A Chair & A Ladder
© 2009 Martin Liew Photography
Good evening! In my last blog I mentioned about posting a couple of night photographs with which I made on the same night on 23rd May 2009, Saturday. So here's one and let me share with you on the making of this night photograph.
Seletar Camp was formerly the site of the largest British Royal Air Force (RAF) base in the Far East. Plans to redevelop the Seletar area for Singapore’s aerospace needs were announced in 2006. Work on the project began in 2007 and is expected to complete by 2018. Helmed by JTC, the proposed Seletar Aerospace Park project was carried out on some 140 hectare of land. When completed, the park will serve as a key centre for aerospace activities such as the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft engines.
Some of the proposed changes to the area include lengthening the existing runway at Seletar Airport and building a new airport control tower. To make way for these changes, some parts of Seletar Camp were demolished or shut down, including the Seletar Base Golf Course, one of the few golf courses open to the public. The members-only Seletar Country Club, on the other hand, remains open. One hundred and seventy-four out of the 378 colonial black-and-white bungalows were demolished to make way for redevelopment.
While the economic downturn in 2009 had affected the Seletar Aerospace Park project, measures taken by the JTC, such as extending expired leases to companies occupying the site, helped to put the project back on track when the economy recovered. It was during this time period, I visited the place. Some buildings were abandoned and left empty which could be preparation for the redevelopment. The doors to the abandoned buildings were left opened and I went in to explore.
It was so pitch dark that I couldn't see my own fingers. I brought along a powerful LED flash light with which I was able to find my way around. I took the stairs to the second floor and there I saw this damaged chair at the end of the corridor, right outside a bunker. Behind the chair, a wooden ladder leaned against the wall. In that instant, I knew this set-up would be good for photography. No shifting or re-arrangement of the chair and ladder was made. I wanted to make photographs as I saw it.
Quickly I set up my tripod and mounted the camera to get the desired composition. Then I paused and thought of ways to make the first exposure. It was pitch dark and leaving the shutter open on Bulb mode is a must. The crucial part is how to light the subjects. If you take a closer look at the above photograph, you can see obviously where the shadows fall and where the light source came from.
Yes I walked into the bunker with the strobe, stood about one and a half meter away from the door frame. There, I pointed at the chair and fired two flashes. Next I walked up to the door frame, still remained out of sight from the camera, I switched on my LED flash light set at a lower lumen power and started to light paint the wooden ladder for about a minute. The shutter was still opened until I closed it at a stop time of 3 minutes 30 seconds.
So that's it. That was how this night photograph was made. In the following month, I came back to this place on every weekend for more night photography. I brought my digital SLR camera and other useful light painting tools. Many successful photographs were made, including this damaged chair.
I hope you enjoy my night photography work. Good night.
