Tag: 2012

Pakaraima Mountain Safari 2012

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography3 Comments

This year, as the teams are already on their first day into the 2013 Mountain Safari, I’ve decided to share some images from last year’s trip.

It begins at night, so there’s not much to see 🙂  Our fist stop is at Peter and Ruth, 58 Mile, Lethem Trail; that’s 58 miles from Linden.  There’s a GuyOil Service Station there now, as well as cellular service from Digicel.

Nikhil was our primary driver (but seeing as he didn’t trust any of us behind the wheel, he ended up being the sole driver; I don’t blame him, I wouldn’t trust me behind the wheel on a Safari either)

A view from the back seat, note the can to the right 🙂

The trail crosses the might Essequibo at Kurupukari, where the Mekdeci Mining Company operates the pontoon crossing.

After the crossing, we pass through the Iwokrama Rainforest Preserve, and as soon as you leave the forest, we are hit by the vastness of the Rupununi Savannas, and the lovely undulations of the foothills of the Pakaraima Mountains.  Our next stop is The Oasis, at Annai, run by Mr Colin Edwards and the native Amerindians from the village.  Colin has carved out a piece of paradise at The Oasis and the Rock View Lodge just behind it.

After leaving Annai, we continue on the trail until the turnoff to the first village on the main Safari, Karasabai, where we spend our first night.  Along the trail, the view of both the Pakaraima Mountain range and the Kanuku Mountain range is breath-taking

At Karasabia, we arrive with just enough light left in the day to set up camp… and enjoy the sunset 🙂

I think the first day was probably the most diverse for the photography  🙂  I may not post tomorrow (it being Palm Sunday, but look out for my next post from the Safari.  Best wishes to those on this year’s Safari, come back safely.

Click on the images to see them larger in the Safari 2012 Gallery in the collection.

An image for Mash

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography12 Comments

Recently, I was fortunate to have a photo of mine selected and used for the cover of the Caribbean Airlines in-flight magazine – Caribbean Beat (November – December 2012), and they have also used another to accompany an article in the current issue (January-February 2013)

Click on the image above for the full PDF article by Vidyaratha Kissoon along with the accompanying image.

Amazingly it was an image that I liked, but not one that got a lot of attention  🙂  Getting great images during the Mashramani parade is not easy, I’m thankful to come away each year with more than a few that I like.

Here’s the image: Click to see it in the Gallery along with a select set of photos from last year’s Mashramani

In Quiet Solitude

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, thoughts5 Comments

As I was processing this photo a poem began to form in my mind, but by the time I had finished processing, I had lost it… that’s how it goes.

The title of the photo is the same as this post “In Quiet Solitude”, yet as I thought about it, I wondered how accurate it was,

it wasn’t that quiet…  there was the sound of birds chirping, the rustle of leaves as the monkeys jumped from branch to branch, the gurgle of the water as it flowed from the creek to the lake, and the subtle but distinct snap of a camera behind him  🙂

By the same argument, he wasn’t alone, remember the birds, the monkeys and the photographer….. (or the monkey behind the camera) 🙂

But I still stick with the title, sometimes you can just stand beneath the trees, with a gentle breeze blowing, and be thankful to be away from the noise of traffic, the voices and machines of city life, the constant ping and ring of mobile phones, and maybe even the conversations that you were listening to but not really hearing.

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

Working With Wides

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography12 Comments

Well, I wanted to say “Playing with a Wide-angle Lens”, but I couldn’t resist the alliteration. 🙂

The word wide is relative, so I’ll describe how I use the terms, these are probably not industry accepted descriptions, so don’t quote me 🙂   Your basic entry-level DSLR usually comes with a kit lens that has a range of focal lengths from 18mm to 55mm, this I consider to be a wide telephoto lens, at the widest end (18mm) you get a nice wide view and at 55mm you get closer to close up of the subject, I consider somewhere around 33mm (on the crop-sensors) to be somewhere around “normal” (mind you, I’ll be talking from the stand-point of an APS-C sensor or crop sensor, a full frame or micro-four-thirds is an entirely different scenario)

Since this is the standard kit lens that most people get, we don’t often see it as wide, so that’s when we go Ultra-wide.

My favourite wide-angle lens (OK, the only one I have in the Ultra-wide category) is the Sigma 10-20mm, this produces pleasing images for me, and I love working with it.  You get some amount of distortion at the wider end (understandable) but this tends to be good in certain circumstances.

Often, in architectural photography, you can use wides and ultra-wides to capture more of the interior, and convey more of the sense of space and more of what encompasses the room.

At other times, you can use them closer to the subject to give an increased sense of distance, even accentuate the distortion by being close (do this with people’s faces, and you’ll get some weird effects)

I used the ultra-wide to capture the corner of this building (New Building Society), along with parts of the sidewalk and sky (and a pedestrian) 🙂

There are many things you can do with a wide, many of which I don’t do, I don’t normally put it right up to people’s faces and click, but I’ve seen those photos, and it’s a neat effect  🙂

What I did in this next image was to use the ultra-wide to adjust the sense of scale, I used a fire-hydrant in the foreground to dwarf a three-story building in the background.  One thing that I liked about this shot was that I didn’t have to worry about electricity wires!

The best way to see what your wide-angle lens or your ultra-wide angle lens can do is to put it on the camera and go have fun.  Sometimes it makes compositions tricky as it tends to include everything, even things you may not want, but like working with any focal-length, it’s up to the photographer to adjust framing and composition for these things.

I mentioned using wide-angle lenses for interior architecture, well I doubt if a tent falls under the category of architecture, but I suspect the engineers who came up with the idea for this tent would appreciate the use of the wide-angle for impact  🙂  And would you look at the view!  🙂

All images above were shot with the Sigma 10-20mm on a Canon body, Click on the images to see them in the Collection along with others in their respective Galleries.

2012 Deck – Week 52

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2012 Deck, Photography6 Comments

I don’t know about anyone else, but I think this is the way to spend the last weekend of the year, with family and family friends, relaxing near a pool, sleeping under the stars (in a tent), far away from town, and I have my camera, spare batteries and spare memory cards  🙂

Click on the image above to see it in the Gallery along with all the other images for the 2012 Deck Project.

Reflecting on the year, it’s been great in some areas, specifically Photography.  Even though my personal photography has not been great this year, and by that I mean I am not happy with the overall amount and scope of the photos that I have taken this year, it’s been a great year for my photography in the following ways;

Neil Marks lobbied and secured for Nikhil and myself the opportunity to exhibit some of our work in a joint exhibition at the National Art Gallery (Castellani House) early this year; our involvement in the Guyana Photographer’s group has brought us into contact with many many talented local photographers, and we have seen the group blossom and grow under the guidance of the Admins and our fearless leader Fidal; the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport revived the biennial art competition (after a 20 year absence) and included Photography as one of the new categories, in which Nikhil won Gold, Sharon won Silver and I won the Bronze medal, I had a photo of mine selected to be used as the Cover Image for Caribbean Beat, the official magazine of Caribbean Airlines (an MEP Publication), and three local firms are using a few of my images in their 2013 Calendars.

If my count is correct this is my 300th Blog post, also an achievement, since I never thought I’d have anything to write that anyone would want to read…of course, the photos help!  🙂  Now, I just have to make 2013 count!  🙂

Have a great Old Year’s Night, and a very happy and prosperous New Year in 2013.

Expression

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography3 Comments

During this season when many people wish for World Peace, Goodwill among Men, we also see many young lovers finding new ways to express their love for each other.

Many novels and movies have lines like “I’ll shout it to the Heavens”, but it seems that in Guyana, we have a new method… “I’ll paint it on the Seawall!”

Some man (or woman, we are living in a new age) seriously meant for the subject of their amorous intent to see the writing on the wall  🙂

Click on the image above to see it in the Gallery along with other images done using the HDR (High Dynamic Range) multiple exposure method.

This image is an HDR composite of three exposures, I stood there waiting for the traffic to clear long enough for the three exposures  🙂

Changing Roles

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography7 Comments

There are lessons to be learnt from our children, if only we could be as open and as innocent as they are, this world may be a better place.

Recently, the Sunday School program planned (although I use that word loosely in their case) a pageant for the Christmas Season, to perform the Nativity after the Sunday morning mass.  We showed up on Saturday for what we thought was the first rehearsal, with my daughter thinking she would be a shepherdess, only to realize that it was to be the ONLY rehearsal, and that since the girl who was slated to be Mary was absent, they asked Miriam if she would substitute.  Needless to say I was livid, but my daughter was overjoyed to be part of the pageant, and looked forward to playing the part of Mary.

So, her shepherd staff went to Joseph, and we had to ask my mum for an outfit for her (my mother runs St Jude’s Playgroup, and they carry on the Nativity Pageant every year, so the basics for the costume were there) 🙂

The adults who were supposed to be organising the pageant should be chastised (the ladies who actually conducted the rehearsal and executed the pageant were not the original organisers, and they pitched in and did all they could for the children), and ashamed of themselves, but the children who pulled off a last minute pageant that went almost flawlessly, should be more than proud of themselves, and their parents should be equally proud of their children, I know that I am proud of them, especially my daughter (I am very biased) 🙂

2012 Deck – Week 49

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2012 Deck, Photography2 Comments

As Christmas draws near, I think it is important to remember the real reason for Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who came for one reason and one reason only, to save us, unworthy humans, whose faults and failures make life the interesting journey that it is.

Probably the most quoted verse of the Bible is from the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, Verse 16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

He came to teach us how to love and how to live life through love of our fellow man (and woman), and for his teachings, for his belief, he was crucified and died for us, for our sins.

We celebrate the birth of a man who came not to live for us, but to die for us, that we may live, love and be loved!

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery, along with the other images for the Deck Project to date  🙂