Boardwalk
© 2006 Martin Liew Photography
Good evening fellow night dwellers! The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been far-reaching and hard-hitting, forcing Singapore to adopt harsher social distancing measures, as well as the Stay-At-Home restriction. While being confined in my comfortable home, I tried to keep myself occupied with household chores, watching TV, surfing the internet, and doing some home static exercises. Have to keep fit and stay healthy, you know.
Out of the blue, I went through my photo archive this afternoon and came across many old past night photographs which I made 15 years ago. It is this black and white photo of the Changi Boardwalk (shown above), somewhere near the Changi Sailing Club if I remember correctly. It was made in early April 2006.
I chose this location spot because of the high contrast between the lights and casted shadows. Mood set in as the cool sea breeze brushed across my face. Three bracket exposures were made with a slight shifting of camera position for a different composition. The light trails in the distant night sky were caused by a commercial airplane launching or landing at Changi Airport runway. The horizontal light streaks were perhaps caused by passing ships, I think.
The photo was made with a Shanghai TLR camera on Kodak TMAX 400. Back then I didn't know how to do my own film development. Can't remember which photo lab I sent it to. Anyway, I did my own negatives scanning on EPSON V700. After some retouching to remove dust and scratches followed by Burn and Dodge in some parts, this is the final result.
Yes, it would be better to print the negative in the traditional darkroom on high-quality photo paper. Though I have some basic skills and knowledge in darkroom printing, I'll consider doing it in the future. For now, I just want to share this photograph with you. I'll continue to look up to my photo archive and see what other old night photographs are worth sharing.
Meantime, stay safe and healthy.
