Month: October 2016

Spray

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

I like my camera, whatever it happens to be at the time, and I think I care it as I would any piece of equipment I use regularly.  I’m not one of those photographers who treats it like a paper-thin piece of porcelain; its a camera, something I use, but I have to tell you that when it comes to salt water, I get a little nervous.   I like the waves at the seawall, I enjoy the spray on my face, and the sound of the crash upon the rocks.  I really love some of those amazing photos of the waves towering over the wall (I don’t like the resulting flooding though), but I am very hesitant to be anywhere near the actual water with my camera, and since I like my seascape photos to be wide, getting a good photo would mean being right up there in the spray, so for now, I’ll just keep being cautious and get the ones I’m comfortable with 🙂

Spray 14-3416  |  Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105mm  |  Thomaslands, Georgetown, Guyana  |  2014

Click on the image to see it in the Seawall Gallery

Goodbye Unity

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography8 Comments

Robb Street begins in Robbstown, down on the “waterfront” by the John Fernandes’ wharf area, both the ward and the street got their names from the man who designed the area in terms of the building lots and landscape, it ends at the famous Bourda Cricket Ground (Georgetown Cricket Club), on what is now Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, renamed to honour the achievements of one of Guyana’s great cricketers of the 1990s into the first decade and a half of the new millennia.  The original name of Shiv Chanderpaul Drive was New Garden Street, because Robb Street was to originally end at the new Botanical Gardens, but that was pushed back a further block (an area that is home to the Georgetown Cricket Club, Georgetown Football Club, Ministry of Agriculture, and Office of the President.)

At the end of Robb Street, on the northern corner, is the Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church (if you’re a Portuguese language speaker, you may want to check out their Portuguese language mass that caters to our growing latin/spanish/Brazillian population), in the southern corner is (or, in a few days/weeks, was) Unity House, a three story wooden house.

I don’t know enough of it’s history, but it once housed the chapel in which Holy Mass was celebrated while the church across the road was being built (on the middle floor), and for many years it was the headquarters of the United Force, a political party which has held parliamentary seats in Guyana up until two elections ago.   Prior to the last elections, also, there was some in-fighting among the executives, primarily as to who would lead the party, but that’s just politics.  As I write this the building is being torn down, let’s hope the party can last a bit longer 🙂

I was processing a photo that I had taken near the gate, but that would not enlighten anyone as to the structure of the building, so I went on to process a wider photo for elucidation 🙂

 

Closed – 15-9996  |  2015  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm

Unity House – 15-9986  |  2015  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm

Click on the images to see them in their respective Galleries.

Soft

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

In the initial stages of trying my hand at photography, while looking at the images offered online and in books, ones by recognised photographers in their respective fields, I always had it in mind that a good photograph had to be perfect, technically perfect and sharp as a tack.  Of course, the images I was admiring were landscapes, portraits, architectural images and the like.

I later discovered (much much later) that what was more important was capturing the scene, with whatever you have, and however you can; if you can get it perfect, good for you, but it was more important to not lose the moment.

This image I had taken back in 2011, but because of the slight motion blur, I relegated it to the unprocessed pile; and since Street Photography was not my calling, but a way to experiment and even capture moments, it didn’t seem too important at the time.   I was hunting through an old catalog for some images that a friend wanted, and I came across the image and realised I liked it, I can live with the blur caused by a low shutter speed and a hastily snapped image, because that moment is now gone, but I have something to show for it; while it may not be a technically perfect shot, I realise that I don’t really need anyone but me to like it.  🙂

Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 18-270  |  Georgetown, Guyana, 2011

This was taken during the renovation works to the old Central Garage building on Avenue of the Republic, which is now a series of smaller retail stores.  In Guyana, we call those carbonated beverages “soft drinks”, the ones Americans fondly call Soda.

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

Discovery

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Commentary, Photography2 Comments

– 1499 –
Imagine that somewhere on the horizon is a line of three Galleons…
okay, fine, Galleons are more impressive looking, but we’ll revert to the truth;
there’s a line of Caravels, three of them, heading from the north-west, somewhere where the clouds disappear into the distance.

If you grew up as I did, you were taught that many of “our” countries were discovered by that fellow Chris, but the leader of that flotilla on the horizon was not Chris, but Alonso.

If you can see the flotilla, imagine now that one of those caravels has separated and is heading our way, in a more south-easterly direction along the coast, the remaining two are heading further west and stopping at the mouth of the Essequibo;  Alonso is now the first European to be recorded as seeing and touching our shores… and in that south-easterly heading caravel is Amerigo, who is on his first voyage (second, if you believe a disputed letter), and it is after this explorer that the joint continents of “America” are named.

As for that fellow Chris, this voyage by Alonso, his pilot Juan and navigator Amerigo quite displeased his followers, which resulted in quite a fracas in Hispaniola 🙂

If you stand on our shores and stare toward the horizon, you will not now see those caravels, but in the wake of those voyagers, using the trade-winds and ocean currents, are many ships; and I wonder, what are those sailors thinking as they look towards land?  Are they thinking of those days of discovery?  Are they thinking of the journey home?  Do they see the stars as did those long-ago conquistadors did?

I was processing this image when thoughts of the actual “discoverers” came to mind, hence the long messy thought process above 🙂

“And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.”

Robert Frost – The Road not taken

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  Kingston, Georgetown, Guyana

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

Vanishing Vanity

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Commentary, Photography5 Comments

There once was a time when we created not just for function but for appeal, when we designed things to make our lives easy, as well as for those things to be easy on the eyes.  There is a sense of loss, its physical, but also emotional, when the older buildings are removed and replaced with structures that closely resemble steel slabs  or concrete cuboids.

I don’t do it often enough now, but I once had a fascination with capturing old buildings around Georgetown… but they seem to be vanishing faster than ever now; I hear it’s the sign of progress.

Like everything else in life, if we don’t fight to keep it, then we will lose it, but most of us seem to have grown up in a time when that “fight” is not in us,  where we accept the decisions of others, because we believe that our voice, our opinion does not make a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  Regent Street, Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana.

Click on the image to see it in the gallery, along with other images from around Georgetown, Guyana.

’tis the East

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, Poetry4 Comments

Arise, Oh sun, and pierce the veil,
relinquish unto me
the warm embrace of heaven’s light,
the night, ’tis history.
Light kissed leaves and unveiled paths,
beckons to my feet
the way meanders, ever on,
away from the paved street.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105L  |  Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara. October 2015

The trodden path meanders, avoiding obstacles.

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

Reflection

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, thoughts7 Comments

Often, we are so focused on what’s ahead of us, that we forget to look back.

The things we have done and seen as we travel this road through life have shaped us, whether those things were good or bad; the people we’ve met, the places we’ve been, the experiences we’ve had, they all add up and influence our decisions one way or another.

When we look back it is probably more important to see the beauty that was and is there, rather than dwell on the bad memories; not to say we should ignore them, but nothing good usually comes of dwelling on negative things, and reflecting on brighter moments will likely put us in a better mood than we had been in before.

There are times we can look back and see a moment in quite a different light, see that there was definitely something there worth having happened, having seen, having done, and know then that because of it, we are changed.

As we continue the journey, just take a moment every few miles to look back, the reflection might be more pleasing that it appeared while passing through.

Pakaraima Reflection  |  2016  |  Canon EOS 6D,  Canon 24-105L

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

Drought

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

The interior of Guyana faced some prolonged periods of drought over the last few years, I’m still not sure the rains that have fallen in recent months has managed to reverse the conditions significantly.

Leafless trees always seem to make for nice photos…

Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105L  |  Guyana, South America.

Sunset at KB

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

Following up on yesterday’s image, It was a sunset, but the scene called to me to process in black and white for that composition, the next evening, I decided to take multiple exposures for an attempt at an HDR Sunset; same area, different composition and view 🙂

Three exposures, combined in Nik HDR Efex Pro II, minor adjustments in Lightroom

Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105L  |  Karasabai, Pakaraima Mountains, Guyana

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery, a set I call Scenic Experiments, all HDR images  🙂