Twin Cupolas
© 2007 Martin Liew Photography
Most local Singaporeans would recognize these twin cupolas or maybe some, I reckon. In the wee hours on 7th January 2007, Saturday, I visited the Fort Canning Cemetery just to make night photographs of these twin cupolas.
A cupola is a light structure on a dome or roof, serving as a belfry, lantern, or belvedere. The twin cupolas were built before 1958, for the tomb of Mr. George Dromgold Coleman at Fort Canning Cemetery. He served as Colonial Architect in Singapore from 1826 to 1841, the first Government Superintendent of Public Works (1833-1841), and became a consultant to Sir Stamford Raffles on the 1822-1823 Town Plan of Singapore.
Upon reaching this location spot, the surrounding ambiance was pretty low. The main light source came from the building, Fort Canning Arts Center, to the right of the twin cupolas. The brightly lit interiors of the cupolas were fired from a portable manual flashlight, while the shutter was opened for 9 minutes. More than enough time for me to go around the other side of the cupolas, and fire two flashlights on each cupola ceiling. This was to create an evenly bounced light for the interiors.
In fact, I made two exposures with which the first one without flashlight and the second one as shown above. I prefer the second exposure for its three-dimensional effect.
