Martin Liew PhotoBlog

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Past and Present

Today I want to talk about something that revokes the past and the present. There are things that did not change after a long time, generations after generations. Well maybe there are slight changes due to the modern standard of living in comparison. Yes I want to share a street photograph I took few weeks ago. Make the jump to read on.

Urban Exploration: The Old Capitol Theater

The old Capitol Theater. Year and date unknown.

Two years ago I posted this old postcard image in which I talked about collecting postcard. Our topic today is solely on the old Capitol Theater. The 79-year-old building which screened its last movie in 1998, is undergoing redevelopment along with its adjoining buildings - Stamford House, Capitol Building and Capitol Center.

An underground pedestrian walkway will link City Hall MRT Station to the future development at the Capitol Theater site, on the other side of North Bridge Road. From the Capitol Theater site, pedestrians will be able to use the existing network of covered walkways to reach other buildings in the area.

How long does it take to complete this redevelopment project? I do not know. One thing I do know is the opportunity has arrived for me to explore the building interiors. Make the jump to find out more.

Old Style Kopi Tiam Gone Forever

Men in the Mirror

Hi everybody! I'm back. Yes three month since the last photography blog I wrote. I was busy with my digital portraiture projects; doing mainly fashion photography and in between I was doing some light-painting jobs. Yesterday I took time off from work and went out in the morning to do some street shootings on impromptu. Well sort of.

Some of you might have seen the picture (shown above) before on this blog or on my website. There are many changes happened around this old style coffee shop area. Make the jump for new updates.

Candy Girl Beauty Shots + 1 More

Hi everyone! First of all, I have to apologize for being absent for almost 2 months since my last blog. I felt bad about it as I was too caught up with some personal strobist projects on fashion shoots and yes, beauty shots as seen on the image above. Which so to speak, I'm gonna talk about it today.

Make the leap and discover the beauty shots inside.

A Great Lighting Reference + Lotsa Guessing Work

I bought this book at a local photography bookstore today. When I saw this book I told myself that this guide book saves me lotsa time by trying to visualize what lighting setups I should use for my portrat shoots. The book can do alot more than that. More after the jump.

CROSSTOWN - Street Photography in Retrospective

It's Sunday today and I got a little laid back though. I just recovered from a cold and have been staying at home for the entire day yesterday. So I forced myself out of the bed and stepped out of house to have some freash air. I went to the library and came across this book, titled Crosstown by one of the twentieth century's most important photographers, Helen Levitt.

More details here after.

Goodbye 2010! Hello 2011!

Dragon Fountain

Finally 2010 had ended and a great welcome to 2011 with open arms! Yes I've delayed for 3 days to write this blog. Well let me update my fellow readers to whom I would like to thank you all for your kind support. I'm greatly appreciate for your precious time to read my blogs even though I'm not a really good writer but I assure you that all these words are written from the bottom of my heart and from my own experience. I will work hard to continue writing this photography blog.

In this brand new year - the Year of Rabbit/Hare, I'm posting this monochrome image of a Dragon. Yes I know, Year of Dragon will be in 2012 but Dragon has always been a sign of prosperity, good luck and good health. So I hereby wish all my readers a Happy New Year with great prosperity, good luck and good health. May you attain all your new goals with great success.

Photo info:

Horizon Perfekt | Ilford XP-2 rated @ 200 | 1/250 sec. f/8 Infinity | Adjustments in Brightness & Contrast and Burning & Dodging in Photoshop | Location: Whampoa

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Update: One Final Glimpse of National Stadium

The blog title for today speaks for itself. Last Sunday I went back to the old National Stadium demolition site. I wanted to see for myself the progress since my last visit in October. It's been 2 months now and the demolition pace accelerated. Make the jump to view the video I made.

Deconstruction of National Stadium

A day ago i.e. 29 Ocotber 2010, Friday, I was out of office to collect something in town. I was on a cab which drove pass the National Stadium deconstruction site. I was in awe to see one of the four light towers was gone. The whole stadium looks similar to Rome's colosseum. I was thrilled and decided to go back for some photographs.

More images after the jump.

Headshots of Zach Tan (Peter Hurley-style)

Zach Tan

In early October, Zach Tan contacted me via Model Mayhem, expressing interest to work with me to expand his portfolio. It's been a month since my last outdoor portraiture session with my singer & song writer friend, Don Derrick Ng. So it came as a nice surprise and I replied to Zach and we arranged for the dates and time.

A Trip to Pulau Ubin

Pekan Quarry, Pulau Ubin

This morning I took a trip to Pulau Ubin where I joined a friend for location recce as he's planning for an outing in the coming months. In fact I was helping him to find the best location spot for sunrise photography. Well to our little disappointment, it didn't turn out as we have expected. Well what the heck. We have had a great fun exploring the island. It's been many years since my friend's last visit. As for me, it's almost 3 years.

Make the jump for more Ubin adventures and photos.

Portraiture session: Don Derrick Ng

Don Derrick Ng is a local talented singer/song writer who has been playing music for many years and recently he takes part in NEA Eco Music Challenge 2010, a song writing contest. He wrote this song titled, A Little Dose of Happiness. You can check out his DIY music videos here. If you like his lyrics and music, please vote him here.

More inside after the jump.