Tag: car

Tower

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

Back when it was still called Hotel Tower.

There has been a Hotel with the word “Tower” in its name on this spot for more than a century.  I can’t find enough online historical evidence, but before the current name “Tower Suites”, it was the Hotel Tower for many years, and prior to that it was the Tower Hotel.  I saw an 1909 Ad that claimed that “The Tower is the oldest and Best Hostelry on the Northern Coast of South America”.  🙂

Hotel Tower  |  2009  |  Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Sigma 10-20mm

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

The house on the corner

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

Last year sometime, someone called me to tell me that there was an old house on Regent Street that was being put up for sale, and they were letting me know just in case I wanted some photos before the new owners took over (and who would more than likely tear it down); I wish more people would call me like this actually.

I went out one Sunday morning, and took a few photos, some just to record the building, others with a more studied eye to the scene, and as usual I was always on the look-out for one or two that I think stand out from the rest; this is one of those.

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  Regent & Light Streets, Georgetown, Guyana | 2015

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

Charlestown

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography5 Comments

I lived in Charlestown (Georgetown, Guyana) for a short while after we got married, if I crossed the street, I’d then be in Albouystown.  Back then I had my first access to a digital camera, an Agfa ePhoto 1280 (Megapixel? what’s that?).  It was mainly for work purposes, but through it I learnt a few things about digital photography, and it probably rekindled my interest in photography at the time.

I had read somewhere that Charlestown (and Charles Street) was named after the Duke of Brunswick, Charles William Ferdinand (or Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, his original German name), but why a Ward of Georgetown, Guyana is named after a German Duke is a question I can’t answer.

Charlestown, at the time I lived there, was still quite “quaint”, in respect to the type of buildings, but even then things had begun to change, with one or two square concrete building being erected where once stood more aesthetic wooden structures, but times change, and change is inevitable.  Fortunately, change is also slow, comparatively, and some of the older buildings are still standing.  I walked, rode or drove past an old wooden building on the corner of Broad Street and Charles Street for many years, when I took up photography a bit more seriously, I kept an eye on it and kept putting off taking a photo, one day I decided that the “For Sale” sign meant that it may be bought and torn down, so I made the extra effort to stop and spend a few minutes grokking the scene seeking out a nice photo, waiting for the “perfect” photo was out of the question, so I just wanted a “nice” one.

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-500  |  1/400s, f/10, ISO 400

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images in the “Georgetown, Guyana” album.

How we do it

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

A street photograph – as much as I can get one 🙂

It really needs very few words, but what caught my attention was the way the police officer and her companion deliberately walked diagonally off the pedestrian crossing…

In Guyana… is just suh!

2014  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-50mm

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with some other attempts at Street Photography 🙂

2014 Deck – Week 30

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2014 Deck, Photography2 Comments

Street photography (next to event photography) is probably the least predictive sub-genre in Photography, and that’s one of the things that draw a certain type of photographer to it.

I was on Sussex Street one Sunday and this car parked in front of an old vine-covered shed/shack caught my eye.  Behind that scene was the old Gafoor’s warehouse (not sure if it is still occupied by them).  I had taken a landscape oriented shot, then thought that I’d prefer more of the building in the background and recomposed a portrait oriented shot when this cyclist pedalled into the frame 🙂

1/400s @ f/5.6, 58mm, ISO200

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

2014 Deck – Week 21

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2014 Deck, Photography2 Comments

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

2013 Deck – Week 46

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography2 Comments

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 23

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography2 Comments

Keeping a photo project going is not easy, I found that many times I “force” the images by going out looking for things to shoot… and often times I’m not entirely satisfied with the results.  Most of the images that I like are the ones that I just happen to see, being in the right place at the right time  🙂

I was on the pavement near the intersection of Regent Street and Avenue of the Republic when I noticed the reflection of City Hall in the flooded pavement and road near to me, I actually had my camera in hand and tried to compose a few shots between people walking by me, and vehicles splashing the waters occasionally.

Some people can go out and “make” the photos, others are just the instrument that is manoeuvred into the right place at the right moment to see and capture what is shown to them  🙂

Canon Rebel T1i  |  Sigma 17-50mm  |  17mm, f/8, ISO400

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with the other images in the 2013 Deck Project.

2013 Deck – Week 16

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography4 Comments

Having a full time job that isn’t photography related makes for a hard time finding things to photograph, or more precisely, things that interest me…

I’ve actually been doing some walking with Nikhil recently and as such I’ve been accumulating some “street” photographs.  While it’s not exactly what I like to shoot, every once in a while I find one that I think is worth sharing

With Georgetown being the centre of activity in Guyana, the streets do tend to get congested 🙂

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.