Martin Liew PhotoBlog

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

My First Try on Polaroid

What you see here is a Polaroid image which is my very first test shot. A week ago a long time friend of mine gave me a Polaroid 636 Talking Camera. Well I have never took photos with a Polaroid camera before. Neither do I fancy. Well I thought it would be fun to try out some shots with it since I got one now. However I wouldn't know if it still works. So I went down to a local camera store and bought the new Impossible (brand label actually) PX600 Polaroid film with ISO 600 and grey frame, as seen here in the image shown above. Yes the film is in monochrome with sepia tone.

I do not know much about Polaroid history but here's what I've found on the internet for your reference. Make the jump to read more.

Eye e City 2010 Book Collection + 1 sad news & 1 good news

This afternoon I went to collect my copy of Eye é City 2010 publication book (shown above). In fact I got 2 copies because I used to help the Eye Committee as a Volunteer and as a Facilitator. In addition, I even got to choose 2 more extra copies of past Eye é City publication books. I chose 2005 and 2008. There's a sad news and a good news. So make the jump to read more.

TLR Street Photos

How times flies. I've been away for quite a long time since my last blog post. In early January 2010, I blogged about TLR Street Photography and I was too busy with many other things I forgot to post some of the street photos I took with my TLR camera until I went through my Blog Archive.

Well, fortunately I already got the first few rolls developed and here are a few that I edited. Make the jump to view the pictures.

On the Street... As I See It

Young Japanese Busker

© Martin Liew Photography

I came across this young Japanese busker performing outside Takashimaya Shopping Center. The musical instrument she was playing looks like an inverted cooking wok with circular dents with each dent produces different musical tones. It was played in the form of percussion by hands. An unique music performance and I was drawn to the sounds. Passer-bys dropped money in a separate wok as a token of appreciation for her performance. She bowed her head and said "Arigato!" with a smile.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

On the Street... Public Fashion Runway

Public fashion runway, right outside Takashimaya Shopping Center.

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