Martin Liew Photography Blog

My Affinity For Panorama

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Recently I got hooked on panoramic photography again. I was searching my stuff on a book shelf and found a photography book on panorama, and it just struck me that I once did a roll of panorama back in 2006. Back then, I got the chance to borrow a classic HORIZONT panoramic camera from a friend of mine. It was certainly fun taking fotos with it but one main problem with this old Russian made camera is light leakage, otherwise mechanically it functions well.

So here's one best shot and my favorite shot, out of that roll of FujiFilm Superia 200 I took. I had posted the color version before.

Old and New Laughing Buddha

This photo was converted to black and white using Silver Efex Pro software, in which I used one of the pre-settings that I like as it gives more contrast and maintain details in the picture.

I recalled I bought a 35mm point-n-shoot panoramic film camera, Vivitar PN2011, shown below.

Well, in fact it's not really a 100% panoramic camera. It's made of plastic and serves more like a toy camera for a child. Basically, it has this quick switch that enables the camera user to switch from panoramic to normal standard picture taking mode. Easy to operate and focus-free, with fixated mechanical shutter speed of 1/125 second and a 28mm wide lens.

As you switch to panoramic mode, there's this curtain inside the camera that covers the top and bottom potions of the film, creating this so-called wide-screen format, as that of the movie film ratio aspect 16:9 format. As the shutter releases, the film is exposed just 13 x 36 mm on the center potion. Here are a few photos I took with this toy camera.

Racial Harmony

On A Road Trip

On Vesak Day

I want to get my hands on a swing lens panoramic camera again. I'm planning on getting a brand new Horizon Perfekt, which is the ideal panoramic camera for me. As a new and improved model to its predecessor, it has a wide range of shutter speed between 1/500 second to 1/2 second and aperture range of f/2.8 to f/16, enables the camera to be used in a variety of lighting conditions, even at night.

The camera's rotating lens achieves effective field angles of 120° horizontally and 45° vertically, which is the same as our human eyes view angle. With its lens focus length at 28 mm wide and its lens rotation, the images created are bound to be distorted, which personally I think, adds up to the creative process.

OK time to do some online shopping. Happy weekend!

On Reading...Update

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:31:00 +0000

I got back my Eye e City 2008 negatives yesterday afternoon. As I have worked as a volunteer and a facilitator for the Committee, as well as taking part in the meaningful event, I was priveleged and entitled to get 3 copies of Eye e City 2008. Yes it came as a nice surprise to me.

As I went through my negatives and digital photos on CD, I recalled I did take a shot of a Malay man reading newspaper under a shed, as shown below...
It was located at the Malay Heritage Center. Without saying, this shot is added in the On Reading project. I will keep on looking and shooting for this project and add on to the collection. When the time comes to select and edit for the best 100 photographs, I will tidy up the gallery on my website.

In case you have not viewed the rest of the photo collection, click here.

Nikon FM10 on Tamron 17-35mm with Ilford Super XP2. Developed and scanned by Shalom Color Lab.

The End of KODACHROME

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:21:00 +0000

Eastman Kodak Company announced on June 22, 2009 that it will discontinue sales of KODACHROME Color Film this year, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon. Check out their news here.

Personally I have never tried this transparency film before and would love to try out one roll. it's a pity it's coming to tis end and the price per roll is not cheap. I can still get couple of rolls from eBay, Adorama, or B&H. Alternatively, I can use Ektachrome E100VS which produces similar results but not as rich and vivid as Kodachrome.

My Exhibited Work @ Eye e City 2008 Photography Exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:12:00 +0000

Last Saturday I went down to Bras Basah Complex to check out my work @ Eye e City 2008 Photography Exhibition. I took up the Retrospective Challenge for the second time as it came naturally to be the ideal subject when I was really honored and delighted to join Eye e City committee in taking part to document the official closing down of New 7th Storey Hotel on 30 & 31 October 2008. In June 2008, news broke out that one of our oldest budget hotels is going to be demolished and make way for the new Bugis MRT line, Downtown Line One.

Here's the slideshow of the photographs I made. For better viewing, press F11 key for maximum screen display. Eleven out of those photographs are selected for the exhibition. The last shot was taken on the actual day of Eye e City 2008 event as the event terms stated. Therefore I do not have it as I have yet to collect my negatives back from the committee on 27 & 28 June 2009.

On these 2 days, Eye e City 2008 Book will be launched and participants can collect the book and their negatives and/or digital photos.

城市的眼睛 Eye é City 2008 Photography Exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:27:00 +0000

The book launch will be announced and released on another date. Below is the official e-poster from Eye e City Committee.

Postcards of Old Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:02:00 +0000

The old Capitol Theater. Year and date unknown.

In my earlier post, I posted on the event sessions organised and presented by National Museum of Singapore, on picture postcards and Chinese photo studios of the 20th century.

I want to talk more about the picture postcards in this blog. It comes to mind about whether people in this 21 century modern age, do collect postcards. Not only new ones but especially the old ones, particularly of our motherland, Singapore. Our country has came a long way since our independence in 1965 and it has changed so fast in its society, be it educational level, infrastructures, urban land development, etc. How many people do know abt this country's old past, way back when it was found or even further back in history. I doubt so even for myself.

At least at a certain point or level, we can get to know more about our country's past history through these old picture postcards, in which we and our younger generation are able to see how old Singapore once looked like.

I happened to have a few old picture postcards on a CDR that I kept in my database. I recalled that I had them scanned as digital files for "archival" purpose for an old ex-colleague. I thought I should show them here for all readers to see. It really occurred to me that upon seeing these postcards, no doubt there's nostalgia about them, but they make me feel like I have travelled back in time and realized that our country has certainly changed so rapidly that we are starting to loose our own self.

Let me know what you feel upon seeing these picture postcards.

I'll be starting to collect some of these old picture postcards and feature them here in my blog from time to time. So do come back and if you like my blog, you can subscribe via email or RSS.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a pleasant viewing.

Sultan Mosque @ North Bridge Road. Year and date unknown.

Cinema in Great World. Year and date unknown.

Chinatown area. Year and date unknown.

Picture Postcards of Singapore and Malaya

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:59:00 +0000

Following the highly successful series on Introduction to Singapore History in 2008, this new series of curatorial lectures highlights the latest research on the interpretation of cultural artefacts. Each week, the curators and guest speakers will use the Museum’s collections as a springboard to discuss ways of reading and interpreting these artefacts as well as understanding their contemporary relevance. In doing so, the lectures seek to provide an understanding of the role of history as a dynamic force in shaping museum's perspectives of artefacts and collections in the past and present.

Presented by National Museum of Singapore, below is the schedule for 2 out of 4programmes:

Saturday 2 May 2009
Picture Postcards of Singapore and Malaya

Speakers:
Iskander Mydin, Deputy Director (Curation and Collection) at National Museum of Singapore.

Dr. Koh Keng We, Curator at Documentation and Research Centre, Centre for International Collections at Alden Library, Ohio University.

Picture postcards emerged in the 19th century in Europe and soon became a world-wide phenomenon with the increasing popularity of photography as well. The picture postcard became a mass-produced commodity catering to the general population. In time, picture postcards also became collectible items. Picture postcards of Singapore and Malaya provided an easily accessible means of viewing the “exotic” landscape, people, and other areas of interest to a foreign audience. This lecture will feature ways of such visual representation of Singapore and Malaya in the 19th and 20th centuries as well as collecting perspectives. It will be based on the Museum’s collection of picture postcards.

Iskander Mydin is currently Deputy Director (Curation and Collection) at the National Museum of Singapore. His more recent works include the early colonial and World War II periods in the National Museum’s Singapore History Gallery. His research interests include the social history of the Malay community in Singapore, cultural history of Singapore and colonial art history with reference to historical paintings of the colonial period in Singapore.

Dr. Koh Keng We is currently a curator with the Documentation and Research Centre, Centre for International Collections at Alden Library, Ohio University. Dr. Koh holds a PHD in Southeast Asian History from the University of Hawaii. He has a wealth of experience in sourcing and collecting picture postcards.

Saturday 23 May 2009
Ephemeral Memories: Collecting Photographs by Early 20th Century Chinese Photo Studios in Singapore

Speakers:
Jason Toh, Curator at National Museum of Singapore.
Kelvin Lee, Private Collector.

This lecture will begin with a brief introduction into the history of Chinese photographic studios operating in Singapore during the early 20th century. Through works collected by the Museum, Curator Jason Toh will examine the rationale and collecting practices of public institutions. This will be followed by a presentation from a young private collector, Kelvin Lee. Through these two presentations, the participants will not just get a chance to see many visually interesting historical photographs but also learn about the similarities and differences between public and private photographic collections.

Jason Toh has been a curator at the National Museum of Singapore since 2004. He has curated Singapore themed exhibitions such as Port City (Singapore History Gallery), Photography Gallery (Singapore Living Galleries) and more recently, Weapons of Mass Desire, and written articles on Singapore photography. His upcoming projects include an exhibition on Singapore landscapes and a book on 19th century photographs of Singapore.

Kelvin Lee is the great-grandson of Lee Shui Loon (alias Lee Yin Fun), one the early leading Chinese photographers in Singapore from the 1890s to his death in 1935. He collects the works of the various studios associated with the Lee clan, which includes Koon Sun, Yong Fong, Tien Seng, Lee Brothers, Eastern Studio and others both in Singapore and the region.

For programme enquiries, please call (65)6332 3584 / 6332 4557.

Ticketing Information:
$15 for a single session
Concession rate is available to the National Museum members.

Counter SalesStamford Visitor Services Counter: 10am - 7.30pm
For enquiries, please call +65 6332 3659 / +65 6332 5642.

Thought you readers might be interested to attend these sessions. At least they sound interesting to me that I can find out and know more about the past history of Singapore.

Thank you for reading.

Twin Lens Reflex Camera Manuals

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:14:00 +0000

Recently I've received a message from a TLR usser loated in Malaysia. She jsut got herself a used TLR camera, a Shangahi TLR in fact. It's exactly the same model as I'm using for my night photography. On the other hand, I've received some messages in my Comments column for a article I wrote back in 2006, June 20 titled History of Seagull TLR Camera.

No doubt Seagull TLR camera is the cheapest and most affordable amongst famous brands like Yashica, Rolleiflex, Mamiya, to name a few. As most beginners who venture into medium format and got hold of one TLR camera, they do not what to do with it, not to mention those who have been shoting digitally in their beginning stage of photography.

So in kind response to help those new TLR users, I've decided to put up 2 original Seagull TLR camera manuals here in my blog. I hope the manuals can help them understand on the camera operation, as most of them bought their set second-hand and without the original manual. Here I posted the Shanghai TLR manual and one on Seagull-4A.

Do let me know if you have any further questions, and I'll try my very best to answer. Thank you for reading this blog and do come back for more upcoming blogs on my photographic work and experiences.

Late Night with Zheng Zhan Lun

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:06:00 +0000

I was hired by a friend to take some photography for her in Zheng Zhan Lun music showcase performance at The Esplanade Recital Studio last Friday night, 31 Oct 2008. The event was organised by TCR aka 弹唱人. My friend plays bass in the live band.

Zheng Zhan Lun (郑展伦) a.k.a. Ken Tay is an active figure in our local music, theatre and broadcasting scenes, Ken has released his own albums, singing some of the best Mandarin classics of our time (including such songs as My Love Will Fill Your Loneliness <我会用真心填满你的孤单>, and If You Happen To Be Thinking Of Me <如果你不小心想起我>, acted in plays such as the English and Mandarin versions of Private Parts <私处>, Army Daze <新兵小传>, I Have a Date with Spring <我和春天有个约会> and If There’re Seasons <天冷就回来>, the Beauty World <美世界> musical, local war-drama serial, The Price of Peace <和平的代价>, worked in local radio, been a judge in singing competitions such as Channel U’s Superstar talent contest, and performed a concert dedicated to xinyao (新谣).

To view the photographs of the concert, please visit my website here.

On Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:20:00 +0000

In September 2008 issue of Black & White Photography (UK edition) magazine, I came across André Kertész: On Reading.

André Kertész (1894–1985) is recognized as one of the world’s most significant and influential photographers. André Kertész: On Reading is a collection of 104 black-and-white photographs that highlight Kertész’s signature style of the visual poetry in everyday life. The photographs were taken during a 50-year period, beginning in 1925. By capturing individuals immersed in the act of reading in a variety of settings—parks, cafés, libraries, rooftops, backstage, street corners, trains, and bookstands–, Kertész uses the activity of reading as a constant motif for his narrative, which weaves in and out of public and private spaces. These observations form an engaging, and often amusing, study of the universal and captivating power of reading.

Upon reading and seeing his work, I was really inspired and thus I started out my own street photography project based on the same title. Though I can't compare my work with the great master amd not to mention of cliche photographs or being a copycat, nonetheless, I hope at the process of this project I would be able to develop a photographic signature style of my own, where my photographs create a strong visual communication to all viewers.

Here are 2 shots for viewing. To view more in my On Reading collection, please visit my website here. Thank you.

© Martin Liew Photography. All rights reserved.

Photo of the Day - $1 Chicken Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:05:00 +0000

Every little thing cost money and prices are rising everywhere. Today more ERP gantries in operation and it affects many people's businesses in some ways or another. In this period of time, most people would cut cost and trying to save as much as possible. but there are people who brain-stormed to get their business going with attractive promotions. This evening I came across this wall poster pasted on one of the bus-stop pillars - offering chicken rice at $1, only for ladies on Friday. Lucky for women, but what about men?

Street Photography in Penang, Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:56:00 +0000

Street Photography in Penang aka Eye Goes to Penang

It's been 2 months now since my last blog post entry. Time came for a short break from my busy work. I went on a 3D2N trip to Penang, Malaysia from 6th to 8th June 2008. This trip was soley organised by Eye e City committee. The main objective of this trip is as follows:

Link up with Nan Yang Folk Culture for a culture exchange
A chance for Eye participants to explore and capture a different perspective of Penang society and culture through our lenses
A chance to get to know other Eye participants

The guys at Nan Yang Folk Culture in Penang started the 24-hour year end photography project which later on was brought over to Singapore by Eye e City committee with the same idea. NYFC has shared with us on their past photography projects and a brief introduction and tour of Penang and its rich local culture, especially on their local Chinese heritage.

Frankly speaking, it was my first trip to Penang and I didn't know what to expect despite of the program highlights. Therefore I just relax and enjoy, and let nature take its own course.

Penang Island is an island off the west coast of Malaysia. It is located within Penang State, one of the smallest states in Malaysia - the second smallest state in Malaysia after Perlis. The name "Penang" itself comes from the colonial (Malaysia was under the British rule until 1957) way of pronouncing the original Malay name of the island, Pulau Pinang. The capital of Penang is George Town.

We took a 10-hour plus coach journey on 5th June Thursday night. Upon arrival at the local hotel on the next morning, we took some time travelling around Penang streets, free & easy on our own before meeting our "tour guide", Yeow Wooi. He's the man behind NYFC. Yeow Wooi took out spare time to show us around his office, his photography work and talked alot on local Chinese heritage and history. Though we were all really tired from those walkings under the super hot weather and of course lacked of sleep in the coach, we were still pretty excited to find out more about Penang and to take street photographs too.

In the night, we took off to attend the sharing session at Yeow Wooi's office, in a cosy meeting room. We got to meet many other Penang photography enthusiasts and artists as well. On the second day, we travel free & easy on our own again, in smaller separate groups, as we did not want to end up with everyone taking the same subjects. In the night, we went to attend a festive cultural show in conjunction with Dumpling Festival (端午节), held in one of the local Chinese temples, Da Bo Gong (大伯公庙). In the show, there are dances and music performances and lessons on the temple history and origins of Dumpling Festival. The show attracted many nearby local Chinese residents. The show was a success and the organiser is planning to stage another festive show on this upcoming Hungry Ghost Festival (中元节) in early August.

We left early on the next morning, and yes for yet another great ordeal i.e. 10-hour plus coach journey. Well in fact we got a detour to Kuala Lumpur, just to drop 2 passengers. Traffic there was chaotic and fortunately we got our of the place soon. Howsoever, we had to travel south towards the Causeway, where we got stuck in a serious traffic congestion for more than 2 hours. Eventually we reached back home safe and sound. Home sweet home!

Shown below are a few photographs I took of the streets. If you want to see more, please visit my website here.

Would love to go back there for more other interesting subjects. Enjoy.

Titibits Seller

Car Parked

Deserted School

Hin Company Ltd

All photographs shown here are solely copyright of Martin Liew. © June 2008 Martin Liew Photography.

All photographs were made with a Seagull 205 RF and a Konica Minolta point-&-shoot camera (which went dead after its first roll), on 1 roll of Kodak TMX400 and 3 rolls of Kodak BW400CN. Negatives are developed & scanned. Post-processed in Adobe Photoshop CS2 using Channel Mixer and simple Dodging & Burning techniques. For warm tone, I used tinted sepia toning.

Joanna Wang 王若琳 Showcase

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Joanna Wang 王若琳 Showcase

Date: 25 April 2008, Friday

Venue: Lunar @ The Cannery, Clarke Quay

The voice of Joanna Wang arrives to warm up the spirits of music lovers at Lunar @ The Cannery on 25 April 2008. Joanna has been gifted with unique jazz vocals that have earned her applause since her early teens. Now at the age of 18 years old, she enters the music scene with her first full-length English album, Start From Here features 12 tracks including renditions of classics like Spandau Ballet's TRUE and Billy Joel's New York State of Mind. Also included on this release is I Love You, Joanna's take on David Tao's popular ballad Love is Simple.

All shots are taken with Nikon D70s on Nikkor ED 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF DX VR (Courtesy of Stan, Shi Wei). All flashlights are not allowed during the show. All color fotos are converted to B&W and duo-toned in Photoshop.

Photo of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:20:00 +0000

Well I've never do this before and I'm doing it out of fun. So here it goes.

Took a few shots for the past 2 days with my 5mp Sony Ericsson cell phone camera and these are what I got.

Yesterday morning as I opened the house door, I was greeted with such beauty before me. I can't help myself but to grab my cell phone and capture it. Later on I left home for work, I had breakfast at this coffee shop, where they still charge 70cents for a cup of hot coffee. Since Tuesday 15 April, some coffee shop owners have had marked up the hot drinks price. I paid 90cents for a cup of hot coffee.

Well I did have a good breakfast, a fulfilling one. Well I'll try to take as many street snapshots with my phone camera as I can. Thay way I will not be missing any good shots, even though the result quality is not ideal. At least i get to take fotos and develop it as a daily focus discipline.

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:07:00 +0000

I just received an email from a fellow Eye e City committee member who posted a thread regarding this documentary film, Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens. It'll be showing in the upcoming 21st Singapore International Film Festival, starting 4 - 14 April 2008. For more details on the featured films, here's the agenda.

I've read about the film synopsis and have checked out on Annie's photographic work online. And I must say, her work is so unique. You can check out more of her photo gallery as well as her biography on Google Search.

This documentary about Annie Leibovitz, directed by her sister Barbara who gives the viewer a deeper insight into the woman who has produced some of the most iconic images of the last 30 years. Barbara Leibovitz's smart documentary piece on Annie follows her evolution from art school student to one of the most influential American photographers today.

Annie worked as the chief photographer of Rolling Stone in the 1970s; her shift to portrait artist for Vanity Fair provides the timeline for the film. She has shot the rich and famous, the scholarly and powerful, the prodigious and notorious. Her versatile subjects, be it rocker Keith Richards, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Hillary Clinton, are universal in their praise: when she is allowed to follow someone, she comes up with beautiful and illuminating shots.

Her camera has also captured the horrors of war in Sarajevo and Rwanda. Consummate at exposing her photographic subjects, Annie's own life has been private and shielded. In this film, the viewer gets to follow her on a personal journey and how she balances fame, family and the camera. Barbara visits Annie at the family's rural homestead, amid the latter's hectic work on a new photographic collection. She begins to reveal, on-camera, the many layers of her sister's personality and world view. The viewer will experience Annie's current work; her losses as well as her achievements. Her private life -- uncontrolled drug abuse, a relationship with Susan Sontag, raising three children as a single mother -- is touched on in Life Through a Lens.

Another gripping documentary film, 33 Days, directed by award-winning Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri. Mai takes us beyond the cold statistics and muted news stories and right into the gritty reality and the incredible courage demonstrated by the victims of war.

Filmed during the Israeli war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006, 33 Days features the real-life stories of four people: a theatre director working with children who took shelter in a theatre after their homes were destroyed, a frontline journalist for an underground television station, an aid worker who coordinated emergency relief efforts for thousands of displaced people, and a newsdesk director trying to cope with her new-born baby amid the destruction and chaos around her.

Through their creativity and courage, the film tells some of the untold stories of the survivors in Beirut.

OK I know this is not about photography but it's about film shows. So if anyone is keen in watching these 2 films, do let me know asap. I'll be booking the tickets soon. Hear you soon.

Holga Portraitures

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:33:00 +0000

Just want to share 2 of my Holga fotos which I took last month on the 17th. It was an organised outing with about 20 participating shutter bugs, taking turns to shoot on 3 models. The 2 young models here are Michelle and Pei Ling respectively. Obviously I missed out the first model, Angeline.

Michelle
© Feb 2008 Martin Liew Photography

Pei Ling
© Feb 2008 Martin Liew Photography

In my own practice, I would usually talk to my subject, and try to get to know them better in a way or other before starting to take their pictures. Taking a good example on my photography session with Mr Mohan outside the National Stadium. In this case, I didn't do what I supposed to do but just went ahead taking numerous shots with my DSLR. Until at a certain time, when I think I'm ready to use my Holga, as when the models are more warmed up and knows what to expect from me, presumably.

Somehow I still find there are something lacked in these fotos i.e. self trueness. Overall these images are still acceptable, passed on merely as snapshots taken with a toy camera.

Holga camera is famous for its bokeh (a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by its plastic camera lens) and strong vignettes. The camera model I used is the latest range with its lens made of glass (120GN). The strong vignettes that Holga camera produces, certainly creates a whole new appearance to an image, which some people love it or just hate it.

Comparing the bokeh between these 2 fotos, Pei Ling's image is more sharper than Michelle's. It all comes down to individual photographer's focussing distance judgement. Or unless I use a rangefinder lens to determine the actual focal distance and then adjust the Holga lens accordingly, which still in turn based on estimation and perhaps luck.

Apart from the technical aspects, I did not spend too much time post-processing except retouched on blemishes and added a tinted sepia for warmer tone.

Man in the Mirror

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:24:00 +0000

Man in the Mirror

I got this street photo by chance during an outing in Little India circa 2005. If I remember correctly I shot with a Seagull 205 rangefinder with a fixated 50mm lens. I think the film used was Ilford FP4 Plus. I wanted to get even more closer to the old man, but he turned his head around as he saw my reflection in the mirror, approaching in his direction.

Though the chair and table in the foreground are pretty distracting, somehow I think they serve as part of the elements in this photograph. It tells alot about the environment the old man was in. Actually they belongs to a kopitiam (coffee shop). The most important thing to me in this photograph is that expression the old man put up.

Missed Chances on a Beautiful Day

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:19:00 +0000

As the blog title speaks for itself. I was there, witnessed those special moments slipping by and I wasn't able to capture them with a camera, but only with my eyes. My eyes kept blinking as if I have had taken many snaps of the beautiful scenes before me.

This morning as I was moving out for work, heading my way towards Boon Keng Road, I have to use the CTE overhead bridge to cross over the other side. After completed the first flight of staircase, I saw before me two old folks; one old lady with a walking stick and behind her, an old man. They were taking every single step at a time with cautions, balancing themselves and finally reached the platform. I'm sure they are a lovely old couple.

That very moment as I saw them climbing the stairs, with the bright warm morning sky and beautiful clouds formation, touched me deeply. I could have make a few good exposures. I stood right behind them, petrified. I took a clear look at that scene for almost half a minute. Well I smiled and blinked my eyes. That scene was captured in my memory and it's still vivid as I'm writing this. It really hard to come by this golden opportunity but what the heck! This is Life and I love it!

Guess I spoke too soon. While waiting for my bus at the bus-stop, I saw an old man riding on a bicycle with a little boy sitting in front of him. The boy is cute with small little beady eyes. He was rubbing his eyes as if he had not sleep enough. I blinked my eyes again. Moment captured in my memory which somehow brought back fond memories. I remembered when I was a kid, I used to sit behind my Dad's bicycle every morning, riding all the way to Grandma's place at the old Kallang kampung area. Dad used to work there, in Grandpa's boat factory. How nostalgia!

Next missed chance came along. My bus arrived and I took seats on the upper deck and there, sitting in front of me, was an Indian fellow with his headphone on. His hands pressed and held on it to listen hard to his favorite tunes. He rested his left cheek on his left palm and looking out the sceneries as the bus rode on. Those fingers, hand and side view of his face, somehow showed that he's indulged and engrossed in his own world. To me that moment was special. Well all I could do was to observe and see.

I'll look forward for a better tomorrow and better photo opportunities when I hit the street with my rangefinder camera.

A Day @ Sentosa Flower Festival 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:35:00 +0000

I was out with two of my friends at the Sentosa Flower Festival 2008 last Sunday, 10 Feb. I arrived really early at about 8:15am despite the Fest opens at 9am. I travelled by the monorail from VivoCity and alighted at Imbiah Station.

After looking around for a while, I decided to take my first shot of the gigantic Merlion structure and the floral decorations.

Well one can consider this as a warm-up shot. I continue to explode around the area for more ideal subjects. Then I came across these giant man-made swans which are made up of white flowers. Don't ask me of the flower name which I know nuts about them. Here's the shot I took.

OK I do not own any macro lens. I took with me 2 lenses on that day i.e. Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8. Yeah I know. Of cuz you think I had brought the wrong lenses there. Well here are 2 close-up shots extracted from one single photo. Just playing around with different compositions.

Well initially I wanted to take floral pictures but I don't wanna end up taking those same old flowers again as I had took in 2005. So I decided to look out for something different i.e. the people who visit the place. In the end, there wasn't any interesting subjects or scenes to take. So I took another still life shot of this water fountain.

Well that's all I had take for that day with my Nikon D70s. I brought along my Seagull rangefinder as there's a roll of film inside, which contains shots from Malacca and Chinese New Year relative gathering on first Lunar New Year day.

I'll post some of those photographs here soon.

My Malacca Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 03:22:00 +0000

I went to Malacca last December, 2 days prior to Christmas Day, for a short trip with 2 of my friends. We booked one of the local hostel, Twenty Guest House, located near the entrance of Jonker Street. It was a 2 days 1 night stay. It meant to be a get-away trip for us all, and at the same time a photographic trip. I wanted to travel light so I brought my Seagull 205 Rangefinder and a couple of extra 35mm color negative films. Oh yes! I brought my HOLGA 120GN too, for some fun shots.

So here are the street photographs I took on the color negatives. I'll update the photos from my HOLGA once ready. All photographs are scanned and converted to B&W with light sepia toning, in Photoshop. Hope u enjoy viewing them as much as I made them.

Day 1 - 23 Dec 2007, Sunday:

Parking Jeep

After we had checked in the hostel, we were very hungry. We spotted one of the famous Hainanese Chicken Rice stalls with long queue and decided to try out Zhong Hua Cha Shi (中华茶室) on their famous chicken riceballs. They taste good - the authentic Hainanese chicken rice. Yummy!

After the meal, we take a walk along the street, exploring the area for some good street photographs. The photo above is one of the first few photos I took. Though the weather was blazing hot, it provides excellent lighting for photography.

Malacca Trishaw Rider

This is one of the famous tourist attractions - trishaw decorated with vibrant flowers. I was lucky to take this shot. We were walking along Temple Street and as I turned around my back I saw this trishaw rider was riding with his passengers, coming in my direction. Fortunately I had set my rangefinder camera in advance, so I lifted it up and snapped! This is the fun part of street photorgaphy, especially when using a rangefinder camera.

Peace Fool - graffitti outside a tattoo parlour

Next, I came across this graffitti right beside a tattoo parlour. the wooden door was painted in green color, hand in yellow with the bandaged finger in red. I like the color combination as it reminds me of Bob Marley and a country flag colors. If you know or heard of Bob Marley, you'll know what I mean.

Parking Trishaw

As we walked farther down Temple Street, I saw this parked trishaw outside what-it-seems-like a shop. It's the Trishaw Association Company, I think. This is me taking the shot.

Courtesy of Stan, Shiwei

The hot weather certainly dehydrated us alot. I was thristy and as we reached the 2 temples, I saw this drink stall parked by the road side. The drink seller is selling herbal tea and other cooling drinks like waterchest nut drink, etc. It costs 1 Ringgit (50 cents) per cup. Ah...! The waterchest nut drink certainly quenched my thrist. Later I asked the drink seller if I can take photo of him. He just smiled and does his work. So I did a few quick shots. This is one of them.

Drink Seller

After a short rest, we continued to walk down the street, in search of more interesting things to shoot. What a surprise! We came across Malacca's famous shoemaker store, Wah Aik Shoemaker. They are famous for the making of traditional bound feet shoes, which they claimed that they are the one and only store that still making it, not only in Malaysia or Southeast Asia but the whole world. Even in China, there isn't anyone making it. This trade/heritage is dying off as no young generations are willingly to learn and make.

Wah Aik Shoemaker Store. Courtesy of Vivien Lee.

This is how a pair of bound feet shoes looks like. A pair of bound feet shoes measures at 3-inches in length from tip to heel. Well all this heritage has to trace back to history which I won't elaborate here.

Bound Feet Shoes on my palms. Courtesy of Stan, Shiwei.

Let's meet the owner and shoemaker, Mr Raymond Yeo. This craft and skill has been passed down for three generations. Currently the business is managed by Mr Yeo and his elder brother.

Mr Raymond Yeo, the shoemaker.

Mr Raymond Yeo at work.

Mr Yeo serving customers.

We chatted with Mr Yeo on the history and business of bound feet shoemaking before we bid farewell. We continued our walk and suddenly we craved for the local famous dessert, Chendol. We stopped by this stall that sells really good tasty nyonya chendol. One cup costs 2 ringgit (about one SGD). The boss told us that they use gula melaka (dark brown coconut sugar) and pure coconut milk, which are undiluted, for their chendol. It's not too sweet and blends nicely with red beans & jelly. Very refreshing! So far this is the best chendol I have ever tasted.

Nyonya Cendol and Coconut Drinks

Best Nyonya Cendol in Malacca.

Later on, the rest of the guys went on to buy the local famous biscuit，“豆沙饼”. Too bad I didn't manage to get any photos. We went back to the hostel to keep those biscuit and rest for awhile before we moved out again to next location i.e. Portugese Settlement, for some sunset photography.

On impromptu, we stopped by at St Paul Cathedral building, one of the tourist sites in Malacca. It's located right on the hill top next to the main road. Upon reaching the top, I bummed into a painter. His name is Martin. I took a closer look at his work and he was doing up a new painting. I decided to have a chat with him. He looked up and smiled at me.

Chatting with the Painter. Courtesy of Vivien Lee.

We chatted for awhile before I asked for his permission to take some photographs of him. He seemed to be relunctant even though he agreed so. Therefore I took a few quick shots.

Martin the Painter at work.

Martin the Painter.

We started to go our way to explore the area for more photography opportunities. There are street buskers and flea market sellers around. Many tourists and including the locals came all the way here for family day outings during the festive holiday.

Taking photograph of a street busker. Courtesy of Vivien Lee.

Street busker singing Bob Dylan's "Knocking On The Heaven's Door" .

I came across another artist, an old man by the name of Francis. A chatty old folk who was talking to a young lad and his group of friends. As I approached nearer and squatted down, he noticed me and smiled at me. "Go ahead! You can take as many photos as you like!", he said it out abruptly. I just smiled back at him. Then he turned his attention to me and started to talk about his artwork and even asked me where I came from. In the end, I took a few shots and this is one of them.

Francis the old painter.

After asking for directions and reading the map, we somehow decided to walk to the Portugese Settlement. You wouldn't believe it. It was the craziest idea! After a few minutes' walk on the busy street with heavy traffic, we thought that the distance is way too far. We tried to hail a taxi but in vain. We were standing right outside this Club and there was a car with 2 guys, drove up leaving the place. It stopped at the entrance.

For the last resort, my friend approached them for direction and asked if they can give us a lift to the Portguese Settlement. They gladly agreed. Whoa! we did actually hitch-hiked a ride. Fortunately we arrived at our destination safe and sound. My personal advice: never hitch-hike a ride in yr overseas trip for yr own safety. You never know what will happen. Never take that risk. Well for us, we were lucky. Based on the car journey and distance, we wouldn't be able to reach there on time for sunset shoot. We were really lucky to meet those 2 kind guys.

After staying there for an hour or so for the sunset, we decided to go back to Jonker Street for dinner. We had a good meal at an authentic Nonya Restaurant. After dinner, my friends suggested to go for spa and we went into Hotel Puri to check it out. To our surprise, there was a Christmas carol going on. Well we wouldn't want to miss this opportunity for a few good shots. Here's mine.

Christmas Carol @ Hotel Puri

To their disappointment, the hotel spa service was closed for the day so they decided to go for foot reflexology. I didn't join them but we had supper after their one-hour session. After the meal, we continued to walk around for a little sight-seeing of the night street market til its closing time. Our last stop was at a pub on a quiet street. We had drinks and a nice chat before we called it a day and retired to our hostel room for cool shower and good night sleep.

In the next morning, we had breakfast in-house, provided by the hostel. Simple bread with fruit jam and hot coffee. Over the warm breakfast, we discussed for the day's program. The other 2 fellows decided to go back for more foot reflexology after some walk-around shootings at Christ Church Melaka area.

Trishaw Rider, resting

Christ Church Melaka

Flying High In The Sky

Sun burst over Church

Our group photo (in clockwise from right): Vivien Lee, Stan and me.

Later on we visited a photography gallery and had Melaka Laksa and Chendol for lunch. Lastly, Vivien and Stan went back for foot reflexology and as for me, this time I decided to try body massage on my back. Whoa! It was really good though painful. I felt much better after the session and the following days to come.

Finally we walked back to the pick-up point at Hyatt Hotel and waited for our coach. Overall it was a good short trip which I really enjoyed.

Eye e City 2007 - Preliminary Selection

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 14:24:00 +0000

This morning I went to Bras Basah Complex for Eye e City Preliminary Selection of my photographs. Well I always want to have control on my own work and I know what i wanted and got the kind of pictures I wanted, so I had selected the "best shots" in advance last night. I did all the essential write-ups for the selected photographs as well. This year Eye e City committee launched a new challenge, A Visual Retrospective of the Year - an open call for a set of photographs reflecting and depicting the year's events and happenings, which I confidently took up the challenge Participants of Eye Challenge should submit a set of photo-essay (4 - 12 frames) taken anytime during the year, but at least one frame captures on the last day of the year. The partcipant is free to decide on the scope and subject of the photo-essay.

Below are the photographs I selected i.e. 2 individual single shots and a set of 5 photos with photo-essay. The topic or theme for the Retrospective challenge I chose was Singapore National Stadium. Yes I dug out all the photos I took within the year 2007, and I remembered I made lotsa photographs of our National Stadium. Well most were taken in medium format with my TLR camera. Nonetheless, I did take a roll of 35mm color negative with my Nikon FM10, night photography at the stadium. I did attend the official closing ceremony event held on 30 June 2007, Saturday. I was lucky as my friend got an extra ticket to the event and I was delighted to accept the offer. So here are the set of photographs of our National Stadium. Pleasant viewing and reading.

Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall

The Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall (Chinese: 孙中山南洋纪念馆). also known as Wan Qing Yuan(Chinese: 晚晴园), and formerly as Sun Yat Sen Villa (Chinese:孙中山故居) is a double-storey colonial villa at Ah Hood Road, off Balestier Road. The villa is now a museum commemorating Dr Sun Yat Sen who visited Singapore eight times between 1900 and 1911.

The museum is closed for renovation since 1st May 2007. I was walking along Balestier Road and thought of dropping by to check out the venue. Of course the main gate is locked with notice signboard hanging on it. Minutes after I took this shot, a lorry pulled up right behind me. They are the exterminators, coming to "smoke" the mozzies. So I have to leave.

Unchanged Melody - Mr Chen, construction worker

This is Mr Chen from Jiang Xi China. He works as a construction worker at a nearby construction site that builds new condominiums named Pavilion (in the background). I happened to bum into him while I was walking up to this grass field area right behind the old Balestier Road Market (defunct). As I walked towards Mr Chen, he looked up at me and said with a smile, "Taking photos?" in Mandarin. He sounds friendly and I replied, "Yes I am." He stood up and started to chat with me.

I asked Mr Chen what is he doing on this grass field. He was told to patch up the whole field with new grasses, to make it more greener. Later on we talked about his homeland, China and his hometown, about life living in China and Singapore, work, etc. He has been working in Singapore for 2 years. The construction company he's working for, employs mainly Chinese foreign workers. After our 30 - 40 minutes conversation I asked for his permission if I can take pictures of him. He was shy and kind of relunctant at first, so I convinced him that I'll print and send him the photos as his souvenirs. He gladly agreed.

Photo-essay: Unchanged Melody - Mr Jimmy Chin, iron welder

Mr Jimmy Chin, the iron welder at work

Mr Jimmy Chin, chatting with me

Mr Jimmy Chin's hands

Mr Jimmy Chin and his workshop

Eye Chanllenge: A Visual Retrospective of the Year (2007) - Singapore National Stadium

Bridge to Stadium

Ticket Booth

West Entrance 1

West Entrance 2

Soccer Match

Spectator

Kallang Way

Lights Off for Countdown

Fireworks

Ice-cream Man

Last Glimpse 1

Last Glimpse 2

The Singapore National Stadium (Chinese: 国家体育场; Malay: Stadium Nasional Singapura) is located in Kallang. Opened in 19 July 1973, the National Stadium was used for many sporting, cultural, entertainment and national events, such as the Southeast Asian Games (when it was hosted in Singapore), the Singapore Armed Forces Day, the Singapore Youth Festival Opening Ceremony Parade, and the finals of the 2004 Tiger Cup. The National Stadium has been the venue for the National Day Parade 18 times (in 1976, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996 to 1999, 2001 to 2004, and 2006).

Plans have been made to demolish the stadium in the second half of 2007 but due to some reasons, it was delayed. The stadium has to make way for the new multi-purpose Singapore Sports Hub which is expected to open in 2011. Before its closure, the Singapore Sports Council organised a photography competition to commemorate the stadium.

On 30 June 2007 a closing ceremony titled Field of Dreams - A Tribute to the National Stadium was held at the National Stadium. 45,000 people attended the event, together with our President S.R. Nathan, members of the Cabinet and Singapore athletes, past and present. Before the ceremony, a soccer match featuring ex-internationals from Singapore and Malaysia like Quah Kim Song, T. Pathmanathan,Samat Allapitchay,V. Sundramoorthy, David Lee, Dollah Kassim, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Chow Siew Wai and K. Gunalan was played. was played.

The match was followed by the highlight of the evening, an international friendly match between ASEAN champions Singapore and the Asian Cup bound Australian team, the Socceroos. Next was the countdown to fireworks and an all-night dance party with Zouk's DJs. The closing event certainly relived many fond memories for many Singaporeans, especially to all soccer fans.

As for me, the stadium certainly attracts me to take photographs with some of the night photographs I took in early April 2007, including the closing ceremony event in June. On the last day of 2007, I took the last few photographs in the day for the last glimpses of our National Stadium.

Eye e City 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:30:00 +0000

31st Dec 2007, the day Eye e City held its annual documentary photography event island wide. I took part for the 3rd time and I must say it was a tremendous year for me, and I certainly looking forward to this wonderful new year!

Back on track, I got plans on subjects I wanted to photograph. Howsoever, it turned out more challenging than I expected. I did some evaluations on some chosen subjects, whether they are the ideal ones in this documentary event. Well it's not necessary to work things out this way but personally I just wanted to focus more on the more important aspect and objective of this event. Well I don't try to sound too seriously or stressed up. It's the way I work things, doing my very best each time, and to improve and learn from each experience.

For this year's event, I covered mainly in my neighborhood area i.e. Balestier area and Whampoa Drive area. The farthest place I went was National Stadium, where I took a few last photographs before it's gonna be demolished and make ways for a grand new one. In fact it wa a good time for me to take a closer look around my neighborhood. So here are the 27 photographs I took. Pleasnt viewing.

The new Whampoa Makan Place

Reconstruction of shop house 1

Reconstruction of shop house 2

Balestier Road Market (defunct)

Mr Chen, the construction worker 1

Mr Chen, the construction worker 2

Mr Chen, the construction worker 3

Mr Chen, the construction worker 4

Mr Chen, the construction worker 5

Mr Chen, the construction worker 6

Mr Chen, the construction worker 7

Protected Tree 1

Protected Tree 2

Reconstruction of shop house - behind the scene

Mr Jimmy Chin, the iron welder 1

Mr Jimmy Chin, the iron welder 2

Mr Jimmy Chin, the iron welder 3

Mr Jimmy Chin, the iron welder 4

Mr Jimmy Chin, the iron welder 5

Wan Qing Yuan - Dr Sun Yat Sen Memorial Museum.

It's closed down for a major renovation since 1st May 2007

New Connector

Last Glimpses of National Stadium

Last Glimpses of National Stadium - West Entrance

Racer on Mini-Motor Racer Bike

Family Outing on New Year Eve

A Plate of Satay

The Last Stick of Satay

Happy New Year to all! Happy 2008!

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:01:00 +0000

Well it had been a great 2007 and a busy one udring the year end period. The last blog I posted was in November 2007. Whoa! so much to catch up and post up more blogs here. Well I'll try my utmost best to post more in this new year. I would like to thank all readers for yr support and patience in reading my blogs. I greatly appreciate. I hereby wish everyone a Happy New Year and may all yr dreams come true this year.

New posts coming soon! Cheers!

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 14:18:00 +0000

Kelong

My first roll of Fujichrome Velvia 50

noreply@blogger.com (Martin Liew) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:49:00 +0000

Production of Velvia 50 was halted at the beginning of 2005 when vital raw materials used in the production of the emulsion became unavailable. The re-launch of Velvia 50 is a further illustration of Fujifilm's continued commitment to the production and promotion of professional film.

I read about the news in a photography magazine, in which Charlie Waite, one of the renowned British landscape photographers, reviewed and compared the new with the old. Here's his verdict:

My conclusion is that the new Velvia 50 is by a whisker slightly warmer, albeit aided and abetted by magenta. I made an image in a lit landscape setting (old Velvia) and intentionally in the same place with a 50% overcast setting (new Velvia) and was keen to note the changes. I concluded that I would be more than happy to live with either and it would be churlish to suggest a marked difference between the two. Resolution and definition is unchanged - still terrific.

Likes: Fine grain, punchy colors, terrific resolution and definition, extra warmth

Dislikes: None really, but I will be intrigued to see how new Velvia 50 performs with extreme backlit greens, which is about the only area where the old Velvia was weak.

So I bought myself a roll (120) to try out. The price is $8.50 per roll (120 format). I'll put up the images I made, soon. Do come back and keep a look out. If you'd like to know of my updated posts, do let me know so I can add you in my mailing list.