When Straits Times photojournalist Desmond Lim saw a ray of sunlight slicing through the retractable dome of the new National Stadium, he saw the photo in his mind.
It was just missing the human touch to make it perfect.
Said Mr Lim: "I was on a media tour and I decided to stray from the media pack and wait for someone to walk into the light. It didn't take long for that to happen and I got the picture I had in mind."
His vision and patience paid off when his photo package of the new Sports Hub won him a silver award at the 14th Asian Media Awards in Bangkok yesterday.
The awards, organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (Wan-Ifra), attracted 595 entries from countries throughout Asia and the Middle East.
The Straits Times also clinched two bronze awards: one for newspaper overall design, and the other for its foreign desk's breaking news coverage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
Said Straits Times editor Warren Fernandez: "It is great that our efforts have been recognised by our peers in the industry. The awards will spur us on as we work to revamp all our products later this year to mark our 170th anniversary."
ST associate editor for global affairs Ravi Velloor, who was the foreign editor at the time of the incident, said The Straits Times' reach across Asia, from India to Japan and Australia, led it to cover the story of the missing plane like no other newspaper in the world.
Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), the parent company of The Straits Times, picked up a total of seven awards yesterday.
The New Paper won a silver award in the newspaper feature article category and a bronze for newspaper marketing.
Mr Jonathan Yeap, a photographer with Chinese news daily Lianhe Zaobao, won a silver award for sports photography.
The company's corporate communications team also clinched a gold award under the best in community service category for its See The Big Picture campaign.
The campaign, which was run by SPH last year to mark its 30th anniversary, culminated in an art exhibition by Briton Stephen Wiltshire, an autistic artist who drew Singapore's skyline from memory.
