The Harpy Eagle

On November 24, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

In 2012 I had written a blog post titled “Airwolf”, that featured a photo of the Harpy Eagle, this year I was asked if I had any images of the Harpy, as the people responsible for the Explore Guyana magazine were looking for one. I had only taken photos of the Harpy on two occasions, and I told them as much; I even told them that I’m not a birding or wildlife photographer, so the images I have would likely not be ideal for their use. With people like Kester Alves, Victor Sarabo, Meshach Pierre, John Persaud, Andrew Snyder (to name a few) and others out there taking some gorgeous bird and other wildlife photos, nothing I had taken could compare with the quality of images I’ve seen out there, except that I couldn’t remember seeing any of the Harpy, so couldn’t point them in any specific direction other than to tell them to please look around for something better than mine.

The long and short of it… I had sent them three images, and they chose to use one. I can now proudly say that one of my images was a Cover image for Explore Guyana.

Here is the Original Image (click on it to see it in the Gallery)

And here is a small image of the cover as designed by Advertising & Marketing Services (AMS)

Click on the cover image to go to the Explore Guyana Magazine’s Homepage

Chiung Falls – 16-1563

On November 17, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography3 Comments

This was one of those times when you’re kicking yourself after for a very silly mistake.

I don’t recall the reason now, but at some point I had set the camera’s ISO high… and then forgot. So my first large batch of photos with the camera the next morning were all grainy because of a higher ISO.

I almost didn’t process any, but this one caught my eye and I decided to process it through as if nothing was wrong 🙂

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

Untitled – 16-2667

On November 12, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography5 Comments

Sometimes, it’s just a photo…

Canon EOS 60D | Sigma 10-20mm

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

Reflection

On October 11, 2016 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 October 5, 2016 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 October 1, 2016 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 🙂

Karasabai Skies

On September 30, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography6 Comments

I had just finished up some work, and simultaneously finished up my processing on a photo I took in the Pakaraima’s earlier this year, and I was heading into my vehicle to head home when I was approached by a man of Amerindian descent (our indigenous people).

He called me by my last name, and inquired if I was indeed Mr. Lam, the one who took photographs, once I replied in the affirmative, he proceeded to ask if I had a brother named Patrick, again, I said yes, he apparently went to school with my brother at some point. He then told me how much he enjoyed my photos, I was somewhat stunned to be thus approached on the road, but I was also thrilled. It seems he is now embarking on his own photographic journey.

I would probably never have had the courage to do what he did, but I realise now that I have left many things unsaid to many people simply because I was unsure of how they would take my approaching them gushing about how much I like their work. Judging from my own reaction, I regret not saying to those people whose work I admire, that I love their work, and that they inspire me.

On to the photography – I don’t think I’ve ever treated one of my “safari”or photos taken in the Rupununi or the Pakaraimas in a similar manner to that which I do my seascapes and coastal photos, but something about this one steered me in that direction (yes, the clouds, I know) 🙂

Karasabai, Pakaraima Mountains, Upper Takutu – Upper Essequibo Region, Guyana

Click on the photo to see it in the Gallery.

Since I started using WordPress for this blog, other than using the online interface to write, I’ve been using Windows Live Writer as my main off-line way of drafting and preparing my blog-posts, I had heard sometime back that MS was not developing it further (although its pretty great as it is), this one I tried using Open Live Writer, which is so identical to MS Live-Writer that I forgot I was using a different software. So far, I like it!

Joyride

On September 26, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography7 Comments

Growing up in Guyana, a joyride meant what it sounded like, jumping on a bicycle/ motorcycle and going out for a ride with friends and having fun, but it seems that up north it means and meant a completely different thing… I guess we were wrong.

Joyride – 16-1823 | Canon EOS 60D, Sigm 10-20mm | 2016, Lusignan, E.C.D, Guyana

Click on the image to see it in the “Out and About” Gallery, a rather quirky collection of images.

Georgetown, Guyana

On September 20, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography6 Comments

It’s been 50 years since some forward thinking people declared Independence for this little nation we now call Guyana. They were looking forward to their futures, some idealistic land of self-rule and happiness for the masses I suppose.

I think by now, most of them have all gone and left many of us wishing we were still under colonial rule, it wouldn’t have been that bad, would it? We’ll never know, and doing the whole “what if” dance is not going to help anyone.

Sadly, even though many of the idealist have gone, there remains some of the followers who can’t seem to open their eyes and realise that the old way can’t work and that the path the country is on is not the right one, that implementing old ideas, once discarded, will not bring about new changes.

I babble… I’ve been staring at this photo for weeks and didn’t know what to write and now I write something quite out of character and from way out of left-field.

Here’s a photo 🙂