The Mask

Depending on where you source your information from, some places are saying that wearing masks will help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease, some are saying the masks won’t help prevent you getting it, but if you have symptoms, then you should wear a mask in public…  regardless, in some places in Guyana, masks are starting to appear with more frequency.

Before I myself am sent into lockdown, I think I’ll keep trying to capture street scenes.


Packing – 20-0736

Many supermarkets, staying open to supply us with our necessities, are mandating that their staff be masked, some are assisting with sanitisers as you enter, one I went into even gave me a mask to wear while in their store.


Inspect – 20-0753

Taking no chances, this Chinese man masks up in the market, probably getting some fresh produce for his restaurant. Some Chinese restaurants have taken to doing Take-Away only, through a window, helping to limit exposure while still serving their customers


Unpack – 20-0756

At a shopping “mall” –  even though this isn’t the sharpest image, I’ve always found that for Street Photography, the story matters more than the technical perfection of the image.


Packing – 20-0758

20-0777

Take every precaution possible.  Be informed, beware of fake “cures and remedies”.

Tech giant Google has created a COVID-19 Information and Resource page.

And the World Health Organisation (WHO) is a trusted source of anything health related, including COVID-19, Keep checking their page for Updated information and guidance; here’s a link to their COVID-19 Advice page.

Please desist from spreading via social media (especially WhatsApp, unconfirmed data or things you’ve heard; be informed, be safe, be responsible.

Click on the images to see them in the Gallery, along with other images “In the Streets”


In the beginning…

Well, maybe not “the” beginning, just “a” beginning.

It was probably around 2007 that I began to pay more attention to what went into the frame, to what it was I was taking photographs of.  Prior to that it was mostly point, click, “look, isn’t that pretty??”  Most probably weren’t pretty at all, but family and friends always say “yes, it is”  –  In 2007,  somewhere amidst the generic photos, there began to emerge a few that stood out, and I think that I was seeing things, the things around me, differently, and in so doing I was capturing them differently, light was beginning to take on lifelike characteristics that would change how everything looked, and how everything could be captured on a few thousand pixels.

It was now not so important to capture every detail, but just the ones that would help tell the story, using light and dark, contrast and brightness to illustrate an idea, a concept, a feeling…  It was time to pay more attention to the composition rather than just the subject.

I decided to take a look back at the photos I took ten years ago, to see what, if anything, was worth sharing.  Most of the images I took were family oriented, so those didn’t count, but I was experimenting, looking around me and trying to capture something out of the ordinary (ordinary being the family photos, nothing captured can compare to even the ordinary of professional photographers, much less fine-art photographers).

I even tried my hand at pointing the camera at strange people, out in public, although I was still much more comfortable pointing at non-human subjects, those that might not complain or make a fuss.

And its also the year, I did my first Photo-Walk, not what would really be considered a photo walk, but myself, my brother, Andre, and two friends, Nikhil and Naseem.  We went for a drive “over the river” up to Wales estate on the West Bank of Demerara and I think up to Windsor Forest on the West Coast of Demerara, stopping every now and again to take some photos.

That photo-walk was somewhat of an eye-opener as well, in a relatively short distance, there was quite a lot to see, and a good variety of subjects and scenes to photograph as a result.

This isn’t a retrospective of any kind really, just taking a look at some photos with an eye that has had a decade of shooting, and processing them anew.    They were all shot on a bridge camera, or an advanced point-and-shoot camera, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS, a 6 Megapixel camera with a 1/2.5” CCD sensor, so there’s not a lot of post processing I could do without delving into the realm of editing.

Back then I was mostly all about colour, vivid vibrant popping colour, so the monochromatic versions (BW) you see are how I see them today, not then.

I chose ten images to illustrate what I had accomplished that year, I don’t think I would have found very many, if any, more that are worth sharing.  I hope you enjoy a few.

All the images were reprocessed, and cropped.  Click on any image to see them in the Gallery.


The Carpenter’s Tools

Every so often, I take photos, then never get around to looking at them until long after… I think I still owe someone some wedding photos… oops!  Good thing I don’t do this as a paying job.

Anyway, I took about ten shots of this during the third week of 2012, a few before Vishal put the level next to the tape and a few after.  I felt that there was something there, but don’t think I got what it was… yet, I went back to this today and processed this one…   three years later, I’m regretting not trying a few other angles and perspectives that occur to me now… I’ve learnt a bit since then, hopefully I get to put what I’ve learnt into practice 🙂  Going back to these images, reminds me of what I did, what I didn’t do, what I could do, and keeps me thinking about the next time I come across a similar scene and what I might do 🙂


Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 18-270


Click on the image to see it in the “Odds and Ends” Gallery in the Collection

Weed

Well, I don’t think it might be a weed, but the title sounded better than “Plant poking through Planks”, actually, that sounds kinda nice…

I was looking through 2012’s week 3 folder and came across this one, which I thought salvageable.  🙂   Even though the histogram said I was fairly safe I got some blown highlights in the leaves… of course, this was three years ago, I hope I’ve learnt something since then.


2012  |  Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron 18-270

I did some localised brush work on the “weed” in Lightroom, not something I normally do or that I am very good at… 🙂


Spidey!

Creepy but amazing creatures, the web wasn’t in perfect condition, but it was being lit up by the afternoon sun, and my wife’s cousin suggested I take a photo of it.

They really do make very intricate and delicate structures.

If anyone knows the common name or scientific name of this one, do let me know…

I miss doing macros…  I think I’ll start a fund for a 100mm Canon Macro lens….  all donations accepted, none too large or too small 😀


Canon ESO 60D | EFS 18-135mm Kit Lens  |  135mm, f/5.6, ISO125


In the countryside

The headline might be misleading….

In Guyana, this photo could have been in the capital city of Georgetown, but it’s actually in the village of Good Hope on the East Coast of Demerara.  In this era of washing machines and dryers, it’s neat to see clothes drying in the afternoon sun on a clothes line near coconut trees  🙂

Something about fresh sun-dried clothes has a crisp clean “feel” to it that transcends the sense of touch, it goes to the sense of smell, straight to your brain and tells you this is fresh, outdoor fresh… it puts a smile on your face and a bounce in your step.  🙂


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images from my Out and About Collection

Artsy

Recently, one of the younger photo enthusiasts in the Guyana Photographers FB group, uploaded a photo and mentioned that she was “Adding to the clothes-clips shot collection”, and it carried me back several years to one of my earlier photos (back when almost everything was a family snapshot).  It was one of the earliest photos that Nikhil thought has some artistic merit, or as Naseem might say “artsy”.

For me, photography was “I shoot what I like”, but as the years went by it became more about trying to shoot what I like “a little better”, pay more attention to composition, to the elements in the photo and to the way I process and present the photograph.

So here is the photo from 2007, back when I had started shooting the Canon PowerShot S3 IS, although it is not an SLR, it gave me more control than a compact point and shoot (although at the time it didn’t seem to matter that much to me, it was just fun)

2011 Deck – Week 43

Every year I tell myself that I will try to get some really good photos during the festival of Diwali (or Deepavali), the Hindu Festival of Lights, I haven’t really made the effort to do this for the last few years.  This year I thought I could at least get a photo of one of the many men (yes, and sometimes women/girls) who spin lighted steel-wool in the streets.  I think to myself, it can’t be hard right? How can I mess it up?

And then I forget the Tripod….

So, I really wanted to use one of those shots, so here it is 🙂

2011 Deck – Week 36

Since the members of the Guyana Photographers (Facebook Group) started doing PhotoWalks it has provided me with other opportunities to get out and do some photography, as well as to see and admire the photos emerging in the group from these walks,  there truly is a lot of enthusiasm and talent among the members.

On one of those walks (this one was to the villages of Good Hope and Triumph, I got what I thought were good shots, then I saw what others put up and realized that mine were all just OK  🙂

I fell into the trap set by all the enthusiasm and put my better shots onto the Group’s Page, without thinking to reserve at least one for this post, so a-hunting I went through my images for one that I could use.   You can check out some of the photos from the group in the  3rd Photo Walk album Facebook.

...beyond the shore