. Using a remote would also allow me to program the exposure time for each frame.

Yosemite was a 1,000-mile trip one way for me from home (on the most boring stretch of road in the whole united states), so I planned my trip carefully ensuring I would be there during proper moon conditions, allowing me a window to photograph the sky without any moonlight.

Using the app PhotoPills, I carefully projected my alignment and opportunities to shoot the Milky Way while visiting the park. Once I had my plan together I started my preparations for a 9-day trip to make the most of my time there.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Derek Sturman (@dereksturmanphotography) on Dec 7, 2018 at 7:56am PST

Doing a little experimental time lapse here from Olmsted point in Yosemite during my first night in the park. Having come from Nevada I found myself entering Yosemite from what I would call the back of the park and being able to see new parts of it I didn’t see in 2016.

Now if you are familiar with any of the stories of how I captured any of my previous images, you will know that coming prepared has never been one of my strengths. However, for a trip 1,000 miles from home and camping out in the desert alone, I made sure to create a rigorous checklist of things I would need. In an attempt to stay on a budget I decided to pack all the food and water I would need and blow up an air mattress in the back of my vehicle so I would be able to sleep periodically for short periods while photographing some kind of night sky image.

Included on this list of things was sunscreen, bug spray, and a shutter remote (of course). I ended up stopping for the first night of the trip roughly halfway to my destination somewhere in the Nevada desert, where I had an incredible dark sky to photograph. Already almost 500 miles from home, I discovered that though I had packed 4 shutter remotes and a whole pack of AAA batteries, I had left this insert for my pack somewhere at home, leaving me without any reasonable way of triggering my camera’s shutter remotely. Sadly the Nikon Snap bridge app would only allow me to program 30″ exposures.

Too far to turn back, I began photographing just 30″ tracked images to use for later images and dug through my gear for any kind of remote I might have from the past. Sadly I didn’t find any remotes, but I did happen to have a cool little device my father (an avid programmer and electronic project enthusiast) had made using an Arduino programmed to do various exposure types. Luckily for me, this device connected to any 1/8″ audio jack and I happened to have a spare cord for that. Also fortunate for me was the fact that the device had a bulb option.

Sunset fades to Star light in Yosemite National Park.

Once inside the park I was greeted by the unbearable summer heat, walls of mosquitoes so thick you could use them as shade, and of course unbelievable crowds of people. Despite all of this the park was spectacular and seeing it again was just as jaw-dropping the second time as the first. Absolutely nothing about this park is boring.

Having felt that I was prepared, I brought a bottle some kind of all-in-one sunscreen bug repellent spray. Immediately upon visiting the park I needed both, as the early summer heat and pooling water in the valley attracted millions of mosquitoes and the heat was almost unbearable in direct sunlight.

My first night in the park I broke out in some kind of terrible rash. Something I had not experienced since I was very young. Hives covering my arms, neck, and body made for a very uncomfortable stay. Thinking I had some kind of mosquito bite that had initiated the rash, I began applying more of this bug spray sunscreen mix. The cause of my terrible full body rash was sadly unknown to me. So from day one I was a little irritable and had a hard time standing the conditions of the trip. Also unfortunate to my trip itinerary, I planned to stay a full 7 days and saw no need to buy new sunscreen or bug spray and assumed it was anything from some kind of plants in the area to something I was eating.

I had planned to do all my shooting in new locations and scouting first and save my Milky Way panorama over half dome from Glacier Point until the last two nights of my stay so I would force myself to endure the entire trip knowing I would not allow myself to give in a go home until I had completed that image. Reserving my final two nights, since the image would likely take several hours of shooting just to complete the pano for the foreground and several hours of shooting just for the sky.

Night sky over Yosemite National Park

When the time came to capture my panorama I went to Glacier point almost 6 hours early just to get a parking spot. The lot at the top of the road for the popular overlook is often heavily crowded and has very few actual parking stalls. When I arrived there weren’t any so I ended up driving in circles for about two hours waiting on an opportunity to park. Once I parked, I quickly began packing my gear to go watch the sunset and set up for my image.

In my excitement and hurry to finally get out to the spot and quickly dying sunlight, I managed to lock my keys inside my car. Having done this multiple times in the past I have a habit of checking for keys as I am walking away from my vehicle and realized I had locked them inside. I spent the next two to three hours trying to find a way to get into the car. I had no service in that area so I would have to hitch a ride with someone all the way down to where I would get service to call AAA. I actually went and found a sick and managed to pry the passenger side door open just a little and tried to slip thin sticks in and flip the lock switch. After seeing the apparent damage I was doing to the seal on the door I went to back pop out windows.

I noticed that these windows had a small latch that could be pressed out so that the windows could angle outwards but no open all the way. I figured if I could break this small plastic latch I could crawl in through this window and unlock the car. But after prying just a little too hard, I shattered the window and glass went all over me and the parking lot.

You can see the small black latch next to the seat belt in the left corner.

Needless to say, I missed the sunset. And once I was inside my car and covered in glass, I wasn’t in the most inspired mood, but after cleaning up the glass in the parking area as best I could, I moved out to my spot for the image.

I began by focusing on the foreground, and realized that once I had my camera set up in the proper position, the Arduino remote’s programmed bulb mode required me to hold the button down for the duration of the exposure. There was no programmable time setting in its programming, meaning I would need to sit and hold the button down until the exposure was done.

I’m not going to lie: it’s fortunate that only my good friend the Milky Way was there to hear what I said next. Interestingly enough, yelling to a large beautiful vista is actually quite therapeutic, but I was quickly distracted by the beauty of the Milky Way rising over the Yosemite Valley.

Glacier point provides one of the most amazing views of Yosemite. Looking head on half dome, you can see an insanely large vista. Waterfalls, peaks, and large cliff faces into forested valley’s. The scale of this place is simply indescribable.

Once the Milky Way started to appear I took a quick test exposure, f/2.8 ISO 12,800 30″ and focused on a bright star to make sure I was getting infinity focus throughout. In my f/28 image, it looked like most of the image was sharp so I decided just to increase my aperture slightly. I started out by trying an image at f/5 but after holding down the button for so long and seeing I made a mistake I decided to stop back down to f/3.2. Once the test exposure was complete I used Photopills exposure calculator to calculate the images exposure time needed if I were to use f/3.2 at ISO 800. I figured this would give me a clean foreground image without me losing too much time to each exposure before sunrise.

Single test exposure, f/2.8 ISO 12,800 30″

This gave me an exposure time of roughly 13 minutes per frame. So I set a thirteen-minute count down timer in Photopills and sat with my finger on the button until the alarm went off.

759″ exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t realize that the red light from the homemade remote was casting onto the rocks in front of me, so I photographed this first exposure a second time.

792″ Exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

Unfortunately, I had bumped my tripod or ball head somehow without noticing and the image had tilted slightly. Tired and irritated, I battled with the idea of using this image but ended up deciding to realign and try again.

759″ Exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

I finally had the first of five images correct. I carefully reviewed the image for noise and detail at 300% zoom.

759″ f/3.2 ISO 800, 500% crop

Aside from a few hot pixels from the long exposure and warm weather, and a little noise on the surface of the peaks the image looked sharp and mostly clean.

Third (middle) image of pano, 759″ ISO 800 f/3.2

The following two images went smooth, though my thumb was getting a little tired from holding down the button to keep the shutter open. That was until the fourth image.

Hikers head lamps and flash lights illuminate the Trail between Nevada and Vernal falls. 439″ f/3.2 ISO 800

I stopped this exposure early when I noticed some hikers with flashlights creating some trailing. This could have easily been cloned out in post but I didn’t want to risk it so I started over.

Finally, after a few more images I had the complete foreground merge. Due to technical problems, bumping my tripod during a couple and starting over, It was astronomical twilight shortly after completing the final image in the pano.

5 vertical image Stitch, Adobe LR. RAW

Once all the images had been stitched and the distortion corrected and image compositionally balanced this was the foreground result. Now all that was left was to photograph the sky! I returned the following night to set up my tracker from the location where I shot this pano, however using a tracker requires a clear view of Polaris, the northern star, to calibrate the tracking. Sadly I was unable to see Polaris from this location due to all the tree cover.

I began searching for nearby locations with absolutely clear horizons and discovered Taft point, an overlook just back down the glacier point road. This seemed like the closest sure-fire location with clear skies.

I quickly hiked out to the location during sunset and promptly set up my tracker to capture my sky panorama.

477″ tracked f/2.8 ISO 400 19mm

One of the single images tracked from Taft Point.

Taking several attempts to get the sky right and clean with as little foreground as possible I had my sky after shooting all night.

And once twilight hit I was so ready to be done with shower less, rash-ridden, mosquito-infested forests that I packed up and hiked straight to the car to start the long journey home. My image was finally captured and it was time to get back to the desktop and start putting the pieces together.

250″ f/2.8 ISO 800 Tracked

And with that my 9 day trip to the incredible Yosemite came to end, and after a long and boring drive through the deserts of Nevada, I would be able to review my images to see how I did.

“Galactic” Yosemite National Park, 2018

Thanks for reading! I hope something in this was beneficial to you, or maybe at least you won’t make some of the mistakes I have and never buy all-in-one bug spray and sunscreen…

P.S. If you’d like to learn more about photographing the Milky Way you can check out some of my one-on-one and group workshops hosted across the western United States on the techniques and tricks I use personally. Or if you would like to know how I post process my images, consider checking out my paid post processing Instructional courses for Adobe Photoshop.

About the author: Derek Sturman is a landscape and night photographer. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Sturman’s work on his website and Instagram. This article was also published here.

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2019/01/11/capturing-the-milky-way-over-yosemite-national-park/

[sailorrrvenus]

Capturing the Milky Way Over Yosemite National Park

Back in June of 2018, I was fortunate enough to make a 9-day trip to Yosemite National Park, California to capture the Milky Way galaxy over Half Dome. My entire trip revolved around capturing this image since I had captured nearly this same panorama two years prior during my first ever trip to the park in 2016.

It wasn’t until mid-2017 that I discovered that the panorama I had photographed in daylight in 2016 lined up perfectly with the Milky Way in May and early June. Immediately I knew that this pano was one that I would have to perfect, whatever I had to do in order to capture it with maximum detail.

Having improved my knowledge and technique for photographing the Milky Way and keeping clean foreground significantly since my 2016 trip, I knew that in order to keep the foreground free of noise I would have a few options.

I could photograph the scene in roughly five images in vertical orientation as single exposures and stack five or more frames per section.

I could blend the foreground from blue hour by photographing the foreground an hour after sunset using a little bit of atmospheric light to illuminate the foreground and then wait to photograph the Milky Way

I could photograph the foreground as single exposures and stack them under starlight, then track the sky to preserve the maximum sky detail and blend them back together.

Or finally I could photograph the foreground under starlight as long exposures at a higher aperture giving me more sharpness all the way through the image and use a low ISO to give me less noise. Then track the sky and blend them back together using a one image single exposure panorama beforehand with the alignment to use as reference.

After considering my options, I decided to go with the final method of capturing the foreground with longer exposures. This method would allow me to capture the foreground under natural starlight and maintain the natural colors and illumination of this time, and minimize the noise using a low ISO. This method also guaranteed I would have a sharp image throughout using a higher aperture and depth of field. I wanted to maximize the quality and resolution of this image to make it as large as possible for a potential future print.

Using the 45-megapixel Nikon D850 DSLR would give me an insanely large file that could be printed in large dimensions. The final panorama would be 27,500 pixels wide, and the final edit and crop was roughly a 350-megapixel image.

Original foreground panorama 500% crop RAW

Final Edit, 500% crop.

I would do this by setting my camera on my tripod in vertical orientation, making sure that my ball head was completely level, and waiting until I was under complete starlight.

Example of my Camera in vertical orientation during a trip to Death Valley, March 2018.

Having photographed the foreground panorama once before back in 2016, I knew that I would need 5 vertical images at 15mm to capture everything I needed, and having captured countless Milky Way panoramas, 4–5 images would give me a good view of our galaxy at 15 to 20mm.

In order to keep my exposures steady and keep my shutter open for long enough to capture all the light in a clean foreground image, I would need to use a shutter release remote so I wouldn’t bump the camera by pressing the shutter button. Using a remote would also allow me to program the exposure time for each frame.

Yosemite was a 1,000-mile trip one way for me from home (on the most boring stretch of road in the whole united states), so I planned my trip carefully ensuring I would be there during proper moon conditions, allowing me a window to photograph the sky without any moonlight.

Using the app PhotoPills, I carefully projected my alignment and opportunities to shoot the Milky Way while visiting the park. Once I had my plan together I started my preparations for a 9-day trip to make the most of my time there.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Derek Sturman (@dereksturmanphotography) on Dec 7, 2018 at 7:56am PST

Doing a little experimental time lapse here from Olmsted point in Yosemite during my first night in the park. Having come from Nevada I found myself entering Yosemite from what I would call the back of the park and being able to see new parts of it I didn’t see in 2016.

Now if you are familiar with any of the stories of how I captured any of my previous images, you will know that coming prepared has never been one of my strengths. However, for a trip 1,000 miles from home and camping out in the desert alone, I made sure to create a rigorous checklist of things I would need. In an attempt to stay on a budget I decided to pack all the food and water I would need and blow up an air mattress in the back of my vehicle so I would be able to sleep periodically for short periods while photographing some kind of night sky image.

Included on this list of things was sunscreen, bug spray, and a shutter remote (of course). I ended up stopping for the first night of the trip roughly halfway to my destination somewhere in the Nevada desert, where I had an incredible dark sky to photograph. Already almost 500 miles from home, I discovered that though I had packed 4 shutter remotes and a whole pack of AAA batteries, I had left this insert for my pack somewhere at home, leaving me without any reasonable way of triggering my camera’s shutter remotely. Sadly the Nikon Snap bridge app would only allow me to program 30″ exposures.

Too far to turn back, I began photographing just 30″ tracked images to use for later images and dug through my gear for any kind of remote I might have from the past. Sadly I didn’t find any remotes, but I did happen to have a cool little device my father (an avid programmer and electronic project enthusiast) had made using an Arduino programmed to do various exposure types. Luckily for me, this device connected to any 1/8″ audio jack and I happened to have a spare cord for that. Also fortunate for me was the fact that the device had a bulb option.

Sunset fades to Star light in Yosemite National Park.

Once inside the park I was greeted by the unbearable summer heat, walls of mosquitoes so thick you could use them as shade, and of course unbelievable crowds of people. Despite all of this the park was spectacular and seeing it again was just as jaw-dropping the second time as the first. Absolutely nothing about this park is boring.

Having felt that I was prepared, I brought a bottle some kind of all-in-one sunscreen bug repellent spray. Immediately upon visiting the park I needed both, as the early summer heat and pooling water in the valley attracted millions of mosquitoes and the heat was almost unbearable in direct sunlight.

My first night in the park I broke out in some kind of terrible rash. Something I had not experienced since I was very young. Hives covering my arms, neck, and body made for a very uncomfortable stay. Thinking I had some kind of mosquito bite that had initiated the rash, I began applying more of this bug spray sunscreen mix. The cause of my terrible full body rash was sadly unknown to me. So from day one I was a little irritable and had a hard time standing the conditions of the trip. Also unfortunate to my trip itinerary, I planned to stay a full 7 days and saw no need to buy new sunscreen or bug spray and assumed it was anything from some kind of plants in the area to something I was eating.

I had planned to do all my shooting in new locations and scouting first and save my Milky Way panorama over half dome from Glacier Point until the last two nights of my stay so I would force myself to endure the entire trip knowing I would not allow myself to give in a go home until I had completed that image. Reserving my final two nights, since the image would likely take several hours of shooting just to complete the pano for the foreground and several hours of shooting just for the sky.

Night sky over Yosemite National Park

When the time came to capture my panorama I went to Glacier point almost 6 hours early just to get a parking spot. The lot at the top of the road for the popular overlook is often heavily crowded and has very few actual parking stalls. When I arrived there weren’t any so I ended up driving in circles for about two hours waiting on an opportunity to park. Once I parked, I quickly began packing my gear to go watch the sunset and set up for my image.

In my excitement and hurry to finally get out to the spot and quickly dying sunlight, I managed to lock my keys inside my car. Having done this multiple times in the past I have a habit of checking for keys as I am walking away from my vehicle and realized I had locked them inside. I spent the next two to three hours trying to find a way to get into the car. I had no service in that area so I would have to hitch a ride with someone all the way down to where I would get service to call AAA. I actually went and found a sick and managed to pry the passenger side door open just a little and tried to slip thin sticks in and flip the lock switch. After seeing the apparent damage I was doing to the seal on the door I went to back pop out windows.

I noticed that these windows had a small latch that could be pressed out so that the windows could angle outwards but no open all the way. I figured if I could break this small plastic latch I could crawl in through this window and unlock the car. But after prying just a little too hard, I shattered the window and glass went all over me and the parking lot.

You can see the small black latch next to the seat belt in the left corner.

Needless to say, I missed the sunset. And once I was inside my car and covered in glass, I wasn’t in the most inspired mood, but after cleaning up the glass in the parking area as best I could, I moved out to my spot for the image.

I began by focusing on the foreground, and realized that once I had my camera set up in the proper position, the Arduino remote’s programmed bulb mode required me to hold the button down for the duration of the exposure. There was no programmable time setting in its programming, meaning I would need to sit and hold the button down until the exposure was done.

I’m not going to lie: it’s fortunate that only my good friend the Milky Way was there to hear what I said next. Interestingly enough, yelling to a large beautiful vista is actually quite therapeutic, but I was quickly distracted by the beauty of the Milky Way rising over the Yosemite Valley.

Glacier point provides one of the most amazing views of Yosemite. Looking head on half dome, you can see an insanely large vista. Waterfalls, peaks, and large cliff faces into forested valley’s. The scale of this place is simply indescribable.

Once the Milky Way started to appear I took a quick test exposure, f/2.8 ISO 12,800 30″ and focused on a bright star to make sure I was getting infinity focus throughout. In my f/28 image, it looked like most of the image was sharp so I decided just to increase my aperture slightly. I started out by trying an image at f/5 but after holding down the button for so long and seeing I made a mistake I decided to stop back down to f/3.2. Once the test exposure was complete I used Photopills exposure calculator to calculate the images exposure time needed if I were to use f/3.2 at ISO 800. I figured this would give me a clean foreground image without me losing too much time to each exposure before sunrise.

Single test exposure, f/2.8 ISO 12,800 30″

This gave me an exposure time of roughly 13 minutes per frame. So I set a thirteen-minute count down timer in Photopills and sat with my finger on the button until the alarm went off.

759″ exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t realize that the red light from the homemade remote was casting onto the rocks in front of me, so I photographed this first exposure a second time.

792″ Exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

Unfortunately, I had bumped my tripod or ball head somehow without noticing and the image had tilted slightly. Tired and irritated, I battled with the idea of using this image but ended up deciding to realign and try again.

759″ Exposure f/3.2 ISO 800

I finally had the first of five images correct. I carefully reviewed the image for noise and detail at 300% zoom.

759″ f/3.2 ISO 800, 500% crop

Aside from a few hot pixels from the long exposure and warm weather, and a little noise on the surface of the peaks the image looked sharp and mostly clean.

Third (middle) image of pano, 759″ ISO 800 f/3.2

The following two images went smooth, though my thumb was getting a little tired from holding down the button to keep the shutter open. That was until the fourth image.

Hikers head lamps and flash lights illuminate the Trail between Nevada and Vernal falls. 439″ f/3.2 ISO 800

I stopped this exposure early when I noticed some hikers with flashlights creating some trailing. This could have easily been cloned out in post but I didn’t want to risk it so I started over.

Finally, after a few more images I had the complete foreground merge. Due to technical problems, bumping my tripod during a couple and starting over, It was astronomical twilight shortly after completing the final image in the pano.

5 vertical image Stitch, Adobe LR. RAW

Once all the images had been stitched and the distortion corrected and image compositionally balanced this was the foreground result. Now all that was left was to photograph the sky! I returned the following night to set up my tracker from the location where I shot this pano, however using a tracker requires a clear view of Polaris, the northern star, to calibrate the tracking. Sadly I was unable to see Polaris from this location due to all the tree cover.

I began searching for nearby locations with absolutely clear horizons and discovered Taft point, an overlook just back down the glacier point road. This seemed like the closest sure-fire location with clear skies.

I quickly hiked out to the location during sunset and promptly set up my tracker to capture my sky panorama.

477″ tracked f/2.8 ISO 400 19mm

One of the single images tracked from Taft Point.

Taking several attempts to get the sky right and clean with as little foreground as possible I had my sky after shooting all night.

And once twilight hit I was so ready to be done with shower less, rash-ridden, mosquito-infested forests that I packed up and hiked straight to the car to start the long journey home. My image was finally captured and it was time to get back to the desktop and start putting the pieces together.

250″ f/2.8 ISO 800 Tracked

And with that my 9 day trip to the incredible Yosemite came to end, and after a long and boring drive through the deserts of Nevada, I would be able to review my images to see how I did.

“Galactic” Yosemite National Park, 2018

Thanks for reading! I hope something in this was beneficial to you, or maybe at least you won’t make some of the mistakes I have and never buy all-in-one bug spray and sunscreen…

P.S. If you’d like to learn more about photographing the Milky Way you can check out some of my one-on-one and group workshops hosted across the western United States on the techniques and tricks I use personally. Or if you would like to know how I post process my images, consider checking out my paid post processing Instructional courses for Adobe Photoshop.

About the author: Derek Sturman is a landscape and night photographer. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Sturman’s work on his website and Instagram. This article was also published here.

source https://petapixel.com/2019/01/11/capturing-the-milky-way-over-yosemite-national-park/

[heyshanii-blog]

Singapore and Malaysia were never on my bucket list, cause I’m not a city person. However, how would I not give it a go if two of my best mates were bound for an international reunion?

Everyone says Singapore is freaking expensive and I’d agree on that for the Southeast Asian standard cost however it is like that for a reason. I’ve never seen a city so perfect when it comes to convenience and cleanliness.

On the contrary, Malaysia takes the toll on making this trip affordable, and a challenge when it comes to getting direction as not all can comprehend and speak English. But don’t worry, everything should be easy peasy after you read this post.

DO WE NEED A VISA TO SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA?

For Philippine passport holders, not at all. You only need to show your return ticket or any proof that you’re coming back to the country like a company ID.

MONEY SAVING TIPS

©️wanderingpeople.wordpress.com

TRAVELLING TO DOWNTOWN SINGAPORE FROM CHANGI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Considered as one of the best airports in the world for six consecutive years, Changi International Airport is a destination in itself with its groundbreaking design and amenities like themed gardens, movie theatres and entertainment corners which some you can avail for free with your departure boarding pass.

A free Skytrain service operates from 5 AM – 2:30 AM between Terminal 1, 2 and 3; and a complimentary Shuttle Bus service connect Terminal 4 to Terminal 2.

BY SUBWAY (SMRT): The fastest way to get to the city from the airport. Located in the basement of Terminals 2 and 3, it is accessible from the Arrival and Departure Halls and operates from 5:30 AM on Mondays and Saturdays, 6 AM on Sundays and public holidays till 11:20 PM.

Hop onboard the train for Tanah Merah Interchange Station, then transfer to an East-West Line train going to the station nearest to where you’re staying. You can use your Singapore Tourist Pass.

BY PUBLIC BUS: The fare is SGD 2.50 and will you get into the city in an hour. No change is given so make sure to prepare the exact amount. Catch bus 36/36A from the basement bays of Changi Airport Terminals 2 and 4. The first bus leaves at 6 AM and the last one before 11 PM. Please refer to this route guide for a list of stops and estimated travel times.

BY AIRPORT SHUTTLE: If you’re arriving at odd hours, you can take an airport shuttle bus for SGD 9 for adults and SGD 6 for kids under 12. These shuttle buses run 24 hours and will take you directly to your hotel. You can book tickets on Klook however, check first if your hotel is one of their serviced hotels.

BY TAXI: Easiest but most expensive way as it’ll cost you around SGD 20 – 40 with an airport surcharge to get into the city. Larger groups can take large taxis called Maxi Cabs, which can accommodate up to 7 people for a flat fee of SGD 60. For more information, approach the 24-hour Ground Transport Concierges at the Arrival Halls.

TRAVELLING TO KL SENTRAL FROM KUALA LUMPUR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the primary airport of Kuala Lumpur and has two terminals named KLIA and KLIA2. If you’re flying to Malaysia from the Philippines on either Air Asia or Cebu Pacific, you’ll likely be landing in KLIA2, which services low-cost carriers. The inter-terminal fare via KLIA Transit or KLIA Ekspres is RM 2.

Despite its name, Kuala Lumpur International Airport is 50km south of KL Sentral, the city’s intermodal transportation hub. It is home to KL’s service rails and bus lines and where you’ll be taking the bus or train back to the airport too.

BY KLIA EKSPRES: Kuala Lumpur’s fastest non-stop airport transfer from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA & KLIA2) to KL Sentral Station in the city in just 28 minutes. A one-way ticket costs RM 55 for adults and RM 25 for kids 2-12 years. Get a discount on the adult ticket if you book beforehand in Klook (RM 48). Please check the train schedule here. 

BY KLIA TRANSIT: Kuala Lumpur’s commuter service between the airport and KL Sentral Station, which makes three quick stops along the way – at Salak Tinggi, Putrajaya & Cyberjaya and Bandar Tasik Selatan. Ride this train if you’re going to either of those stops as it cost the same with KLIA Ekspres (RM 55 for adults and RM 25 for kids 2-12 years).

BY BUS: The cheapest way to get to KL Sentral is through SkyBus. Estimated travel time is an hour and will cost you RM 11. You can save RM 2 by buying your ticket online as well. Make sure to check their bus schedule for your arrival time.

BY TAXI: It’s expensive as it will roughly cost you RM 80 if you’re lucky enough to have a taxi driver who follows the taxi fares set by SPAD– Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission.

HOW TO TRAVEL FROM SINGAPORE TO MALAYSIA OR VICE VERSA

Singapore and Malaysia are neighbouring countries which you can travel by air or overland via bus, train and car. However, I’ll only recommend either taking the bus or plane since taking the train is quite a hassle as you need to transfer through different stations.

BY PLANE: Most convenient yet expensive. If you’re departing from Malaysia, a one-way AirAsia flight costs around RM120 but from Singapore, it will likely cost you around SGD 60 for a one-way AirAsia flight.

BY BUS: The cheapest and convenient way. Numerous buses depart daily from Singapore or Malaysia all differ in price depending on the time and comfort. The bus will usually take 5 to 6 hours to reach its destination. A great place to start your search is at EasyBook.

Some buses feature reclining seats with enough legroom, a USB socket to charge your mobile phones or even WIFI. The cheapest you can get from Singapore to Malaysia or vice versa is SGD 10 (RM 30), and the most expensive on a luxurious bus is SGD 45 (RM 135).

TIP: Be reminded to check the corresponding departure and arrival location in Singapore (or Malaysia) and the travel date you choose in buying tickets. Please be advised to be at the departure area 30 minutes or an hour before the departure time.

HOW TO GET AROUND

Singapore and Malaysia’s MRT system are both efficient that we used it everywhere we go. We only needed to take a taxi when it was odd hours, and a bus when we went to Merlion Park after having lunch at Lau Pa Sat and when I was heading to the airport from Terminal Bersapuda in Downtown Kuala Lumpur.

We started our in Singapore and opted to rent a Singapore Tourist Pass, a special tourist card to unlimited bus and train rides (excluding premium services such as Sentosa Express) for the duration it is valid. It costs SGD 10 for one day pass, SGD 16 for two days and SGD 20 for three days; and with an additional SGD 10 rental deposit which you can get back once you return the card.

However, if you’re staying longer than three days and doesn’t need unlimited rides daily, it’s better if you get the alternative EZ-Link Card that you can use at the MRT for a discounted trip rather than single-journey tickets, public buses, taxis and even at a convenience store. It’s similar to Korea’s T-Money Card.

If you need to travel by bus often, it’s best that you use Google Maps to help you navigate as it tells you the bus number you need to ride on.

On the contrary, I opted to do single-journey tickets when I was in Kuala Lumpur since I didn’t stay longer than one day as I was moving around Malaysia and it’s relatively cheap with most subway fare costing RM 2 for a short-distance journey.

TIP: Familiarize the transportation system through these train maps: Singapore and Malaysia, and calculate your train fare in Malaysia.

WHAT TO DO IN SINGAPORE

1.) Spend a day on Sentosa Island

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS Located on Sentosa Island, this theme park is home to exhilarating rides like Battlestar Galactica, Transformers, and Revenge of the Mummy. You can buy tickets online or at the gate, but you can get discounts if you purchase them in advance through Klook for SGD 72.

Since I came in a day late and right on time for Chinese New Year, I skipped experiencing the rides thinking I’ll only end up in a long queue. However, I still didn’t miss taking a photo on their famous Universal’s Globe!

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Peace out ✌🏼 to those who wanted to take a decent shot but ended up with us photobombing!

A post shared by Charmaigne 🇵🇭 (@heycharmaigne) on Mar 6, 2018 at 2:44am PST

How to Get There: Harbourfront (North East Line) → Ride bus # RWS8, 188R, 963R

Bus Fare: SGD 1 ( not covered by the Singapore Tourist Pass as considered a premium service)

TIP: You may opt to ride the monorail train for free upon going back to VIVO City Mall.

WINGS OF TIME If you got no plans for the night, check out Wings of Time. The light show usually starts at 7:40 PM or 8:40 PM, but it’s best if you go there an hour to get good seats. You can book your tickets with Klook for SGD 13.

MADAME TUSSAUDS If you don’t mind spending extra to see life-sized replicas of famous Americans and historical icons in themed galleries, go to Madame Tussauds. It will costs you SGD 20 via Klook.

2.) Explore Chinatown

No trip to Singapore is complete without a visit to Chinatown, a place of mixed culture, cheap hawker centres to trendier bars and restaurants, and where you can buy the best bargain deals for souvenirs.

Subway Station: Chinatown

SRI MARIAMMAN TEMPLE The first Hindu temple in Singapore which worships the goddess Mariamman was constructed in the early-19th century by southern Indian immigrants.

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Fiery sunset at the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, the Sri Mariamman. This amazingly intricate tower is 1 of 72 buildings to date that have been gazetted a National Monument within the Republic of Singapore.

A post shared by Shawn Eastman, Cardiff (@shawneastmanphotography) on Jun 19, 2017 at 9:47am PDT

BUDDHA TOOTH RELIC TEMPLE A beautiful four storey wooden eccentric structure, which is based on the Buddhist mandala and integrated with the Tang Dynasty’s Buddhism. As the name suggests, it houses what the Buddhists regarded as the left canine tooth of Buddha. Wear appropriate clothes if you intend to go inside the temple.

ANN SIANG ROAD Stroll down these elegantly restored shophouses that house the traditional home of clan a ssociations, exclusive social clubs, restaurants, bars and niche boutiques.

On Friday and Saturday evenings from 7 PM to 1 AM, both Ann Siang Road and Club Street, the name comes from the Chinese clubs that used to line the stretch, comes to life as the area is closed off to traffic and the crowd (and maybe even drinks) spills out onto the streets.

Head off to The Honeycombers for this hill’s neighbourhood guide.

NUS BABA HOUSE The Peranakans are the descendants of Chinese immigrants who came to the Malay archipelago. Once the home of a Peranakan Baba called Wee Bin, the furniture inside is all relics, making it a genuine representation of Peranakan life and culture in Singapore in the 19th and 20th centuries. Booking is necessary for free guided tours.

3.) Eat in a hawker centre

Lau Pa Sat is one of the most famous hawker centres where you can have good local foods at reasonable prices in Singapore. There are plenty of stalls to choose from, so have a walk around and check out what’s for sale and what others are eating– the perfect way to avoid food envy. A meal costs between SGD 2.50 – SGD 5.

Throughout the day different stalls are open, but it’s best to come here after 7 PM as this is when Satay Street opens, where they closed the roads when the sellers set up their barbeques. It might not be the best quality meat around, but sitting on the plastic tables with a beer and the famous snack is a fun way to end your time at Lau Pa Sat.

Subway Station: Raffles Place (Downtown Line), if coming from Chinatown

4.) Walk around the iconic Merlion and its nearby attractions

MERLION Being Singapore’s national icon, there’s no need for an introduction. The Merlion’s body symbolises Singapore’s humble beginnings as a fishing village called Temasek, which means “sea town” in Old Javanese while its head represents Singapore’s original name, Singapura or “lion city” in Malay.

How to Get There: Raffles Place (East-West Line) → Exit towards the United Overseas Bank Plaza and from the middle of the plaza, you’ll see the Fullerton Hotel. Merlion Park is behind the hotel.

THE ESPLANADE You wouldn’t miss this performing arts centre as it’s eye-catching! Locals have dubbed the twin structures as “the Durian”, as it structures resemble the spiky tropical fruit that is unique to this part of the world.

SINGAPORE FLYER Sticking out among the skyscrapers in the Singapore skyline, the Singapore Flyer is no ordinary orb. This giant observation wheel offers 360-degree city views, a panorama that stretches to parts of Malaysia and Indonesia on a clear day.

A scenic 30-minutes spin on the Singapore Flyer takes you 165 metres above ground or as high as 42 storeys, making it Asia’s largest giant observation wheel, as you marvel at the spectacular scenery below in a fully air-conditioned glass capsule.

You can go on a regular flight but if you want something a little more memorable, how about going on one while sipping on cocktails or champagne? For people travelling as a couple, they even offer flights with a romantic four-course dinner for two.

You can buy tickets online for SGD 33 or through Klook. Klook offers a Singapore Flyer and Gardens by the Bay combo pass, as well as vouchers to their beverage and dinner flights.

HELIX BRIDGE A unique, visually stunning feature in Singapore that links Marina Bay South to Marina Centre. A way to enjoy and photograph views from this bridge is through its viewing platforms. Each night the Helix Bridge is illuminated providing a beautifully lit walkway.

ARTSCIENCE MUSEUM The ArtScience Museum, which is the boldly lotus-inspired building that houses internationally renowned exhibitions, beautifully fuses art and science to tell fascinating stories. Immerse yourselves in the dynamic, digital universe of interactive art installations at Future World: Where Art Meets Science, a highly raved permanent exhibition in the museum. You can book your tickets at Klook for SGD 18.

MARINA BAY SANDS MALL Marina Bay Sands is the most iconic hotel in Singapore and sits directly opposite the Gardens by the Bay, which makes it the best place to grasp the size of the park. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of its infinity pool on social media. Sadly, it’s only open to hotel guests, but, the next best thing for you not to miss its unparalleled view would be to head up to the Sand Skypark observation deck on the 57th level. You can buy tickets at the gate or purchase in advance via Klook for SGD 20.

The hotel has a flagship shopping mall too called The Shoppes, where you can shop the biggest collection of premium and luxury designer fashion and accessories.

Witness its waterfront come alive at night with its Wonder Full Light and Water Show, Southeast Asia’s grandest light and water show. It is free of charge, and the show runs at 8 PM and 9:30 PM every Thursday to Sunday; and 8 PM, 9:30 PM and 11:00 PM every Friday and Saturday.

Subway Station:  Bayfront

TIP: The best location to see it would be outside of The Shoppes’ main exit or the left of the Louis Vuitton store, where you will be in the centre of the show.

5.) See the future at Gardens by the Bay

Singapore is considered the greenest city in Asia and a fitting symbol to it is Gardens by the Bay. It’s home to the mind-blowing Supertree Grove and two marvelous conservatories— Cloud Forest and Flower Dome.

SUPERTREE GROVE Stand in awe of these astounding vertical gardens planted with over 162,900 varieties of bromeliads, orchids, ferns, and tropical flowering climbers.

Designed to resemble towering trees and functioned like them as well- they all collect rainwater for use in irrigation and fountain displays, some are equipped with solar panels to store energy for the nightly light show, while others are used as air exhaust receptacles to help cool the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest conservatories.

Walking around the park won’t cost you a cent, but access to the OCBC Skyway, where you can walk between three Supertrees for 15 minutes, is SGD 8 for adults and SGD 5 for children ages 3 -12.

SUPERTREE ROOFTOP BAR At the top of the tallest Supertree are a restaurant and rooftop bar. The latter has an entrance of SGD 18 per person, which includes one complimentary drink. A npice place to chill out while waiting for the light show.

OCBC GARDEN RHAPSODY When day turns to night, the Supertrees come alive casting a glow over the park. The OCBC Garden Rhapsody is free of charge, and showtime is at 7:45 PM and 8:45 PM. Come early to get a good spot as for you to lay down.

THE CLOUD FOREST The smaller shell-shaped greenhouse highlights a 35-meter high mountain that boasts the world’s tallest indoor waterfall covered in lush tropical highland vegetation. It has two platforms, which give you stunning aerial views of the entire conservatory, Cloud Walk and Tree Top. The tour starts with a lift that takes you to the peak where you’ll start walking down the mist in Cloud Walk to the lower ground by the Tree Top.

THE FLOWER DOME Enter a world of perpetual spring through exhibits, which are complemented by varying displays in the Flower Field reflecting different seasons and festivals. You will also find yourself on a journey around the world with Baobaos from Africa, Olive trees from Spain, and Kangaroo Paw from Australia.

Combined admission to both the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome conservatories is SGD 28 for adults and SGD 15 for kids 3-12 at the gate, but you can get a discount through Klook. They offer a combined pass to both conservatories and the OCBC Skyway as well for SGD 30.

HOW TO GET THERE: Bayfront, Exit B → Follow the underground linkway, exit and cross the Dragonfly Bridge or Meadow Bridge into Gardens by the Bay.

6.) Discover awesome finds at Little India, Bugis and Kampong Glam

These three vibrant and ethnically diverse neighbourhoods have a long history of Arab, Malay, Bugis, and Indian merchants who have migrated in Singapore, creating a melting pot of religion, architecture, shopping and cuisine around the area’s thriving hippie yet cultural scene.

TAN TENG NIAH Possibly Singapore’s most colourful house, the House of Tan Teng Niah is in the heart of Little India, but its roots lie firmly in the Chinese colonialisation of Singapore making it one of the last surviving Chinese villas in the neighbourhood.

Subway Station: Little India

HAJI LANE The vivid graffiti-tagged alley located in the heart of Kampong Glam, famed for its charming and quirky boutique shops as well as hip bars and cafes.

MASJID SULTAN One of the oldest and largest mosques in Singapore, which can be easily recognised thanks to its golden domes.

ARAB STREET Once a place where Singapore’s Arab traders settled in the founding, it is now the best location where you can find the best bargain for the quality and exotic batik and silk finds.

BUGIS STREET The largest street-shopping bazaar in Singapore where you can buy affordable souvenir trinkets like key chains, tees, and postcards are available.

Subway Station: Bugis

7.) Enjoy the greenery at Singapore Botanic Gardens

With all of this small city’s urbanisation, it’s quite a surprise for a 158-year old tropical garden to exist. Singapore Botanic Garden, the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Singapore, is home to a tropical rainforest, three lakes and multiple-themed gardens. You can spend an entire day here!

Entrance to the garden is free of charge, but the National Orchid Garden has an admission fee of SGD 5.

Subway Station: Botanic Gardens

WHAT TO DO IN MALAYSIA FOR ONE DAY

1.)Admire the architecture of Petronas Tower and Sultan Abdul Samad Building

PETRONAS TOWER The most iconic twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia connected by the SkyBridge, the world’s highest 2-storey bridge. You can visit their Ticketing Counter at Concourse Level in Petronas Towers, or you can buy online in advance to avail the Petronas Tour which costs RM 80 for adults and RM 33 for kids (3-12 years). They are available from Tuesday to Sunday from 9 AM – 9PM (closed between 1 PM – 2:30 PM on Fridays).

Station: KLCC (LRT), cost RM 1.90 from Masjid Jamek (LRT)

SULTAN ABDUL SAMAD BUILDING

Used to house several government departments, the Sultan Abdul Samad Building is among Kuala Lumpur’s earliest Moorish-style clock tower buildings, which is widely photographed by visitors. Today, this historic structure houses the Supreme and High Courts and is not accessible to the public.

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Random Post: I PROMISE you that you are not alone. No matter how ‘together’ some other 20 something seems…they are most likely sharing to some extent in your doubt, in your lostness, in the stretching of your paycheck, in your desire for purpose, in the pressure of your family and friends…We are all freaking out about something. For me today, I am freaking out because I'm currently sick and I have a travel ganap tomorrow. Pero you get my point? Apparently, we have to struggle, so let’s struggle upwards, struggle well. . . Hope this serves as a helpful reminder before we end our week! Love you guys!

A post shared by 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐳 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐥, 𝐂𝐏𝐀 (@colzvidal) on Mar 2, 2018 at 5:35am PST

Station:  Masid Jamek (LRT), cost RM 1.60 from KL Sentral (LRT)

2.) Climb to the top of Batu Caves

Batu Caves, one of Kuala Lumpur’s most frequented tourist attractions, is a limestone hill comprising three major caves and several smaller ones. The 100-year-old temple is considered an important religious landmark by Hindus as the Cathedral Cave, the largest and most popular cavern in Batu Caves houses several Hindu shrines beneath its 100-metre high arched ceiling. It’s a strenuous climb up the 272 steps to the top of the caves so make sure that you don’t bring all your baggage.

Note: There is an ongoing track upgrading work between KL Sentral and Putra station that will last until November 2019.

How to Get There: → From KL Sentral, take the free shuttle bus to Sentul Station. The bus parks at the basement bus station, next to the KLIA2-bound buses. → From Sentul station, buy a ticket to the KTM Komuter Line for Batu Caves railway station, which costs RM 5 for a return journey. Kindly refer on the link for the specific train schedule.

SAMPLE ITINERARY AND BUDGET

Singapore and Malaysia are packed with interesting points, but you can do every significant attraction in 4 days if you’re in a rush. Here’s a sample itinerary:

© wanderingpeople.wordpress.com

Surprisingly, you get to see the best of both countries for less than PHP 10 000. The breakdown would be PHP 1400 for accommodation, PHP 4000 for prepaid activities, PHP 1850 for transportation and PHP 2300 for food. Take note this doesn’t include the plane ticket and souvenir (vary from SGD 1.50 for keychains to SGD 10 for T-Shirts) expenses. That’s two new stamps in a row on your passport as long as you spend wisely!

See the Best of Singapore and Malaysia for PHP 10 000 in 4 Days Singapore and Malaysia were never on my bucket list, cause I'm not a city person. However, how would I not give it a go if two of my best mates were bound for an international reunion?

[popularchips-blog]

Paid Partnership Tag is here in Singapore!

New Post has been published on https://popularchips.com/dailies/paid-partnership-tag-is-here-in-singapore/

Paid Partnership Tag is here in Singapore!

#Sponsored #Ad – These are some of the ways influencers used to specify that their Instagram posts are being paid for by brands that they work with. While the earlier hashtags are straightforward, #Partners and #Ambassadors can be rather difficult to determine if the content has been reimbursed.

That’s when paid partnership tags came in a few months back. These tags are being used by influencers to officially declare the monetary contract/ remunerated relationship involved for their Instagram content. The tags are located directly under the username, together with the geo-tag. The same tags can be used in Instagram stories, imagery and video posts.

The first test of paid partnership tags was rolled out to a selected group of top influencers like @DavidBeckham, @SongOfStyle, @NewYorkCity, and @ImJennim.

This year, consumer protection bodies in the UK and US are increasing their crackdown on Instagram influencers who are not indicating their paid contracts with brands. What started it all was most likely the Kardashian sisters who failed to disclose that certain posts on their social media were advertisements. Right now, the Federal Trade Commission is keeping a close watch and have sent several letters to influencers and marketers to make the appropriate declaration.

As a step to bring transparency and consistency to Branded Content for creators (celebrities, influencers, public figures, publishers) and business partners, we foresee that this feature will soon become mandatory for all paid content on Instagram.

  PAID PARTNERSHIP TAGS HERE IN SINGAPORE

Singapore may be small but we’re definitely quick in picking up the latest trends – even for the adoption of paid partnership tags on Instagram. Just roughly 3 months since the first test of the tags, we are already seeing some of our top celebrities and influencers using these tags to disclose their compensated collaboration with brands.

Finally done with all my meetings and keeping track of my time with my @calvinklein whirl watch. Psssst, they are having a roadshow on 20th – 26th November 2017 at Bugis Junction, do check it out x #ckminute #ckwjmoments

A post shared by CHRISTABEL (@bellywellyjelly) on Nov 20, 2017 at 2:38am PST

First time on Dream Cruises, the biggest cruise in Singapore! Loving the magnificent 360° Barcity! 好壮观的游轮! 在这里这样拍照还挺酷的。有MV的感觉吗? 😂 #DreamCruises #GentingDream #DreamJourneyBegins #sp

A post shared by DESMOND TAN 陈泂江 (@thedesmondtan) on Nov 15, 2017 at 7:14pm PST

Cosy Sundays decked in my favourite pieces from @theofficialpandora. #DOPANDORA #DOSparkle #CHRISTABELxPANDORA

A post shared by CHRISTABEL (@bellywellyjelly) on Nov 19, 2017 at 6:17am PST

Gotta get hustlin’ this week because UOB Cards has challenged @kellylatimer and I to a friendly face-off with the limited edition UOB Cards x Tristan Eaton Fitbit Ionic watch! The one with the most steps accumulated at the end of the week will be declared the winner! Kelly is the ultimate “fit-spo” so I’m honestly quite prepared to be whipped! But stay tuned to my IG stories for updates! // If you’d like to have one of the exclusive #UOBxTristanEaton designer wearables for yourself, check out uob.com.sg/xmas for full details. #UOBxTristanEaton #UOBCardsXmas #ad

A post shared by Andrea Chong (@dreachong) on Nov 12, 2017 at 10:01pm PST

I've been travelling a lot recently, and I am so in love with this sweater from #Taobao! It is super comfy and cosy, and it keeps me warm during the cold weather ❄ You can get yours on the #BiggestOneDaySale on November 11! Double 11 happens once a year! I know how I am going to spend #my1111! How about you? 😉 #happy1111 #ShopForHappiness #sp

A post shared by Julie Tan 陈欣淇 (@julietan_cxq) on Nov 4, 2017 at 9:19pm PDT

Very soon, I’ll be jetting off again for work! And you can clearly tell from the size of my luggage that I’m the kind of traveller who takes the whole house with her 🙊 Do you pack light or are you like me?? 🤣 Comment below! #lipaultsg #colourmelipault

A post shared by SONIA (@soniachew) on Nov 13, 2017 at 1:55am PST

More moments in @taobao.world’s little showroom! Their 11.11 sale is just breaking the internet, so I hope you managed to get some shopping in! 🛍Remember to download their app! 😘 #tmall #taobao #双十一 #1111 #singlesday

A post shared by SONIA (@soniachew) on Nov 11, 2017 at 4:49am PST

I like to keep my everyday look clean and edgy, but also adding a splash of colour especially with my spacious Lipault tote bag! • The tote I’m carrying is in wine-red and it practically goes with everything. 😌 They’ve got several colours available in their fall collection! You can check em out at the Lipault Flagship store at Vivocity and other leading department stores! #lipaultsg #colourmelipault #sp @lipaultsg

A post shared by SONIA (@soniachew) on Nov 8, 2017 at 2:27am PST

I’m officially a proud owner of the #iphoneX and I even added on @singtel’s Data Infinity service to my mobile plan!! Y’all are simply the the best of the best! Thank you for having me host the official launch this morning. This photo was #shotoniphoneX in #portraitlighting mode 💖 #nofilter #shotoniphone #singtel #sp

A post shared by SONIA (@soniachew) on Nov 2, 2017 at 11:05pm PDT

Right now, we only see these celebrities and top influencers using the tags but we will definitely see this being rolled out and used more frequently in the near future, in Singapore, and around the world. While some rejoice over the clarity, some may find that the tags are too “obvious” and may dilute the quality of the content.

For the latter, we beg to differ.

The extra clarity not only gives the audience more certainty in the content, it gives added assurance and credits to both the brands and influencers who co-created the post seen. Now, the task is on brands and influencers to better understand their audience and continuously improve the quality of their content.

We are in full support of the paid partnership tags. Afterall, influencer marketing, just like any other form of marketing, builds on transparency and credibility in order to build a long lasting relationship with the end consumers. 

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There is no doubt that Product Hunt is one of the sexiest places for the tech geeks to be. If you have a new app, product, book or simply Elon Musk’s Boring Company Hat you would probably want to launch it on Product Hunt first. For that part of the audience to which Product Hunt still sounds like the Japanese alphabet to a Slavic person, here is a short overview. What Is Product Hunt (PH)?Product Hunt is not just ‘a place”, it is a community where developers, entrepreneurs, journalists, investors, and members of the tech world spend time discovering and discussing fresh products. What’s cool about the community is that they will welcome almost every product at any stage of its development (as long as the product is usable). The platform is comprised of innovators and early adopters; they love being the first to try out a new product exclusively. Except The Above, What’s The Real Deal?1) Each product strikes for the front page of Product Hunt because the front page gets the most exposure.2) The top products of the day are promoted in the PH email digest newsletter.3) The platform can help reach a large audience all at once.4) The most valuable one is that you get honest feedback from the users. They will say exactly what they think about your product. But I’ve realized that to reap these benefits, you have to take a Master Degree in “How To Launch On Product Hunt.” We did our “academic research”, and now we share it. Full transparency. Mayday, Mayday! We Had A ProblemWhen I first started with the preparation for the Product Hunt launch, I’ve personally read everything from page 1 to page 4 on Google (plus the references from each article). The information was confusing. I was confused. Should I link directly to our product post on PH? Should I send mass DMs to people upvoted similar products? Should I ask for feedback only? The answers were so ambiguous and muddy. Then I decided to read only the articles published this year (currently 2017). And this solved my source problem. There was only one article. Product Hunt’s guide ”How to Launch on Product Hunt.” I wish I knew it existed before wasting time reading outdated guides. We have followed only their guide. And it makes sense. It’s their platform, and they know it best. Let me walk you through our launch and eventually clear any ambiguous questions you may have. So… 1) Yo, It’s Nice To Meet You: Pre-LaunchYou will read in almost every guide on ”How to Launch on Product Hunt” that you should start a month away. But they are wrong. A month is not enough. Product Hunt is like a marriage. You don’t marry someone you know for a month. The longer you know someone, the strongest the connection you build. 1.1) Get familiar with this community: Luckily enough, I’ve been a member for years. But if you just hit the signup button and you are planning to launch soon, start exploring the platform. Follow people you find interesting, follow topics, and be helpful by leaving feedback in the comments. Respect people’s work and don’t be rude. If you can’t help, don’t harm. 1.2) Build relationships: What you can do is follow the people from the community on Twitter too. Follow people who share the same interests as you, not the one having the best profile pictures. The first group would be more likely to follow you back and engage with your content on social media. Give back and engage with their content too. 1.3) Build an audience that shares your values: Which means that initially, it is good to find beta-testers or early adopters. Once you give them a valuable product, they are likely to give back. This will be a solid group of people, your community, that will spread the word about your launch. As a colleague of mine said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” It does. 1.4) Use Ship: Ship is like a trailer page for your product. It is also referred to as upcoming pages. This is a very convenient way to share with the community and your audience that something is going to happen. Take advantage of any opportunity you have. We had the chance to test Ship and here is how our upcoming page looks: 2) Set: Hunters, Makers, and Contributor AccessFirst, let’s see how the Product Hunt home page is organized. It has two sections/lists of hunted products: Popular and Newest.Then, upon submission, your product will appear in the newest section. As you may have guessed, everybody’s goal is to get featured on the popular section.It is important to mention that in order to submit your product you should have a contributor access or you should ask a hunter to hunt your product. 2.1) Contributor Access: I strongly advise you to get a contributor access. In fact, if you have followed the first step, you should already have one. The contributor access gives you the right to hunt your own product. If you don’t have access to hunt, you should follow these steps. 2.2) Who Are The Hunters: The hunters are members of the Product Hunt community that have already hunted at least one product. This means that they have a contributor access and most probably are very active members. It used to matter who hunts your product, back in the day when Product Hunt sent an email notification to the hunter’s followers. Since this is no longer applicable, you better spend your time building an audience than hunting hunters. Be comfortable with building value, not just vague relationships. 2.3) Who Are The Makers: Makers are called the people who made the product and are listed/added as makers (you and your teammates). You can be a Hunter and a Maker. 2.4) Should You Hunt Our Own Product: Yes, please. I don’t get why people still want to be hunted by other (more influential) hunters. I hunted our product Flow-e, and we did great. What I love about my company is that we share the same values. We don’t like to be dependent when we can be fully independent. What I mean is that when you hunt your product, you save time, and have full control over launch day logistics. For example, we had a problem with our media visuals for the gallery. We had to resize them and update our page immediately. Of course, we were comfortable; the page was in our possession, so there was zero-time pressure. 3) Timing: When Is The Best Time and Date To Post:3.1) Day:There is enough speculation on this aspect, and I can speculate even more. The best day of the week for launching is when: You know that your audience will be online (a.k.a it’s not a National Holiday for example or Christmas time) Google doesn’t launch new product and Elon Musk doesn’t release The Boring Hat 2.0 This means that you should hunt the big day. For example, we scheduled to launch Flow-e on Tuesday, October 17th however, we didn’t succeed with this launch. Neither we did on the 18th. There were just too little spots left (we were fighting for a place in the top 5) to compete for. So we delayed our launch 2 times before we decided to post our product on the 19th when we hit the 3rd place. 3.2) Time:Here I have a theory, but let me outline the confirmed details first: 1) Product Hunt homepage is based on a 24-hour cycle. This means that the new products hit the homepage at 12:01 am PST. 2) Logically, the earlier you launch, the longer the exposure of your product will be (a.k.a more people will see your product and eventually show some love). About my theory: I believe that you should launch when your audience is online. Because new products are bumped on the popular section when a greater number of votes are received sooner after the launch. Again, this is a theory of mine based on the very close observation I have made months before launching. 4) Ready: Your Checklist on LaunchOn the launch day, these are the things you have to fill out in order your product to be featured on Product Hunt. 4.1) How to post your product: If you want your product to be featured, it has to be hunted. Again, feel free to hunt your own product. As I mentioned before, you need a contributor access to hunt your product. To post your product, log in to your account and click on the ‘+’ next to your profile picture. Now you can start the process. 4.2) Add Links: Add your company/product website as the primary link. Then you can add more links such as App Store, Google Play, or any other place where your product could be found. For example, we added first, followed by our special offer page for the PH community. 4.3) Add your Name: Add the name of your product/company. Neat and Clean – Flow-e.NB: You can also use an emoji in your name, but only if the emoji is a part of the name itself. Otherwise, it is not allowed. 4.4) Add Tagline: You have only 60 characters for this field. Describe your product in one sentence and be specific. Cut the fluff and don’t use common lines such as “the best,” “the most innovative app” etc. For Flow-e we used the following tagline: “Turn your Gmail & Outlook into Trello-like task lists 💌.” Feel free to add icon/emoji in your tagline (but don’t overuse them). It adds nice visual effect and drives attention. 4.5) Add Thumbnail: The thumbnail is your product profile picture. It is used to describe the product with a single visual element. You can use a static visual element or a GIF. Choose the one which will communicate the value prop best. For Flow-e we chose a gif. It was the best way to describe the idea behind. 4.6) Add Gallery: The gallery is the first thing people see when opening your post. I highly recommend making a short video. Under 50 sec. The other assets to have are images that best visualize your product. But not just screenshot. Make them attractive. Communicate with the audience through the visuals. Be sure that the visuals are rectangular (roughly 2:1 ratio), ready for twitter/facebook sharing. If you want your page to start with the video element, upload the video first. Videos are currently the most engaging pieces of information you can create (and are allowed on Product Hunt). We added the video (first) plus 4 visual elements to visualize the problem and our solution. 4.7) Add Topics: Add only the most relevant topics for your product. We’ve added 4. For Flow-e we chose productivity, web app, email, and task management. 4.8) Add Makers: Here is a tip. Make sure that months before launching the makers of your product have active accounts and contributor access. Always add the usernames of everyone that worked on the product. No company accounts, only personal accounts. It is always good to see the whole team engaging with comments. Plus, the followers of the makers receive a notification on launch day. Link both your account – Twitter and Facebook, thus more of your friends will be able to find you. We have added all of our teammates as makers. The whole team worked hard, and we all deserved to be listed as makers. NB: If you have reached this step, then you are ready to go. Once your post is live, there are 3 more sections left to fill out. 4.9) Add Description: The description appears under the gallery section. We have added only 2 sentences. Nothing fancy, only valuable information, short, and to-the-point. No one has the time to read tech novels. 4.11) Add ‘Around the web’: In this section add any news articles, product reviews, Medium articles, etc. 4.12) Add Social Media Links: This is simple as it says. Add your company’s Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Instagram. If you have an AngelList profile, include it to your post. 4.13) Add Maker Comment: It is important, one of the makers to be the first to comment the product. This will create a prerequisite for a discussion. Keep your intro short, but sweet. I have introduced the team, the problem we are trying to solve and how we plan to solve it with Flow-e. 4.15) Prepare Offers: For the PH community we prepared a special offer. Since we ask for feedback, we want them to have the ability to try out our product under exclusive conditions, available only to the Product Hunt community. Flow-e special offer for Product Hunt. 5) Execution: The Marketing of Promoting Your ProductAsking your network, both online and offline, to help spread the word is always a plus and is NOT against Product Hunt’s rules, as many posts and guides speculate. I will pay detailed attention to what not to do after we have a word about the marketing part of your launch. I will keep it really short, speaking from the first-person opinion. I want to underline that we have reaped the rewards of success thanks to the whole team. They were all involved in the marketing activities on the launch day. I know that most of the tech people hate doing marketing. Marketing is boring when you do it the boring way. Give it a soul, and it will fly. Just pick the task you feel like doing the most. Here is my marketing list I had to execute on the launch day. It kept me awake for 22 hours. I slept 2 hours. Then I woke up 30 minutes before the closure of the 24-hour-cycle. 5.1) Social Media Sharing Tips:• Update your company’s social media covers: Create special covers for Product Hunt. Use only 1-2 sentences with a similar meaning: ‘We are on Product Hunt. Give us Feedback.’ • Prepare social media visuals for the posts: Use the right dimensions for Twitter and Facebook, use strong visual element. Don’t overlap the visual element with heavy text. Use 1 to-the-point sentence. • Tag @ProductHunt when tweeting/sharing: PH looks for makers/company launch tweets and Facebook posts which they can like, share or retweet. Tagging PH is the way they can discover your posts and tweets. • Link directly to your product page: Don’t link to producthunt.com, instead link to your product page. You won’t be penalized for doing so (more on this below). • Limit/No hashtags: I didn’t use any hashtags in my tweets (not to mention in Facebook posts). There is no point in distracting people from seeing the essentials. Instead, I’ve tagged Flow-e and Product Hunt with a link to our post. I’ve also used emoji to catch users attention. • Ask for feedback: Brief your audience about the launch and ask for feedback. You can also mention that there is a special offer, available exclusively to the PH community only. And that’s it. Never ask for upvotes. It looks desperate. • Keep your social media live: Tweet/post on every 2-3 hours. That’s roughly 3-4 times per a workday. 5.2) Post to Groups:Post to groups you are a part of. Don’t harm by spamming and posting to the irrelevant groups. Relevance is what matters. Relevance converts. The relevant audience takes actions and gives feedback. Some of the options are:Facebook groups;Slack groups;LinkedIn groups. NB: Make sure that you have joined these groups weeks before launching. It takes time to be approved by the group’s admin. 5.3) Post to Forums:The same rules apply here. You can post to:Reddit (prepare yourself, their opinion is close to the bone, and they don’t give a carrot about your touchy soul);Y combinator;Startup related forums;Tech-related forums, etc. Don’t be scared to post and ask for feedback. Yes, there is a great chance to be banned from a subreddit for example (I was banned, and I didn’t stop asking for feedback). A friend of mine with a million-dollar startup once told me “If you haven’t been banned from everywhere, means that you haven’t tried hard enough to push your product forward.” You apologize and move on. 5.4) Email your users/friends and family/influencers and supporters:If you have already built an email list, send an email only to the active users (only in case they permitted you to send them emails, otherwise emailing people unsolicited isn’t effective). Don’t ask them to upvote. Don’t ask them to register just to upvote your product. Instead, with 1-2 sentences, explain how important it is to receive feedback about your product. Ask them to take part in the discussion or to write a review on your product page. This will help much more than emailing 10 000 users with no accounts. 5.5) Install Promo Bar:I have installed a promo bar on our website. The bar had the following sentences: “We are on Product Hunt. Give us Feedback.” And a button with a direct link to the Flow-e page. 6) Myth Busters: What Not To DoMarketers, Hunters, and Makers, here is your a NO-NO list. • Ask for upvotes. Don’t ask for upvotes, ask for feedback instead. If you have a good product, it will be appreciated. The community on PH is tech-savvy, and they know when a good product needs attention and support. • Mass-tweet. Don’t mass tweet to users upvoted similar products, influencers, famous hunters, etc. This is not the right way to grab their attention. Once again, people will support you if you are authentic. • Use Thunderclap. Don’t use Thunderclap. This is spammy, ineffective, and easy to detect by Product Hunt’s algorithm. You may end up with a penalty, instead of with a victory. • Hunt a “Hunter.” I’ve already mentioned this, but people tend to ‘torture’ hunters by tweeting and emailing them, asking if they would hunt their product. I’ve hunt our own product, and it was only beneficial to us. We had to make visual edits and some text improvements. Since I’ve hunt Flow-e, the page was in our possession. One of our best decisions was not to waste time ‘hunting the hunter.’ • Link to “producthunt.com.” This is one of the oldest myths. Don’t link to the PH homepage. Link directly to your product page. Why would you want to make it harder for your audience to find your product? Makes no sense. According to PH guide, linking to your product page doesn’t have any effect on the algorithm at all. You won’t be punished for linking directly to your product page. And I can confirm this. Conclusion:And I would like to finish by saying that the marketing of any campaign is an important aspect of your product promotion. However, creating a good product is much more alluring to the community. Even if your product is unpolished diamond, build the value, and the community will show you how to polish it. p.s. Let’s make email great again! 🤘Find the original blog post here Launch and Rank: How we ranked 3rd on Product Hunt p.s open for questions and discussions:)

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There is no doubt that Product Hunt is one of the sexiest places for the tech geeks to be. If you have a new app, product, book or simply Elon Musk’s Boring Company Hat you would probably want to launch it on Product Hunt first. For that part of the audience to which Product Hunt still sounds like the Japanese alphabet to a Slavic person, here is a short overview. What Is Product Hunt (PH)?Product Hunt is not just ‘a place”, it is a community where developers, entrepreneurs, journalists, investors, and members of the tech world spend time discovering and discussing fresh products. What’s cool about the community is that they will welcome almost every product at any stage of its development (as long as the product is usable). The platform is comprised of innovators and early adopters; they love being the first to try out a new product exclusively. Except The Above, What’s The Real Deal?1) Each product strikes for the front page of Product Hunt because the front page gets the most exposure.2) The top products of the day are promoted in the PH email digest newsletter.3) The platform can help reach a large audience all at once.4) The most valuable one is that you get honest feedback from the users. They will say exactly what they think about your product. But I’ve realized that to reap these benefits, you have to take a Master Degree in “How To Launch On Product Hunt.” We did our “academic research”, and now we share it. Full transparency. Mayday, Mayday! We Had A ProblemWhen I first started with the preparation for the Product Hunt launch, I’ve personally read everything from page 1 to page 4 on Google (plus the references from each article). The information was confusing. I was confused. Should I link directly to our product post on PH? Should I send mass DMs to people upvoted similar products? Should I ask for feedback only? The answers were so ambiguous and muddy. Then I decided to read only the articles published this year (currently 2017). And this solved my source problem. There was only one article. Product Hunt’s guide ”How to Launch on Product Hunt.” I wish I knew it existed before wasting time reading outdated guides. We have followed only their guide. And it makes sense. It’s their platform, and they know it best. Let me walk you through our launch and eventually clear any ambiguous questions you may have. So… 1) Yo, It’s Nice To Meet You: Pre-LaunchYou will read in almost every guide on ”How to Launch on Product Hunt” that you should start a month away. But they are wrong. A month is not enough. Product Hunt is like a marriage. You don’t marry someone you know for a month. The longer you know someone, the strongest the connection you build. 1.1) Get familiar with this community: Luckily enough, I’ve been a member for years. But if you just hit the signup button and you are planning to launch soon, start exploring the platform. Follow people you find interesting, follow topics, and be helpful by leaving feedback in the comments. Respect people’s work and don’t be rude. If you can’t help, don’t harm. 1.2) Build relationships: What you can do is follow the people from the community on Twitter too. Follow people who share the same interests as you, not the one having the best profile pictures. The first group would be more likely to follow you back and engage with your content on social media. Give back and engage with their content too. 1.3) Build an audience that shares your values: Which means that initially, it is good to find beta-testers or early adopters. Once you give them a valuable product, they are likely to give back. This will be a solid group of people, your community, that will spread the word about your launch. As a colleague of mine said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” It does. 1.4) Use Ship: Ship is like a trailer page for your product. It is also referred to as upcoming pages. This is a very convenient way to share with the community and your audience that something is going to happen. Take advantage of any opportunity you have. We had the chance to test Ship and here is how our upcoming page looks: https://www.producthunt.com/upcoming/flow-e 2) Set: Hunters, Makers, and Contributor AccessFirst, let’s see how the Product Hunt home page is organized. It has two sections/lists of hunted products: Popular and Newest.Then, upon submission, your product will appear in the newest section. As you may have guessed, everybody’s goal is to get featured on the popular section.It is important to mention that in order to submit your product you should have a contributor access or you should ask a hunter to hunt your product. 2.1) Contributor Access: I strongly advise you to get a contributor access. In fact, if you have followed the first step, you should already have one. The contributor access gives you the right to hunt your own product. If you don’t have access to hunt, you should follow these steps. 2.2) Who Are The Hunters: The hunters are members of the Product Hunt community that have already hunted at least one product. This means that they have a contributor access and most probably are very active members. It used to matter who hunts your product, back in the day when Product Hunt sent an email notification to the hunter’s followers. Since this is no longer applicable, you better spend your time building an audience than hunting hunters. Be comfortable with building value, not just vague relationships. 2.3) Who Are The Makers: Makers are called the people who made the product and are listed/added as makers (you and your teammates). You can be a Hunter and a Maker. 2.4) Should You Hunt Our Own Product: Yes, please. I don’t get why people still want to be hunted by other (more influential) hunters. I hunted our product Flow-e, and we did great. What I love about my company is that we share the same values. We don’t like to be dependent when we can be fully independent. What I mean is that when you hunt your product, you save time, and have full control over launch day logistics. For example, we had a problem with our media visuals for the gallery. We had to resize them and update our page immediately. Of course, we were comfortable; the page was in our possession, so there was zero-time pressure. 3) Timing: When Is The Best Time and Date To Post:3.1) Day:There is enough speculation on this aspect, and I can speculate even more. The best day of the week for launching is when: You know that your audience will be online (a.k.a it’s not a National Holiday for example or Christmas time) Google doesn’t launch new product and Elon Musk doesn’t release The Boring Hat 2.0 This means that you should hunt the big day. For example, we scheduled to launch Flow-e on Tuesday, October 17th however, we didn’t succeed with this launch. Neither we did on the 18th. There were just too little spots left (we were fighting for a place in the top 5) to compete for. So we delayed our launch 2 times before we decided to post our product on the 19th when we hit the 3rd place. 3.2) Time:Here I have a theory, but let me outline the confirmed details first: 1) Product Hunt homepage is based on a 24-hour cycle. This means that the new products hit the homepage at 12:01 am PST. 2) Logically, the earlier you launch, the longer the exposure of your product will be (a.k.a more people will see your product and eventually show some love). About my theory: I believe that you should launch when your audience is online. Because new products are bumped on the popular section when a greater number of votes are received sooner after the launch. Again, this is a theory of mine based on the very close observation I have made months before launching. 4) Ready: Your Checklist on LaunchOn the launch day, these are the things you have to fill out in order your product to be featured on Product Hunt. 4.1) How to post your product: If you want your product to be featured, it has to be hunted. Again, feel free to hunt your own product. As I mentioned before, you need a contributor access to hunt your product. To post your product, log in to your account and click on the ‘+’ next to your profile picture. Now you can start the process. 4.2) Add Links: Add your company/product website as the primary link. Then you can add more links such as App Store, Google Play, or any other place where your product could be found. For example, we added first, https://flow-e.com, followed by our special offer page for the PH community. 4.3) Add your Name: Add the name of your product/company. Neat and Clean – Flow-e.NB: You can also use an emoji in your name, but only if the emoji is a part of the name itself. Otherwise, it is not allowed. 4.4) Add Tagline: You have only 60 characters for this field. Describe your product in one sentence and be specific. Cut the fluff and don’t use common lines such as “the best,” “the most innovative app” etc. For Flow-e we used the following tagline: “Turn your Gmail & Outlook into Trello-like task lists 💌.” Feel free to add icon/emoji in your tagline (but don’t overuse them). It adds nice visual effect and drives attention. 4.5) Add Thumbnail: The thumbnail is your product profile picture. It is used to describe the product with a single visual element. You can use a static visual element or a GIF. Choose the one which will communicate the value prop best. For Flow-e we chose a gif. It was the best way to describe the idea behind. 4.6) Add Gallery: The gallery is the first thing people see when opening your post. I highly recommend making a short video. Under 50 sec. The other assets to have are images that best visualize your product. But not just screenshot. Make them attractive. Communicate with the audience through the visuals. Be sure that the visuals are rectangular (roughly 2:1 ratio), ready for twitter/facebook sharing. If you want your page to start with the video element, upload the video first. Videos are currently the most engaging pieces of information you can create (and are allowed on Product Hunt). We added the video (first) plus 4 visual elements to visualize the problem and our solution. 4.7) Add Topics: Add only the most relevant topics for your product. We’ve added 4. For Flow-e we chose productivity, web app, email, and task management. 4.8) Add Makers: Here is a tip. Make sure that months before launching the makers of your product have active accounts and contributor access. Always add the usernames of everyone that worked on the product. No company accounts, only personal accounts. It is always good to see the whole team engaging with comments. Plus, the followers of the makers receive a notification on launch day. Link both your account – Twitter and Facebook, thus more of your friends will be able to find you. We have added all of our teammates as makers. The whole team worked hard, and we all deserved to be listed as makers. NB: If you have reached this step, then you are ready to go. Once your post is live, there are 3 more sections left to fill out. 4.9) Add Description: The description appears under the gallery section. We have added only 2 sentences. Nothing fancy, only valuable information, short, and to-the-point. No one has the time to read tech novels. 4.11) Add ‘Around the web’: In this section add any news articles, product reviews, Medium articles, etc. 4.12) Add Social Media Links: This is simple as it says. Add your company’s Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Instagram. If you have an AngelList profile, include it to your post. 4.13) Add Maker Comment: It is important, one of the makers to be the first to comment the product. This will create a prerequisite for a discussion. Keep your intro short, but sweet. I have introduced the team, the problem we are trying to solve and how we plan to solve it with Flow-e. 4.15) Prepare Offers: For the PH community we prepared a special offer. Since we ask for feedback, we want them to have the ability to try out our product under exclusive conditions, available only to the Product Hunt community. Flow-e special offer for Product Hunt. 5) Execution: The Marketing of Promoting Your ProductAsking your network, both online and offline, to help spread the word is always a plus and is NOT against Product Hunt’s rules, as many posts and guides speculate. I will pay detailed attention to what not to do after we have a word about the marketing part of your launch. I will keep it really short, speaking from the first-person opinion. I want to underline that we have reaped the rewards of success thanks to the whole team. They were all involved in the marketing activities on the launch day. I know that most of the tech people hate doing marketing. Marketing is boring when you do it the boring way. Give it a soul, and it will fly. Just pick the task you feel like doing the most. Here is my marketing list I had to execute on the launch day. It kept me awake for 22 hours. I slept 2 hours. Then I woke up 30 minutes before the closure of the 24-hour-cycle. 5.1) Social Media Sharing Tips:• Update your company’s social media covers: Create special covers for Product Hunt. Use only 1-2 sentences with a similar meaning: ‘We are on Product Hunt. Give us Feedback.’ • Prepare social media visuals for the posts: Use the right dimensions for Twitter and Facebook, use strong visual element. Don’t overlap the visual element with heavy text. Use 1 to-the-point sentence. • Tag @ProductHunt when tweeting/sharing: PH looks for makers/company launch tweets and Facebook posts which they can like, share or retweet. Tagging PH is the way they can discover your posts and tweets. • Link directly to your product page: Don’t link to producthunt.com, instead link to your product page (https://www.producthunt.com/posts/flow-e). You won’t be penalized for doing so (more on this below). • Limit/No hashtags: I didn’t use any hashtags in my tweets (not to mention in Facebook posts). There is no point in distracting people from seeing the essentials. Instead, I’ve tagged Flow-e and Product Hunt with a link to our post. I’ve also used emoji to catch users attention. • Ask for feedback: Brief your audience about the launch and ask for feedback. You can also mention that there is a special offer, available exclusively to the PH community only. And that’s it. Never ask for upvotes. It looks desperate. • Keep your social media live: Tweet/post on every 2-3 hours. That’s roughly 3-4 times per a workday. 5.2) Post to Groups:Post to groups you are a part of. Don’t harm by spamming and posting to the irrelevant groups. Relevance is what matters. Relevance converts. The relevant audience takes actions and gives feedback. Some of the options are:• Facebook groups; • Slack groups; • LinkedIn groups. NB: Make sure that you have joined these groups weeks before launching. It takes time to be approved by the group’s admin. 5.3) Post to Forums:The same rules apply here. You can post to:• Reddit (prepare yourself, their opinion is close to the bone, and they don’t give a carrot about your touchy soul); • Y combinator; • Startup related forums; • Tech-related forums, etc. Don’t be scared to post and ask for feedback. Yes, there is a great chance to be banned from a subreddit for example (I was banned, and I didn’t stop asking for feedback). A friend of mine with a million-dollar startup once told me “If you haven’t been banned from everywhere, means that you haven’t tried hard enough to push your product forward.” You apologize and move on. 5.4) Email your users/friends and family/influencers and supporters:If you have already built an email list, send an email only to the active users (only in case they permitted you to send them emails, otherwise emailing people unsolicited isn’t effective). Don’t ask them to upvote. Don’t ask them to register just to upvote your product. Instead, with 1-2 sentences, explain how important it is to receive feedback about your product. Ask them to take part in the discussion or to write a review on your product page. This will help much more than emailing 10 000 users with no accounts. 5.5) Install Promo Bar:I have installed a promo bar on our website. The bar had the following sentences: “We are on Product Hunt. Give us Feedback.” And a button with a direct link to the Flow-e page. 6) Myth Busters: What Not To DoMarketers, Hunters, and Makers, here is your a NO-NO list. • Ask for upvotes. Don’t ask for upvotes, ask for feedback instead. If you have a good product, it will be appreciated. The community on PH is tech-savvy, and they know when a good product needs attention and support. • Mass-tweet. Don’t mass tweet to users upvoted similar products, influencers, famous hunters, etc. This is not the right way to grab their attention. Once again, people will support you if you are authentic. • Use Thunderclap. Don’t use Thunderclap. This is spammy, ineffective, and easy to detect by Product Hunt’s algorithm. You may end up with a penalty, instead of with a victory. • Hunt a “Hunter.” I’ve already mentioned this, but people tend to ‘torture’ hunters by tweeting and emailing them, asking if they would hunt their product. I’ve hunt our own product, and it was only beneficial to us. We had to make visual edits and some text improvements. Since I’ve hunt Flow-e, the page was in our possession. One of our best decisions was not to waste time ‘hunting the hunter.’ • Link to “producthunt.com.” This is one of the oldest myths. Don’t link to the PH homepage. Link directly to your product page. Why would you want to make it harder for your audience to find your product? Makes no sense. According to PH guide, linking to your product page doesn’t have any effect on the algorithm at all. You won’t be punished for linking directly to your product page. And I can confirm this. Conclusion:I want to summarize the most important aspects in an infographic.! And I would like to finish by saying that the marketing of any campaign is an important aspect of your product promotion. However, creating a good product is much more alluring to the community. Even if your product is unpolished diamond, build the value, and the community will show you how to polish it. p.s. Let’s make email great again! 🤘 If you would like to check out the original post + the Infographic, please go here and show some love - Launch and Rank: Here Is How We Ranked 3rd On Product Hunt!