Photography; I shoot what I like, and sometimes people like what I shoot. All photos are copyright to Michael C. Lam unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Its unlikely that I’d be going out to the main Mashramani float and band parade this year, but I do enjoy seeing the Children’s Mashramani Parade (that would more accurately be the schools parade)
I’ve processed images taken last Saturday at that parade, if you click on the graphic below it will take you to the Gallery with the images (at time of publication all images had not uploaded, it was taking inordinately long to do it)
For all those heading out on the road for Mashramani, be safe, enjoy, and keep shooting!
At an early stage in my photographic journey I was fascinated by Macrophotography, the ultra-close photographs of everyday things, it seemed a completely different world seeing things that close. This would have been mostly before I started using an SLR Camera, I had a Canon SuperZoom, and I used clip-on lenses for the macro photography, quite fun at the time.
Most of my favourite photography using DSLRs have been on the opposite end of the spectrum, wider shots. I was quite attached to the combination of the Canon 60D camera body (and the 50D prior to that) and the Sigma 10-20mm wide angle Lens. Its probably no surprise that I wanted a wide lens to accompany the Canon R7, I decided to go for the (Venus Optics) Laowa 10mm, although its fully manual, it seemed the step I should take at this point.
Here’s my first photo taken using it, not meant to be anything spectacular, just tried to get a decent first shot, but I like how it turned out, a bit unsettling and intriguing to me.
Following on the previous post, I just wanted to share a few more images from that day. The market is a place rich in colour, activity, people, culture, and so much more.
Some times I feel that I get too many similar shots, so many go unshared, often unprocessed, but here’s a few that made it past the processing and into the sharing category 🙂
All kinds of Everything – 23-0004 | Mon Repos Market – Shot with DXO ONE CameraHassa, Broom ‘ere! – 23-0011 | Mon Repos Market, ECD | Shot with DXO ONE CameraGreens – 23-0013 | Mon Repos Market, ECD | Shot with DXO ONE Camera
Click on the images to see them in the Gallery “In the Streets” along with other images. Keep Shooting.
Guyana, as well as the wider Caribbean, has long had problems with pirated or bootlegged music, software, and movies; I know its a worldwide problem, but I can only speak to a localized perspective.
I like to think that its lessened in recent years, with the advent of streaming and subscription services, etc., although I suspect I’m wrong. Dave Martins, leader of the famed Tradewinds band, wrote a song called Copycats, and although it dealt more with the West Indian habit of adopting foreign habits, accents and mannerisms, it nevertheless pointed out our habit of copying. Dave himself is very disillusioned since copies of Tradewinds music can be found all over, and this, of course, means little income to him in terms of sales and royalties.
In Guyana, the idea of robust Intellectual Property (IP) legislation has been floated, toyed with, promised, and neglected by several administrations, and this not only lends to the piracy but somewhat emboldens it. Without IP legislation it is extremely difficult to enforce copyright, and the government knows this, and the artists feel it, every day.
Despite a good and productive music sector, a dynamic visual arts sector, and a growing performance arts sector, IP Legislation seems but a spectre on the horizon, as seen at midnight, in a mist shrouded rainforest. As photographers we see a regular “appropriation” of our images in the local media, some photographers are lucky enough to get back from those agencies who did so, but others do not. I’ve been asked many times, and have often allowed the use of an image for no monetary recompense, but with attribution, I’ve sometimes gotten a small fee, its that kind of world.
As time has gone by, many agencies seek out the photographers, and ask permission, and offer to license the image, a positive sign in a dismal marketplace. One instance that still rankles with me is when one of my images was used for a local publication, and when the publisher was approached, I was told that it was not my image, and that I had nothing to get; I was eventually urged by a lawyer to not pursue it, as it was unlikely to net me anything in the long run.
The Bootleg Scene – 23-0001 | Shot with DXO ONE Camera
In the meantime, we can still stop and get the newest or oldest, favourite songs and movies from an assortment of vendors; and in my favour, this particular one made for a decent street photo.
Keep Shooting folks! Click the image to see it in the Gallery along with other Street Photography Images.
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