Water Reflection

Water Reflection

© 2005 Martin Liew

Water Reflection

I came across this water fountain at The Esplanade Park, formerly known as Queen Elizabeth Park. The fountain is named after a very wealthy but generous merchant, Tan Kim Seng who was the first Chinese magistrate in Singapore. His numerous contributions to the society include the suppression of the secret society riots in 1854 between the Cantonese and the Hokkien communities. First unveiled in Fullerton Square, this beautiful Victorian-style fountain was built to commemorate Tan Kim Seng's generous cash donation in 1857 to improve Singapore's water supply. The memorial was later moved to Battery Road in 1905 and to its present location in 1925.

I was attracted by one of the four cherub statues as shown above; not by its own structure but its own water reflection. Here I tried to compose it in a subtle way as possible by showing the full body reflection in the water and its leg or body cropped in half on the upper frame. It was a challenge to compose and make the exposure with a TLR. The result is still acceptable. I'll go back for a few more attempts to get the desired result I wanted.

Shanghai TLR • KODAK TMAX400 • 3min 40secs

POINT TO WATCH

• I could have waited for the spotlights to go off as they certainly caused much distraction. On the other hand, without the spotlights, there'll be no lights shining on the cherub statue, in turn reflected back in the water.

• There are certainly a number of ways to get the right exposure after the spotlights go off. Either use a flashlight to pop some lights on the statue alone on a reasonable range where it's enuff to reveal some details back to the water reflection OR shine a strong searchlight on a light reflector to serve as diffused light on the statue. Well it can take quite some work to get it done successfully.