Passion Sunday 2011 – Diocese of Georgetown, Guyana

On April 19, 2011April 19, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography3 Comments

Sunday past was the celebration of the Passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, also known as Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday, a remembrance of the day that Jesus entered the Holy CIty of Jerusalem, the beginning of His final days of ministry upon earth. This marks the beginning of Holy Week for Roman Catholics; for the past few years the Passion Sunday celebration has been on a grander scale than that of my youth, all the Parishes of the area process to the Church of Our Lady of Fatima, and there the blessing of the Palms take place, thence the procession of all those gathered takes place into the grounds of the GCC Ground, Bourda, once famous for its Cricket matches.

As my sister pointed out to me, this was more a recording of the event rather than a serious attempt at photography, but there still might be a gem or two to be gathered from the day 🙂 I’m still not able to “make time” for the blogging and following up on other blogs, but too many friends and family were waiting for this one, so I just had to get through these photos at least 🙂

Click on the photograph below to go to the gallery for photos of the event.

2011 Deck – Week 15

On April 16, 2011April 16, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2011 Deck, Photography16 Comments

I had a set of photos from Sunday that I had placed confidence in to choose a Deck photo from, I had already “decided” what the post would look like and that the image would be in colour… then I went to accompany Nikhil on a photo-walk yesterday and came away with a photograph I just couldn’t put aside.

At the time that I took it, I was not wholly satisfied, I saw too many things in the scene that I thought would be distracting or intrusive in the shot, but then I downloaded them all and started sorting through them, and although I probably gave Nikhil the idea that I wasn’t getting what I felt I should from the scene (which at the time was true), I think I got what the scene offered rather than what I wanted.

There are still elements in the photograph that annoy me (but only if I look at it very large, if I ever have to print it large I may have to “edit” further.)

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

This is a view of a portion of the Seven Ponds monument in the Botanical Gardens, as seen from the Mausoleum. Laziness played a large part in the choice of lens, I had the “kit lens” on the camera at the time, 18-55mm Canon lens, which most “professionals” would shudder at the thought of using, but I was too lazy to dive into the bag and use anything else 🙂

2011 Deck – Week 14

On April 11, 2011April 11, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2011 Deck, Photography12 Comments

It seems that there is seldom enough hours in a day, either that or I’m getting lazy 🙂 Saturday was a little rough, and I didn’t get around to posting my regular Deck blog-post, so it was left for today. SO, I’m squeezing in a few minutes to write this and post it.

In between being busy and being lazy, there are times when I just want to sit and stare at a scene that makes me feel at peace. to forget that there is war in the middle east, tragedy in Japan, injustices in Africa, crazy weather in North America, every country in the world has its problems, and we have impending elections here in Guyana; disasters every one of these thoughts.

This might help explain my choice for this week’s Deck photo 🙂

Sit back, relax, clear your mind, and just stare towards the setting sun…

Award

On April 4, 2011April 6, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Commentary, Photography26 Comments

Last week, Bob Zeller, was kind enough to pass along an award that he received, and although it is very reminiscent of a chain letter (which I dislike very much) I thought it different enough that I would “pass it along” myself, It is a recognition of our peers, of the people who we enjoy reading, who influence us, or simply blog about something that interests us enough to keep going back.

I’ve linked to Bob’s site at least once that I can remember, but if you’ve never checked his stuff out, you should. He mostly has bird photographs and writings about them, but who doesn’t like birds, and Bird Photography is hard!!! He has some amazing captures and sometimes even more interesting stories about the birds. Bob is an amazing fellow, a musician, a photographer, a bird watcher who lives with a very serious illness, but his blogs make me feel like just going out there, and enjoy life, as free as a bird. Thanks Bob.

Although the award says “Versatile Blogger”, I don’t read enough blogs with that much versatility, in the content, my blog is about my photography (mainly) and I read blogs mainly about photography, or photography related… well, mostly. So don’t expect a lot of Versatile bloggers being mentioned, but know that every one that I do mention will be ones I read and appreciate for various reasons, and they will be in no particular order.

Apparently there are rules, so here they are:

1) Thank the person who honored you and give a link to their blog.

2) Tell 7 random facts about yourself.

3) Pass the award to 15 new-found bloggers.

4) Contact each blogger onto whom you pass the award and let them know.

5) Let the giver of the award know you accept it or not.

Random Facts:

(1) Because of my spectacles I got the nickname “Professor” as an altarboy, although I hated it at the time, I eventually adopted it into my online moniker ProfessorMC,

(2) Last year marked ten years of marriage for me, our courtship before marriage also lasted ten years.

(3) I love to play the musical keyboard, I’m terrible at it, but I still like to do it, and I have absolutely no musical training or knowledge

(4) I think I sing better than I play, I do a mean version of “La Bamba” at Karaoke

(5) I like Rum, I think it has a great flavour, so of course, I prefer the best, El Dorado! But that doesn’t mean I snob the rest, after all, how else can I do a comparison?

(6) I work in Computer Graphics at a Sign Company, for which I have no academic qualifications whatsoever

(7) What are my qualifications? I have a degree in Biology, seriously!

Now for those I want to pass this along to (many of whom may simply ignore it as they have better things to do, like actually taking photographs) 🙂 And if you have received one of these before, just consider it a double award.

(1) Nikhil Ramkarran – Yes, I mention him all the time in my blog, he’s my photo-buddy and a great friend, but the reason he’s here is that he IS a versatile blogger, if it matters to him, he’ll blog about it, and he’s even blogged some of his published articles from Apsara magazine. The one problem with his blog… he doesn’t blog enough. He has over a hundred images in the Petax Gallery which is Pentax’s showcase (and I don’t think it’s that easy to get images in there)

(2) Steve Thomas – from photographyfree4all, a gifted photographer whom I’ve followed for the last seven months, and see his photography go from good to great, and from simple photography to artistic expression and even Photoshop Art from his photography. Keep an eye on this one!

(3) Journey Photographic – JP has almost covered the globe it seems, has been to places I could only dream about, and has an astounding collection of Travel photographs (and recently Travel Photography Tips!) It’s sad that I only know them as JP.

(4) Sasi Suruli – his blog My 3rd Eye has some truly amazing photos, he excels at food photography, makes me hungry every single time, it’s a wonder he isn’t working for some magazine or even the Food network.

(5) Tracy Zhang – has a blog called Just In Time, not only is she travelling and sharing some amazing photos, but she has a unique perspective on the places she visits and her photographic style is unusual bit immensely captivating

(6) Simon – aka Dark Halide, although I am not a Street Photographer, there is something about his photos that has kept me intrigued, I just keep going back to see what he has next.

(7) Michael Bonocore – an amazing diversity in his photography, but what I really liked was what he said: “If my clothes, camera and tripod aren’t dirty, then I’m not trying hard enough”, I’m obviously not trying hard enough, but this guy is inspirational.

(8) Roberto Vega Peralta – a combination of photos and thoughts that really works on my very imaginative brain

(9) Sheila Creighton – A persistence in photography that is admirable, Sheila sees things that I would miss, and makes art out of it 🙂

(10) David Sobik – Hands down, some of the best wedding photography I’ve seen, innovative and unusual, don’t even begin to cover it, but even forgetting the wedding stuff, his perspective on photography begs you to look twice.

(11) Brian Stevenson – Funky Slug, a photographer with a great sense of humour, but his images are awesome, sometimes inspiring, sometimes daunting, but always captivating!

(12) David Williams – Quite an impressive array of images, everything from studio type images to outdoor HDRs (which I really like, I have a weakness there), and now even his daughter is into it with her own blog, aptly titled Cait’s POV

(13) Mike – Tau Zero. If I ever wanted proof that I need to get out more, this was it, other than the amazing scenery, he has a habit of getting birds to do exactly what he wants.

(14) Laura Tinker – Tinkerbelle. Light-hearted and usually nothing to do with photography, but all about putting a smile on your face. I only recently started following, but enjoying all of it so far.

(15) Sarah and James Broscombe – I’m sorry to group them but I only have 15 slots, Sarah currently writes the “Six Word Story” telling a story in 6 words, difficult, but Sarah has a way with words, although I must admit I preferred when she wrote 600 (almost) in her blog “Sarah in South America”. James is an amazing photographer who makes it look so very easy, he currently writes (if he gets a chance) in “Making Pictures Pay”, but I was introduced to him through hi older blog (when he and Sarah were in South America) A picture each day 2009 – 2010, an amazing look at Guyana and it’s remote areas.

(16) Cindy – Like Bob, I can’t just stick to the 15, I had to add one more and then some… Cindy is last but certainly not least… her photos and writings have to be experienced, I can’t even begin to describe them please check her out.

Although I only had 15 spots, I hope that others won’t feel left out, I have found that each blog I follow and comment on has something to show me, something to teach me, and something that makes me think to myself “that’s interesting, now I wonder…” There are those who I am new to, those who don’t blog as often, and those who didn’t make the list simply because I’d need to go for another 15 people 🙂 I think that if you check some of these out you’ll see others popping up as commentors, who should have been mentioned, like Nigel, Cheryl, Martina, Christos, Kim, Jolene, Sandra, Jonathon and many others. I’d have loved to include Tricia in that list of 15, since her blog inspired me to start my own, but she is one who is very guilty of not posting 🙂

Now since this is my blog and since it’s about my photography I can’t conclude without including a photograph 🙂 Enjoy, and I hope you continue to appreciate the other bloggers and readers who make all of this fun!

This one was taken with the Sigma 10-20 Ultra-wide lens, processed to monochrome using Nik HDR Efex to retain that trunk detail, it’s a single image, so not what I truly consider an HDR, just tone-mapped slightly.

2011 Deck – Week 13

On April 2, 2011April 2, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2011 Deck, Photography22 Comments

Another tough week, one day of actual photography, and even that was “forced”. Yesterday, another blogger whom I follow, Bob Zeller, posted a blog along the lines of an award for “Versatile Bloggers”. While I don’t see myself that way I was very honoured to be included in the company of he other bloggers in Bob’s List, if you get a chance check that out, quite impressive. I will follow this up in my next post; hopefully, I can be as magnanimous as Bob was 🙂

This week’s Deck photo was originally to be of my Alma Mater, Saint Stanislaus College (a High School actually), but I was more taken by my images of the church that I attend. They are both on the same street, Brickdam, and Nikhil and I walked it looking for things to photograph.

This is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, seat of the Bishop of Georgetown, His Lordship Francis Alleyne OSB, and is commonly referred to as Brickdam Cathedral. It is the central church of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Guyana and my parish for all of my life, although I now live outside the geographical area of the parish, we still attend mass there. It is bordered by Brickdam, Hadfield Street, Camp Street and Pollard Place, the current concrete structure replaced the original wooden structure that was destroyed by fire decades ago. Although it is not photographed as often as the St George’s Cathedral, it has its own appeal and beauty.

Some people may notice, while others may not, this image, while not a true HDR image (I only used one exposure) was processed in Nik’s HDR Efex to get the most out of both the clouds and the building, I tried to be as subtle as I could without losing the detail that I wanted.

Raiment for the Rains

On March 30, 2011March 30, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography16 Comments

During our recent spate of rainy weather, I chanced to be on the sidewalks waiting with my camera in hand and I grabbed a few photographs, of the set two stood out, but I only like one enough to use, so I chose here first before I post to Flickr.

Many of our pavements/sidewalks and streets in Georgetown flood as soon as the place gets cloudy, but the recent rains put a lot of pressure on our poor (excuse for a ) drainage system. 🙂

At least this fellow was prepared for the weather, not only with an umbrella, but with long boots as well. 🙂

2011 Deck – Week 12

On March 26, 2011March 26, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2011 Deck, Photography16 Comments

Compared to the previous weeks in this year, this week has been generous in terms of photographs, well, I won’t count the week with Mashramani, as that day alone resulted in a plethora of images.

I haven’t processed half the images from this week as yet, but I already have a favourite, not the best of the week, but a favourite none-the-less.

Last Sunday was Phagwah (or Holi) in Guyana and several other countries where the Hindu religious is popular, my knowledge of the Hindu religion is that good, but from what I remember of it from “school-days”, it’s a day of “equality”, when castes have no meaning, when race is not an issue, when everyone looks the same at the end of the day, not only in God’s eyes gut to our own. When everyone is covered in the colourful powders of Phagwah day, they all look the same.

I really wanted to get into the “Khendra” but I doubt that my camera would survive that one, so I settled for some images of my daughter and her cousin playing Phagwah up in Good Hope village on the East Coast of Demerara. 🙂

Evening Approaches – Panorama

On March 24, 2011March 29, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography6 Comments

It’s been a while since I touched a Panorama, or a stitched image 🙂 This one is old (last year) but I never got around to stitching and processing it until now. Originally intended as a six image Panorama, it seems the last two in the sequence refused to be stitched in (I may try a different software later) so I ended up with a four image stitched together Panorama.

This is from the Roundhouse on the Kingston Promenade on the Georgetown Seawall, facing west, the sun isn’t quite setting but it the exposure gave it a little darkness and added to the mood. At full size you can see that there are people on the Jetty (pier) in the distance. and even someone on the rocks in the foreground.

Evening Approaches - 18mm, 1/320s, f/10, ISO400 - 4 images

I encourage you to click on the image for a better view at the Gallery, but unless you have a very wide monitor, it won’t help too much 🙂 Try this link to see an 1100 pixel wide version.

Insects

On March 24, 2011March 24, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography16 Comments

Interestingly enough I had loads and loads of photographs of insects when I shot with the Canon S5IS bridge camera, but since I have been shooting with the T1i SLR, I have very few, very very few, as a matter of fact this is the first that I’ve uploaded to my site and I had to create a gallery just for it 🙂

I think that because the S5 had a very good Macro mode and an even better Super Macro mode, I experimented more with them and with the usual victims of those modes, insects. Also, I had bought “add-on” macro lenses from Raynox that really had me doing some nice experimenting 🙂 Now that I use the SLR, I am longing for a good Macro lens, and I dream about the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS macro regularly 🙂 (anyone feeling generous, I won’t refuse a gift)

Anyway, enough of the dreaming, here’s the insect I mentioned…

: Hang on!

Click on the image for a better view in the Gallery, he’s there all by himself.

I took this the same day last week when I took the one I posted for the Deck, so some might say this is more appealing, but the Lotus Flower fit my mood at the time 🙂

Looking Back

On March 23, 2011March 23, 2011 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography14 Comments

Today was supposed to be the day the trial began for the two men who attacked and robbed both Nikhil and I last September, but true to these types of cases there were some problems with the case and it has been postponed for a few weeks, but this revelation did not happen until we had been in the court for nearly three hours.

I was looking back at the photos I took that day, only two of which I had processed and decided to process another one. Looking back, I think that this image has some merit, I love silhouettes, and while it wasn’t quite sunset as yet, the sky was lovely, and the Pegasus silhouetted against the sky appealed to me.