Light-painting in the Day

Capitol Theater

© Martin Liew Photography

Last Sunday I gathered two of my friends to join me for the exploration of the old Capitol Theater located near City Hall MRT Station. I was there a day earlier for location recce. Some of the pictures I took with my mobile phone camera can be seen on my other blog site.

It's more than 10 years since the last time I visited the theater for movie screenings. It comes as a big thrill to me and I would like to share with you the pictures I've made. So come on in for some visual treats.

Night Photography with a Mystery Guest

Hereafter

© Martin Liew Photography

In early July, I received a message from a friend via Facebook. I was informed of his second trip to Singapore in early August. Yes he was in town last week and I showed him around. To my surprise, he discovered this abandoned dilapidated house (shown above), near the hotel he stayed. Make the jump and find out who our mystery guest is.

Where have I been?

Abandoned House

© Martin Liew Photographer

Where have I been for the past 6 months? Not a single blog posted here for more than 6 months. Yes! This is really outrageous I know! Am I slacking? No I am not. I was busy with my digital portraiture projects; doing mainly fashion photography. Check out my new work over at my website. I've always consistently looking for inspirations and never forget about nocturne photography.

Here's the new updates for you readers out there. The last nocturne outing was held in May 2011. Two friends had joined me that night and it's my pleasure to showcase their work here. Make the jump to find out more.

New Tool for Light-painting (A New Upgrade)

About a week ago, I placed an order for this wonderful LED flash light, FENIX TA21 which I just collected it yesterday. This flash light comes with 12 modes of light output, with the lowest light power at 4 Lumens to the maximum of 225 Lumens. At 225 Lumens, it is pretty strong. Its cree XR-E LED (Q5)  has a lifespan of 50,000 hours.

Previously I was looking at FENIX TK40, but I find it is way too strong and powerful for my nocturne photography. I consider getting a TA21 as a new upgrade and partly because I want to travel light.

More details after the jump.

Laser Pointer, a Light-painting Experiment

This is a follow-up to a blog I wrote on a green laser pointer which can be used as a good light-painting tool. I didn't really make as many experiment shots with it, but just one I did during the Singapore Night Hunt photo-marathon contest. See the result for yourself inside.

Dwell In The Night (A Short Film Trailer)

Lurking...

© Martin Liew Photography

OK you might ask what does a short film trailer got to do with night photography. Make the jump as I explain.

Singapore Night Hunt Experience + 1 Good News

Sound of Darkness

© 2010 Martin Liew Photography

Tonight I'm going to share with you on my Night Hunt experience. Last Saturday night, there were reportedly about 160 participants turned up at City Square Mall for the first ever night photography marathon contest solely organized by Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF). Upon seeing the people who turned up and the sight had my friends and I all jazzed up and ready for the great fun and excitement that awaits us.

Follow me as I share more of my night adventures.

First Night Photography Marathon + 1 Film Screening

Singapore International Photography Festival aka SIPF has organized the first ever Night Photography Marathon event, called Singapore Night Hunt. With Canon as the main sponsor, I wouldn't be surprise about this photo marathon event. It could be similar to Canon's Photo-marathon concept. Anyway I have registered for this event and I really like to see how it goes. I wouldn't miss this fun and exciting event as long it's related to night photography. Registration and details can be found from the link above.

Looking at the event poster image, I believe they are looking for more artistic, creative and contemporary style of night photos, if not just mere snap shots of night street photos or urban landscape at night with some creativity of course. All subject to their themes or topics set on that night. I'm looking forward to this event and will update in my blog on my experience.

For those who are keen to take part, I think registration is still open and the non-refundable fee is SGD$20. As some fellows commented that Canon photo-marathon registration fee is just SGD$10 and why is this night event so costly. As a complimentary, SIPF gave out free tickets to one of their film screenings titled, A Sense of Place for just one night. The screening was held last night at The Moving Image Gallery, SAM at 8Q. No worries as there'll be a second screening this coming Sunday afternoon. More details from the second link above.

Talking about the film, it gives an insight to the creative processes and working methods of 6 contemporary photographers. The first clip showcased is Todd Hido on his Night Studio. I came across Todd name during the first SIPF in 2008. I was attending a night photography talk conducted by Shannon Castleman and she mentioned Todd Hido. I didn't pay much attention to his work then, but after watching his video clip, I'm starting to appreciate his work.

Here's a video clip from YouTube in which Todd was interviewed and talked about his work and creative process. Pity the video is cut off right towards the end and couldn't find the second half. Check it out if you will. For those who received this blog as an email, visit my blog site to view the video clips.

Here's another video on American Beauty by Stephen Shore, This video was shown in the film screening last night. There is a beauty in his artistic work which I find it helpful in shaping and reviewing one's own vision and artistic direction in pursuit of one's own photography project, which in turn will develop one's own style. For this I think it's important in night photography.

Well I hope these 2 photographers' work would inspire you. Do come back for my Night Hunt experience which should be up by early next week.

Night Photography Outing with Troy Paiva & friends

75 Loewen

© 2010 Martin Liew Photography

OK here I am, writing this blog about the night photography outing with Troy Paiva and friends. How do I begin? It was the most amazing, exciting and fun night outing I ever had. An unforgettable experience doing nocturnes with Troy!

Make the jump for the night adventure.

A Great Surprise!

October 11 2010, Monday was the greatest and exciting day for me. I went to work as usual , pretty refreshing after recovering from a cold. I checked my mail box and to my great surprise, I received an email from one of my favorite and greatest night photographers.

Make the jump to find out who is the night photographer.

A Walk in the Garden

© 2010 Martin Liew Photography.

I took a walk in Toa Payoh Garden this evening. It's been a long time since my last visit. I arrived at about 7:00 PM and the lamps were just lit on. I've passed by this Garden many times from work all the way to the Bus Interchange but didn't make effort to walk over.

Walk with me, if you will.

'Art of Dark Craft' - A Night Photography Talk Session @ SAM

Photographs © 2010 Martin Liew Photography

This month Singapore Art Museum presents Digital Nights @ SAM as part of the first edition of Digital Nights 2010, a grand showcase of visual and digital arts. Starting from 17th September to 26th September.

Good news is, I'll be giving a talk under their titled event,  'Art of Dark Craft', where I'll be sharing my photography work and experience, and perhaps some night photography tips & techniques. The talk will be held at the Chapel @ SAM on 24th September 2010, Friday night from 7:00PM to 9:00PM. It's a free event and open to public. If you are keen to learn night photography, do come down with your camera and tripod. Hope to see you guys there.

For more details on Digital Nights 2010, please click here.

Laser Pointer, a Light-painting Tool Part 2

Last week I got myself a new light-painting tool. I bought a green laser pointer for S$52 as a set in which it comes with a free AAA size battery and a diopter lens adaptor. The diopter lens adaptor is this smudgy opaque lens that distorts the laser beam and creates some wonderful effects when fix onto the laser pointer beam head. Jump right in to see some of the results.

"Scott, beam me in!"

Location Recce: Nissen huts

Last week I went for a location recce of these abandoned Nissen huts in the northern area. To my great disappointment, the whole vicinity is locked up and no entrance or whatsoever is possible.

Read more on the Nissen hut story.

A Night at the Railway Station

A couple of weeks ago, I went to KTM Railway Station a.k.a. Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. As news broke out about the closing down of the station and will be shifted to Woodlands, I paid a visit at the station for the first time in my time. I was there one Sunday morning, and got to make some photographs and at the same time, thinking about the possibilities of doing night photography there. You can view the day time photographs in monochrome here.

Make the jump to find out more on what I did for night photography.

Machine Gun Post @ Labrador Part 2

Tonight I want to show you some interesting nocturne fotos taken by my long-time friend, Randall. We have known each other for 13 years now. Randall works in the airline industry and he used to do film photography for leisure and fun. Therefore he has the basic knowledge of composition and exposure.

Recently he picked up photography again as digital photography has made it so much more convenient and more fun. He got himself a Canon 500D and a couples of lenses. As he is all juiced up with energy and enthusiasm, I got him to join me for an organized photography outing, organized by a friend of mine. From there we did some landscape and seascape photography. It's no surprise that Randall picks up quickly and learn fast.

Read on to find out more about the fotos Randall has made.

Machine Gun Post @ Labrador Part 1

I can't say how much relief and joy I had on 27 March 2010, Saturday night that I was able to find time for my nocturne photography and to make some good nocturne fotos. At the same time it was a great pleasure to have a long-time friend to join me for the night outing.

I've always wanted to do nocturnes in Labrador Park. It wasn't my first time there. In the previous week, I did a location recce and I found this machine gun post, which is one of the WWII relics in the park, as my main subject. Its concrete structure design is unique with worn-off textures. I would not talk about the history of this machine gun post here as I dun wanna bore you.

So read on to find out how I made the photographs as I explain and share the techniques used.

Clubmoss Trees Nocturne in 360 panorama

Here it is. This is the third nocturne 360-pano on Clubmoss trees that Wee and I made on last Saturday night. Just click on the image title to view the VR format.

Clubmoss Trees Nocturne in 360 panorama

What are Clubmoss trees? Make the jump to find out.

Trees of Stone Nocturne in 360 panorama

Here's another excellent panorama work by Wee aka etegration. Click on the image title to view the VR format.

Trees of Stone nocturne in 360 panorama

What are Trees of Stone? Make the jump to find out.

Evolution Garden Nocturne in 360 panorama

Last night, I met up with Wee aka etegration, for another round of 360 panorama nocturne. We got to Singapore Botanic Garden's Evolution Garden. A nice quiet and dark place that's ideal for light-painting. Here's one of the 360-pano we did. Click on the image title to view the VR format.

Evolution Garden Nocturne in 360 panorama

In the 360-pano virtual reality view, you will see these colorful circular mushroom-like stones. These are called Stromatolites.

What are Stromatolites? Make the jump to find out more.

Fort Gate Nocturne in 360 panorama

On 22 November 2009, I received an email from a fellow photographer, who is best known for his 360 panorama photography work. He is known as Wee aka etegration. A cheerful and chatty young guy who's passionate about what he does best. His reputation in making 360 panorama images has preceded him in my case, in the last 2 years.

In his email, he expressed an interest to collaborate with me in doing nocturnes 360 panorama. I was intrigued at his idea and thought I should give it a try...

Laser Pointer, a Light-painting Tool

My laser pointer. © 2009 Martin Liew Photography.

I want to talk about one of the tools used in my nocturne photography i.e. laser pointer. It's a small lighting gadget and yet so useful. I came to discover its usage a few years back when I was doing nocturnes at a local botanic garden, in which they have a small park named Evolution Park. It's a man-made garden in the age of Jurassic with some man-made "dinosaurs" foot prints. As it's not as gigantic as the real monster size, I was thinking hard on how to bring out the shape of the foot-prints in color. That was when the laser pointer idea came to mind. I know it's not something new especially in light-painting and night photography, but it certainly helps me in my creative work which I'll show you shortly.

Laser pointers are battery-powered laser diode and are often used in educational and business presentations where pointing out details by hand is inconvenient. It comes in varies colors - red/red-orange, blue, green, yellow, violet.

As far as I know, we only can get red/red-orange and green colored ones in the local retail stores. Nonetheless, we can still order on the internet, but the prices are steep based on the power level, measured in milliwatts, mW. The power output can be as low as 1 mW and as high as a 125 mW. It would be a thrill to own a set of varied colored laser pointers. It serves like a small paint brush to do light-painting on more precise and specific area. Take one good example from the photograph I made, shown below.

Waiting Chair
© 2009 Martin Liew Photography

In this nocturne photograph, I applied the usual simple light-painting techniques. The room interior on the right side was lit up by a flashlight with a yellow colored cellophane paper. Next I used my LED torch light to light-paint the wall. As I set my digital camera White Balance to Tungsten, LED light induces a blue color cast which is not as vibrant as a true blue colored gel. Yes LED torch light is also another useful light-painting tool.

Lastly I used my laser pointer for the window panel. The great difficulty of using a laser pointer is the tremendously flicking shaking light due to our own natural hand shake, not to mention controling of the light beam direction. Not even people with steady hand power are able to hold still or light-paint in straight line. The greater the subject distance, the more difficult to light-paint as the area is getting smaller. Well, in this case the window panel is in straight symetrical lines, vertically and horizontally. The surface area is slim and narrower which poses great challenge. I did practice a few rounds before I press the shutter release. It takes practice to do a proper light-painting job using this small tool.

Here's another nocturne example I made using my laser pointer on the leaning door.

Red Leaning Door
© 2009 Martin Liew Photography.

I opened up the diopter on my laser pointer to have a wider light beam in rectangular shape, so I can light-paint on such bigger objects with large surface area. The subject distance is closer and controlling is a lot easier. But still, the light spilled and touched onto the wall.

So if you do many light-paintings, you can consider using a laser pointer for additional effects. I do find it very useful and certainly helps me in my creative process of nocturne photography. Thought you might be interested to know and try them out yourself.

NOCTURNES: The Art of Surrealistic Landscape Part 3

Excavator
© 2009 Martin Liew Photography

In my last weekend night photography outing, a new friend joined us for the first time in making some interesting night pictures. I took them back to the same old location I did for the past few weekends.

A minor and yet interesting incident happened. We were greeted by some young night dwellers who claimed they are also doing night photography in the same premises we were at. We found out later through a conversation with one of them that they came in 3 separate groups, going different directions in that location area. We saw many flashlight pops. Some of them do not look like photography hobbyists nor enthusiasts. We didn't talk much either but just to make known of our own presence.

Anyway it was yet another fruitful night outing with new nocturne pictures made and to share. I didn't make many pictures that night but able to get 3 pictures that I like very much. Excavator is one of them. It was made towards the dawn hour and we were trying to make different angle shots before day breaks.

I've noticed there are some restoration and construction progress in that location area, as the abandoned buildings are converted into offices. So the work has speed up a little. I feel like going back on the next full moon night but not sure what will happened then. Just gotta do it.

If you want to stay tuned to my latest night photography progress here, do subscribe to my blog via email or RSS. Liekwise you can visit my website to view all the nocturnes I had made. Thank you.

NOCTURNES : The Art of Surrealistic Landscape Part 2

Quiet Corridor
© 2009 Martin Liew Photography

Quiet Corridor is one of the new set of nocturnes I made last week. On my previous night trips, I have covered 2 abandoned buildings in one of the areas and as the daylight started to break, I wasn't able to make any more photographs in this other abandoned building, just right opposite. I was so sure that there are many good opportunities for good nocturnes to be made.

I was right. And with the help of my friend who tagged along with me on that night, we discussed about the mixture of colored gels and which lighting method to use. For this nocturne photograph, both lighting techniques are applied. Let me explain how this photograph was made.

The first light-painting with a 1-million candle light power searchlight, covered with a lavender colored gel, was applied on each pillar on the right side, which also spill some light over onto the left-side wall. This helps to eliminate the dark shadow area, revealing more details and textures.

Next, I walked over to the left side of the staircase and using a green colored gel on my flashlight, I popped twice onto the stairs. Thereafter, I walked all the way to the end of the corridor and keep myself out of sight from the camera. With my searchlight, I switched it on and shone yellow light onto the ceiliing for about 10 seconds. That's it! Total exposure timing is 172seconds.

I really love these 3 colors as they match so well together. Basic color matches play an important part in nocturne photography and just like art paintings, it's the photographer who (as the painter) decides what color to match and to use colors to convey emotional message or express certain feeling, in their work.

To view more of my nocturnes, a new set of nocturne photographs are uploaded in my website.

The Beauty of Night Sounds

Last night (23 May 2009), I stayed up for the whole night doing some really good nocturne photography in the north area, with a friend of mine. Not only was I making light-painting photographs, I was making some good black & white night photographs with my TLR camera as well.

As I have always love the night atmosphere with its tranquility, I too experienced the most beautiful sound of the night i.e. the cricket sound. The sound really adds up to the atmospheric mood in the quiet night especially when you are alone. There's this sense of peace, though I'm busy in the process of seeing, composing, thinking, planning for the light-painting. It's just so fabulous and mesmerizing, at least to me.

I got myself a digital voice recorder 3 months ago and have used it for recording seminar talks and to record essential detailed data information during all my night photography outings. Data information that includes location, camera settings, techniques I used, etc. So at that moment it occurred to me that I can use it to record the night sounds and the idea of putting up the recorded sounds in my night blog site just popped out. The sound would make my blog site more interesting and alive. Hopefully readers who visit my night blog site will be able to feel more present as they read and see my night photographs.

So here it is. I embedded one of the sounds I recorded on my blog site. If it distracts you, you can turn the player off which is located right at the bottom right section of my blog site.