Tag: building

2013 Deck – Week 14

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography, thoughts6 Comments

I remember when…  (I think this line is only used by people who have seen things that may not be current and have to use this line to explain that situation to those younger than themselves… or by a youngster who wants to impress others with their amazing memory – even if some of it is invented)

Where was I?  … oh, yes…  I remember when I rode a bicycle to school, then to lessons, and to visit friends, or to go to church, or just for a joy-ride.  I remember lugging around a heavy chain with a large Union lock to secure the bicycle to a post.

I remember the bicycle I rode to lessons, an old “Big Ben”, or “Steel Donkey”, it was a lady’s frame, so we’d put a wooden bar across to tow others, or just to make it seem more masculine. (Something remarkably similar to the one Nikhil captured here) I remember taking turns with Johnny at towing home Trecia from lessons, even though it was not on my way home.

I remember while courting Maureen (now my wife), I had a “down handle” on a ten-speed bicycle, and we’d ride everywhere… even places I knew I shouldn’t… I remember being beaten with a 2×4 (piece of wood) by a thief try to get that bicycle from me…

I remember riding from home down to South Ruimveldt to visit my friends Andrew, Ian, and then to Durban Backlands to visit Dayal… sometimes just for the ride; and years later I rode to and from UG daily, and I remember leaving UG at 8pm after History lecture and riding down in pitch blackness with Scheme alongside on his bicycle (trying to remember where the potholes were) !

I remember riding to the seawall to work off the buzz of a beer that I drank while (legally) too young, I remember riding from Turkeyen to Bel Air hoping to wear off the buzz of too many beers from a Raymond’s birthday celebration, this was when I was a student at UG, only to stop at Nikhil’s home to ask for coffee before continuing home 🙂

I seldom ride a bicycle now, but I think every child should learn to ride one… it gives a sense of independence, of freedom… of adventure.

The photo that sparked a deluge of memories…

Click on the image to see it on the site, along with the other images from this year’s Deck Project.

2013 Deck – Week 13

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography1 Comment

Lucky number 13?  I don’t know, but the thirteenth week of this year was filled with activity… it was Holy Week in the Christian Calendar, and in the Hindu calendar it also held the festival of Phagwah (or Holi).

I got many photos, mostly from the Church activities for my own satisfaction, but I’ll definitely share some.

On Phagwah day I usually don’t get many photos of people playing  / celebrating Phagwah, as I tend to keep my camera safely away from the waters and powders that abound.  Nearing the end of the day, I was sitting with my family on the seawall, and along came these young ladies fresh from playing, and I couldn’t resist snapping a shot, one even posed 🙂

Click on the image above to see it better in the Gallery!

Pakaraima Mountain Safari 2012 Pt. 6

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography6 Comments

The Journey Back.

On the way back from Orinduik, the journey usually takes a slightly different path, we bypass some places, particularly Monkey Mountain, and this cuts short the return trip significantly.

As we awoke at Kurukubaru, we noticed that since the previous evening we could feel a soft drizzle and this had not changed, it was then that we were told that it wasn’t really a drizzle, we were simply in a cloud  🙂

The view from so high up is so breath-taking, that it is hard to render that on camera, one direction looks very much like the other, but you can’t help but snap a few anyway 🙂

Be caught up with the main convoy at Kato and continued our journey onward, here are some more photos from the trail…

We stayed at Yarong Paru where I got in some more photos to show  🙂

I even got one at a village further on, I think it was Tiperu, when Frank and a few others took a break and sat aside the trail  🙂

At Karasabai the Safari was pretty much over, at this point the option was given to members to either head back to town or proceed to Lethem for the Annual Rodeo.  We opted for town and overnighted at The Oasis at Annai

As we were crossing the Essequibo River at Kurupukari I noticed Jason washing down his tires from all the mud… presumably making room for more mud as we hit the trail on the other side 🙂

On the other side of the crossing we stopped for Lunch and I took a few moments to get in a couple of shots at the shop  🙂

If I ever make the trip again, I hope I get to spend more time at some of these villages.  Click on the images to see them larger in the Gallery along with all the other select images from the Safari!

Pakaraima Mountain Safari 2012 Pt. 5

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

As we were behind schedule, I thought we would have left Paramakatoi extra early, but we started out close to 8am and headed for Kato.

At Kato we had a brief stop, some vehicles were attended to, and some thirst needs were also attended to 🙂

Our next stop would be at Kurukubaru, although I did not take many photos on the way into the village or even at the village, this one of a family at their home I liked.

From Kurukubaru, our next stop would be the destination of the entire Safari, Orinduik Falls, the route there proved to be unusually treacherous for the vehicles, it was on the way there and back to Kurukubaru that evening that the vehicle suffered the most damage 🙂  Unfortunately, no photos, not a lot of stopping on that leg of the journey 🙂

Just to prove that the Destination was worth it, I’ve selected quite a few photos to show you of Orinduik.

One of my favourites from Orinduik, Jason and Lily take in the grandeur of Orinduik Falls

See the crazy white dude? He just HAD to get a bit of fishing in… no, he didn’t catch anything 🙂

A Panorama of Orinduik Falls to catch the breadth of this stage 🙂

Although we wanted to make it back to Kato that evening, we lost the main convoy in the rains up at Kurukubaru, and were advised by the villagers not to descend the mountain in the rain, so we spent the night at Kurukubaru, the highest village in Guyana.

There may be one more post in this series, but it will be sometime next week, the Easter Weekend is upon us 🙂

Please click on the photos to see them larger in the Gallery.

Pakaraima Mountain Safari 2012 – Pt. 2

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

When on Safari, we tend to want to get up early, not just to get ready, get breakfast, break camp etc, but to ensure that we get our ration of fuel for the day  🙂  And that the convoy doesn’t leave us behind.   I jest, they wouldn’t do that, would they?

We awoke early at Karasabai and broke camp, after the morning ablutions, breakfast and so forth, we then had some time for a few photos as we waited for the convoy to assemble

Karasabai is not a cluster of huts, but a wide area.

Naseem poses for the Cameras

Bicycles, the main method of transportation, after walking

Jan gets ready for the days drive

Our first full day in the mountain trails, and we even had a few stops where we could take more photographs 🙂

Bush Cowboys

One of the Army vehicles making its way through a rocky part of the trail.

Cecil Beharry, and his Land Rover from Jamaica!

Just after a rather steep mountain pass, we stopped at a village called Karabaiko, where Eddy even got into doing some repairs.

A portion of a hut at Karabaiko

Mechanics on the go

We visited the village of Tipuru on the way.  Tipuru has a nice little shop that has lovely indigenous food and drink for sale, like Cassava bread and “Fly”, a potato liquor.

Thence to our final stop for the day at Rukumotu (not our planned stop, but it was too late and too dangerous to proceed any farther.

End of day at Rukumoto

At Rukumotu, they gave us permission to camp out on the grounds or in the school, we picked a nice hard spot outside the school, that ended up bending at least one of our tent pegs… we were definitely in the mountains, not soft Rupununi soil at all.

Click on the photos to see them in the Safari 2012 Gallery in the Collection.

2013 Deck – Week 11

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography2 Comments

I’m not a Street Photographer, but on a recent PhotoWalk with other members of the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook Group down Regent Street, that type of photography was the primary aim of the walk.

I got a few images that I like, but this one, while not tack sharp was my favourite, there was a loud exchange of words between a few women across the street, then I noticed one of them running down the pavement, quickly snapped a shot  🙂

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with the rest of the Deck Photos for this year  🙂

Goodbye Uncle Harry

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography19 Comments

Growing up, my maternal grandfather was seldom seen in the congregation of the church, he was always at the back “helping out” Uncle Harry.  I grew up knowing Uncle Harry as Uncle Joe, then others called him Harry, when I asked my grandfather about it he said that he is Harry Joe!  You never question wisdom like that!

Uncle Harry would be there to open the church, he’d be there to close the church, he was the man to go to to get your weekly Catholic Standard, or the tickets for the next Festival of Carols.  He would hand out the collection baskets to the people who would be needing them for each mass, and he’d have Bibles, Hymnals and other little books on sale too.

He was as grumpy as he was jovial.  He was a New Year baby, born on the 1st of January, worked for many years at Banks DIH, from all the way back when it was known as D’Aguiar’s, and he worked at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for as long as my memory serves, up until he was retired a few years ago.

After retirement from his duties in the church he’d try to attend either the early morning 6:00 am mass, or the next one at 7:30 am on Sundays, rain or shine, in his long pants, dress shoes, shirt-jac, umbrella, hat and his spectacle case and pen in his top pocket.

He died on Sunday 17th March 2013, St Patrick’s Day, at around 2am; it was his time.  May his Soul Rest in Peace.

I had taken that photograph of him (candidly) two days before my own birthday in 2011, and he was sitting there staring towards this altar below:

Yellow

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

I had started processing this photo about two weeks ago, then left it off.  I had cropped, rotated, and dropped the saturation a bit, but wasn’t satisfied.  I pulled it up this morning, tweaked the highlights a bit and decided that it was done… that simple!  Sometimes, all it needs is a little time 🙂

I noticed these at the side of the trench when I parked my vehicle, they were lower than the road, and the side of the trench was slippery, so I couldn’t get a foothold to get down to the level I wanted, so I adjust my settings on the camera and held it down to try to get the composition I wanted… never got the perfect one, and quite  few were unusable, but this one I liked (after rotating to correct my badly angled dangling camera  🙂

Click on the Image to see it in the Flora Gallery in the Collection

2013 Deck – Week 10

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography, Seascape3 Comments

My priorities in life must most definitely be askew, since I seem to have less time for photography than ever before…  But even if I have to take a photo of the same thing every week, I will finish this project  🙂

As I was driving along the seawall, I noticed the white-capped waves as they rushed to shore and thought to just stop and catch a few.  It was a bright afternoon, but lacking any fancy filters or gadgetry I thought that I’d just bring out the focus of my intent in post-processing.

I used an orange filter in Post-processing to deepen the hue of the sky and emphasize the white caps of the waves.

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

2013 Deck – Week 09

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography2 Comments

I had never been into the Indian Monument Gardens before, and it seems that the one time I did venture in was when they were doing some new construction on a stage to the western end and had not done any recent cleaning near the monument itself, yet I still think I got a few usable photographs (if you ignore the weeds on growing near the monument and the stains on the base itself)

The monument itself commemorates the arrival of the East Indians to Guyana as indentured labourers, the first arrival being on May 5th, 1838, the first ship being the SS Whitby (symbolically represented in the monument).  The monument was erected in 1988 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of their arrival, a portion of the Merriman’s Mall was appropriated for the Monument Gardens.  (the area bordered by Church Street, Camp Street, North Road and Alexander Street.)

I found very little information in my short research, but it appears that a nationwide competition was held for the design, and after choosing the winning entry the design was made real by an “Builder” from India, the Gardens itself was laid out by two architects, one from India and one from Guyana (Albert Rodrigues).

I chose this angle because it shows some of the supporting structure of the Ship itself.

As always, click on the image to see it in the Gallery.