Tag: Kingston

The Koker and the Lighthouse

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

I suppose that the longstanding Lighthouse in Kingston Georgetown can now be considered defunct, or is it? It has stood for almost 200 years (build in 1830 by the British, replacing a previous Dutch wooden structure that was built in 1817), and served its purpose well, right up until the Guyana Marriott Hotel opened its doors in 2015. The Marriott Hotel surpassed the height of the Lighthouse effectively blocking it from view from the Ocean.

At the top of the Marriott there can be seen a glass encased structure, that now serves as he beacon for sea-faring vessels.

The Lighthouse still stands as a landmark and falls under the care of the National Trust of Guyana.

The Koker and the Lighthouse – 20-7311 – Water Street,
Kingston, Georgetown.

The Lighthouse’s iconic vertical red and white stripes makes it an instantly recognisable landmark, I am sure I am not the first to frame it this way, and certainly wont be the last.

2015 Deck – Week 41

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography2 Comments

For the duration of week 41 of 2015, I was out of circulation, I was in hospital for a bit of minor surgery, and amazingly, I got a few good pics with the phone…  😀

This is one that I favour above the other few good ones.

I think that my Instagram experiment this year was a success, I do not regret it at all, not with  a few gems like this coming from it:

Earth Tones (Brannon)  |  Instagram  |  Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini Duos

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

2015 Deck – Week 34

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography2 Comments

I realise that this one might need some context…  which, in the eyes of some, makes it a less successful photograph that it could have been.  Of course, I could just as easily not give context and it could probably be a better photograph for it…

But, I will put in my few words anyway 😀

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm.

Main Street/ High Street, Georgetown.

Basically, I wanted a photo of the pedestrian in the distance with the recently knocked down / destroyed sign in the foreground; the sign that once indicated to drivers and pedestrians that there was a pedestrian crossing ahead.  🙂

But this photo got me to also thinking about the street upon which I took the photo; this portion you see is called High Street, the portion behind me (which is obviously not in the photo) is called Main Street, as you proceed further south it then changes to Avenue of the Republic and then back to High Street.  Why would what is effectively one street have four different named sections?  From what I’ve read, it was possibly once called simply “High Street”; the portion running through Cummingsburg was then named Main Street, and then when Guyana attained Republic status the portion running through Lacytown was renamed to Avenue of the Republic.  Interestingly, after a slight detour around St Saviour’s Church, it becomes Saffon Street, this, however, never seems to be considered as part of the “High Street” issue.

Stretches of streets within Georgetown which have multiple names is normally attributed to the fact that Georgetown was originally built as a number of different wards, and the streets were never meant to be contiguous, then the wards were joined together, the multiple names resulted, along with some streets having a slight turn to continue since the original ones were not in-line.  The wards involved in the High Street issue are Kingston (High Street), Cummingsburg (Main Street), Lacytown (Avenue of the Republic) and Stabroek / Werk-en-Rust – and part of Charlestown (High Street).

Click on the image to see it in the gallery.

2015 Deck – Week 22

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography4 Comments

Come away with me…

As I sat and processed the image, those words came to mind, as I sit and look at it after I have finished the processing, it still remains lingering and softly playing over and over again in the cerebral auditorium.  I titled it simply “Basket”, but the feel I get is still “come away with me”…

Each photo has a different effect on each viewer, but this one, more than most recently, has a deeper more calming effect, I can feel the breeze, smell the salty air, hear the sound of the surf, feel the warmth of the sun on my skin…  I can hear the voice of Ms. Jones, soft, sultry, creamy, crooning to me to come away…

Kingston Seashore, Guyana, South America.

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

Balance

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography8 Comments

Balance is over-rated… it’s boring, right?

I mean, eat a balanced diet… where’s the fun in that?  Balance your time between sleep and wake, work and home, business and pleasure…. you get the drift…  keeping the balance is just too hard; of course, going totally unbalanced is not good, not good at all, trust me, I know.

I was out along the seawalls on a midday walk (yes, no one who is balanced would be doing that either!), and I was composing some shots, I normally do not position my horizon in the centre anymore (that was the default position when I started taking photos), but something about this scene made me want to balance the earth to heavens proportion in the frame.

My thought processes often differ from the moment of pressing the shutter-button to the time of processing, and that might be a good thing, at the time of processing, I was looking at the elements and the thought that came to mind was a bible verse… no, I do not normally go around quoting bible verses… but this one many people already know; it is from what we know as The Lord’s Prayer

“… on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10)

I think it fits… in a way 🙂

OK, so I’ve babbled enough nonsense to confuse even myself, here’s the photo:

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  10mm, ISO 100, 1/200s, f/10

Click on the image to see it in the gallery along with others from the Sewall album

Depth

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

This is not normally a photo that I would share, I snapped it at the seashore and didn’t think much of it, but when I was looking at it in Lightroom I kept getting drawn into it, there was a sense of unease, of vertigo even… there’s a depth to it that I can’t easily describe in words…

Of course, it could just be that I was hungry at the time 🙂

2015  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm

Click on the image above to see it in the Gallery along with other “Odds and Ends”

Kingston Seashore

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

Landscapes and Seascapes… maybe even Cityscapes… that’s the kind of thing that I like shooting,  Yes, I photograph lots of subjects, but this is what drives me really… at least that’s what I feel.

So…. when I see a sky with lots of detail (that apparently most other people don’t see)  I almost have a compulsion to grab the camera and seek out a suitable scene.

While this spot might be considered overdone… the changing elements will always make it photogenic for me 🙂

2015 | Kingston Roundhouse

Click on the image to see it in the Black & White Gallery along with many other BW images in the collection.

2015 Deck – Week 03

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography2 Comments

I don’t normally do abstract photography, actually, even including this photo I’m not sure I’ve ever done abstract photography, I just don’t see the world that way.

This photo I liked, I am not sure why, it just appealed to me, even when taking it.

To me it has an amalgamation of the things that make me “feel” like I am where I feel most comfortable, where I was born, where I was raised, where I belong…  I am of Guyana, I am in Guyana, I am Guyana!

Now that I’ve gotten the crazy bits out of the way, here’s the photo 🙂

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  1/125s, f/10, ISO 100

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

…. and yes… that bit in the top right hand corner was knowingly left in the frame 🙂