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
Tag: building
2014 Deck – Week 12
For this week I actually had quite a few photos to choose from, mostly along the seawalls. Fidal Bassier had invited me along to shoot with him, he was doing part of a photo-shoot for Miss Earth Guyana, Ms Stacy Ramcharran, and even though I was late getting there, I decided to stop anyway and see what was going on.
The talented team from Bravo Arts under the direction of Steve Bravo had already done an amazing job of the body paint etc., and Stacy’s entourage were well in attendance and assisting her with all the necessaries.
Fidal was setting up on a mound on the southern side of the National Park, the winds had picked up a bit and he asked me to help hold one soft-box in position while I was there… but I’m a photographer, and I just couldn’t resist the urge to click the shutter button.
Whilst holding the soft-box in one hand (the wind was trying very hard to tug it out of position and out of my hands), I slung my backpack to the side and extracted the camera with one hand, the lens on the camera would have to work… it was the Sigma 10-20mm, so I suspected that cropping after was most likely.
I took only two photos, mainly because Fidal decided at that moment to switch locations, and by the time we had set up at the next spot, it was time for me to say adieu. One photo I had cropped and sent to Stacy, she ended up using it as the Cover image for the official Facebook Page for Miss Earth Guyana 2014:
The second one, I did not crop, it was the one I preferred, and I had decided since then that I would likely use it for the Deck project, so here it is:
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images from this year’s Deck Project
All-in-all, it was educational to watch these folks at work, and that I clicked the shutter twice, and got two photos that were usable, I feel good 🙂
2014 Deck – Week 11
This week’s photo is about Implied Motion. OK, I lied, it’s a photo of a Jhandi flag at the Kingston seashore, but as it turns out it is one of those images that displays implied motion (at least for me)
Whenever we try to convey the idea of motion in a still photograph we usually do one of two things, we either have the main subject show motion blur with the background or rest of the scene in focus (such as light trails at night on the street, or a speeding cyclist, slightly blurred with the track sharply in focus) or we do the reverse, with the main subject in focus but the background blurred (such as in panning shots, or a pedestrian in front of a speeding minibus – by “in front of” I mean with respect to the camera, not the business end of the minibus – although that would make a dramatic photo of a different sort). 🙂
Another method might be to blur everything, such as taking a photo from inside a moving vehicle, creating that “vortex” look (on a side note, using the zoom on the camera while standing still produces neat effects too)
Chrono Photography is also a neat trick used to convey motion, by capturing multiple instances of a moving subject and then layering them in your favourite photo software creates a good sense of the subjects path through the frame.
After babbling about all these ways to create a sense of motion in a still photo, I will just say that I used none of the above for this photo.
This photo is either serendipitous or pure photographer’s luck (hmm, maybe one has something to do with the other). I had stepped out of my office intending to walk around a few blocks, upon looking up at the sky I notices the clouds in a lovely “blown” pattern, I decided to walk to the seawall instead. I have taken many photos of the roundhouse before (and will probably take many more), I have also taken many photos of Jhandi flags before (and will likely take many many more), but that day I saw the clouds in a dispersed pattern, a Jhandi flag blowing in the wind with the roundhouse as a backdrop, and I decided to compose and shoot it, I took a few exposures, then saw five birds flying from the roundhouse towards me… Serendipity!
I was also shooting with the Sigma 10-20 Ultra-wide lens on the camera, so I also got a bit of lens distortion at the edges that helped with the appearance of motion in the clouds toward the edges even more.
That’s a lot of preamble for one photo, but I hope I bored you enough that the photo is now more pleasing 🙂
Canon EOS 60D | Sigma 10-20mm
1/250s, f/11, ISO 100 | 6°49’34” N 58°9’45” W
Click on the image to see it in the gallery along with other images from this year’s Deck Project
2014 Deck – Week 05
I was tagging along with Fidal Bassier at Park Vue Hotel, Guyana’s newest Hotel, and we were given a tour by one of the owners who showed us the various offerings of the hospitality establishment.
Fidal was being considered as one of the photographers to record images for the Hotel for use in their marketing (I believe some other lucky photographer did the job eventually), while we were there we asked to take a few photos in the lobby / reception area and the Lounge.
Although I don’t think I’m very good at it, I’ve always liked a bit of Architectural photography, so I tried my hand at this one for this week’s Deck photo.
I hadn’t noticed that I’d lost some detail in the tiles when I originally shot it, so I did a tone-mapped version of the photo to retrieve some of that detail
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery
2013 Deck – Week 46
On a midday walk with Nikhil, We had to pass a Hindu family on the Seawall who were conducting a ritual, supposedly to Mother Durga (Goddess Durga), because of the yellow Jhandi flag.
I didn’t want to intrude, so I took a photo from a distance (and subsequently cropped it for composition), I thought it was a scene that should be recorded (even if just for myself)
I’ve always seen the various Jhandi flags along the coast, but only recently decided to ask about the colour, specifically in this instance. There is so much of the Hindu culture that is unknown to most of us, and the significance of various rituals and items are lost on us. I even tried searching the internet for Yellow Jhandi Flag, and got a Trinidadian website telling me that the yellow is for Lord Krishna, while a local hindu woman told me it was for Mother Durga and that it was customary to have it alongside a Red flag.
It’s not a great photo, but it is representative of part of our culture here in Guyana, and it is a period piece, with a modern mode of transportation in evidence 🙂 It is also a scene that I don’t see often enough.
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
2013 Deck – Week 41
I take photos of buildings, but I don’t share many of them, not many people seem to be interested in those types of photos. Originally this was going to be a photo of a building, and then the warmth of the late afternoon sun lit up the grasses in the area, and also the pontoons around the pump station, and I thought that it would make a better landscape image.
I was originally shooting in landscape (horizontal) orientation, but then I noticed the moon, and tried a portrait oriented version that I came to like.
After a slight crop, I decided that I wanted it for the Deck Project, even though I still think that there are others from this walk that I think are better. I had shot this with the Sigma Ultra-wide 10-20mm on the Canon 60D.
This is the pump station on the seawall along the Lusignan – Anandale area, I’m sure the fishermen in the area must be getting accustomed to seeing people with cameras in the area by now 🙂
This was one of the few times I approached a scene with a preconceived idea of what I wanted, and as usually happens, I usually never get what was in my mind’s eye, but keeping my mind open to the possibilities around, I came away with good images none-the-less, simply because the scene itself gave to the process.
I hope you like it.
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images from this Year’s Deck Project.
2013 Deck – Week 37
Some scenes catch your eye, and you just have to try and get it on film or pixels, or a sketch. I was walking with Nikhil around Bourda Market, primarily looking for some of his previous victims (photographic subjects) to whom he wanted to give a print of his labours… it is always interesting to watch their faces when he presents them with the print… indescribable, especially since most of them never expect to receive one :-), enough digression… yes, so… I was walking with Nikhil, taking the odd Street Photograph or two, just for practice, since mine never come out as good as Nikhil’s or Avinash’s.. and this scene presented itself to me as I looked back up Bourda Street towards Regent Street.
It’s a scene I know Nikhil would have shot had his hands not been full of envelopes 😀
Street Photography isn’t everyone’s thing… I hope you like it.
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
2013 Deck – Week 35
This week was somewhat uneventful, but I was fortunate to get an evening-time vantage point I’d never had before… due to some ongoing construction I was not able to use my Tripod as I wished, so I shot this one handheld, not the greatest, but I still liked it.
This is the Church on High Street, opposite Carnegie School of Home Economics, bordered by D’Urban Street, High Street and Leopold Street.
Click on the image above to see it in the Gallery.
2013 Deck – Week 30
The Coastal Seawalls that protect us from the mighty Atlantic Ocean, are familiar to most Guyanese, that’s because most of the population lives on the coast… it is not surprise that many of my photos for the Deck Project this year are from the Seawalls.
I’ll let the photo do the rest of the talking…
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery!
2013 Deck – Week 29
I was quite disappointed with my photos for this week, but I figured that somewhere in there was a photo that I could use for the Deck Project. I did a Panorama, but it was somewhat uninspiring (maybe I’ll look back at it with a different vision later), I had lots of Street Photos that were out-of-focus, badly composed, and uninteresting even…
I did have three photos of the Anglican Bishop’s Residence (Bishop of Guyana), and one I rather liked, but decided not to use, this one I liked and I had thought early on in the process (like when I clicked the shutter) that I’d like to see it in Sepia, so here it is…
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
This is one of the very few examples in recent years of someone restoring a Victorian styled building in Georgetown, rather than demolishing it, although it created some controversy, I think that it was a good move in the end, for the City, if not for the Diocese.
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