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.
After posting Week 22’s photo, I did go back and look at the other photo from the week that had caught my eye…
Asleep under what little shade is offered by the tree so wanting of leaves, a man is kept cool by the sea-breeze in the hot midday sun.
I did some dodging/burning in the area where the sleeper was 🙂
50mm, 1/2000s, f/4.0, ISO100
Click on the image to see it in the Black & White Gallery along with many other black and white images.
I don’t always get a week that’s full of photographs, so on some weeks, like Week 22, there are slim pickings, and I have to choose either the more appealing photo, or one that no one would get…
I have the flu, so processing one that’s appealing is easier 😀
Maybe some time later, I’ll do the other one that I was considering 😉
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
Street Photography – not a genre I do too much of, I’m really careful about my street photography, because people are very touchy about being photographed, even if it is in public and even if it is legal… BUT… there are some scenes I can’t resist 🙂
I had my eye on this building in Broad Street, Charlestown for a while, wanted a nice photo of it; when I saw the car parked there, I thought this is it, this will make a really nice photo… I didn’t even bother to leave my car, just parked across the road and aimed, then the lady strolled into the frame (on her way to market I assume), and it was pure serendipity.
Canon 6D | Canon 24-105mm f/4L | 32mm, 1/160s, f/9, ISO100
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images from this year’s Deck Project
This week I got access to my third DSLR Camera, I now have access to a full frame Canon EOS 6D, and as with both my previous Cameras, I wanted the first exposure to be a good one, not necessarily great or extra-special, but a good one.
I decided this time that instead of just finding a nice scene to capture that I know would come out well, I wanted to do an experiment… I know that I would get a vignette if I used a lens made for a crop sensor camera on a full-frame camera, so I thought I’d try to use it creatively… not sure what others would think, but I think it came out rather well…
So, now I’ve tried it, and probably won’t be doing it again 😀
Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 10-20mm Lens
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery
Buildings with character always fascinate me, but often I will look at the scene as I am passing and think, “it doesn’t feel right”; that has worked against me a few times already when one day I pass by and the building has been demolished. If it were just for a record of the building, then any photo would do, but I don’t just want a record, I want a photo that speaks to me.
There’s a mosque / masjid at La Bonne Intention (LBI) that I often pass, and consider that there’s a photo there somewhere, but I seldom see what it is that I should be photographing, I’ve stopped to photograph it twice, the first time I was trying to force the photo, but the second time, I was about three villages away and saw the skies to the south and thought that this was a good opportunity to try the photo(s) that I wanted.
Even before reaching the mosque I knew that I’d be using multiple exposures for some HDR processing after.
Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm | HDR from 3 Exposures.
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
36 Days Old.
So I don’t really do portraits, but my wife and sister-in-law were all gung-ho to do a few photos of our daughter Malina that were “staged” .
So I obliged.
It’s not ground-breaking (been done a million times), but it’s what they wanted 😀
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
Always Stop!
When you see something that you think might be remotely worth photographing, don’t doubt yourself, just stop to take the photo. Of course, I’ve had many instances where stopping just wasn’t possible, practical or prudent (read that last one as lawful), so some photos remain as electrical impulses in the synapses of our brains. When it’s possible to stop, just stop and take out the camera and go shoot a few exposures, if not, you’ll be kicking yourself for some time after.
This was one of those times that I stopped. I’ve driven past this building many times, and always thought that there’s a good photo there somewhere… this particular day I saw the sheep in the corralled area, the sky beyond the building, and as I turned the corner, mentioned to my wife “that’s a nice photo”, she said stop, so I stopped in the corner, got out my camera and trekked back to the junction.
Canon EOS 60D | Sigma 10-20mm | 10mm, 1/160s, f/9.0, ISO100
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
The evolution of each photographer never really stops, and by this I mean their knowledge of the craft, their view on what makes a good composition, their approach to colour, their use of tools… it is a process that each of us goes through, and it really doesn’t stop.
We may settle into a favoured style, and we may be known for things such as capturing facial expressions, or the use of colour in portraits, or known as a black and white street photographer, but often these are not things a photographer does to the exclusion of all else, but merely a focal point (pardon the pun) at a given period in his/her evolution as a photographer.
While I have read about this before, the realization was brought home to me when I was preparing images for my recent presentation at Moray House, and I went in a somewhat unexpected direction (for myself, anyway), I presented all black and white images of areas along Guyana’s coast, and I liked what I chose… I really did (although the worry was still there that no one else would like it).
So, after all that rambling, today I veer in the opposite direction, to an image that I think helps define how I think colour should be used in a photograph, not just to be there as part of the whole, but to make a point.
Canon EOS 60D | Canon EF40mm | 1/100s, f/3.5, ISO100
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images from this year’s Deck Project.
I usually have a fair amount to say about an image, but for this week’s photo, I’ll let you form your own thoughts.
Canon EOS 60D | Canon EF 55-200mm | 100mm, 1/500s f/10 ISO100
Click on the image to see it in the gallery
I am scheduled to do a presentation of some of my select works on October 9th at Moray House (part of the Moray House Trust’s foray into encouraging local photographer to express their vision of their art), and I am very nervous about the whole thing, I am not sure what to say.
I often don’t mind sharing my work, but to talk about it makes me feel queasy; I’m usually afraid I’ll either come off as not knowing what it is I’m talking about, or as being pretentious, trying to pass off what I do as “art”…
But, I’ve committed to it and I’ll either make a complete mess of the whole thing or come out the other end, not much worse for wear 🙂
The title I chose for my Seascape collection is “Oniabo”, an Arawak word meaning water, I’ve decided to use an extended version of this title for this presentation at Moray House, which will include most or all of the 6 photos in the Oniabo series as well as other images at the seawall.
That being said, the photo I offer for this week was one under consideration to be part of that presentation, but was subsequently side-lined. Although it in no way resembles Hiroshi Sugimoto’s work, it reminded me that Sugimoto’s Seascapes collection is the reason I had decided to begin a Seascape project in the first place,
Sugimoto begins his description of his series like this:
Water and air. So very commonplace are these substances, they hardly attract attention―and yet they vouchsafe our very existence.
My seascapes invariably often include some “land” or earth (a third element?), but this one I titled “Born of Air and Water” as a reminder to myself of Sugimoto’s words.
Canon EOS 60D | Sigma 10-20mm | 10mm, f/4.0, ISO100
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images from this year’s Deck Project
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