Tag: koker

Sons of Stribog

On By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

For most people who have followed my photography for any time, they know that I have a penchant for seascapes, and especially for high contrast black and white images of those scenes. This one falls right in to those. As a matter of fact this one is the latest addition to the ongoing Oniabo series of such images.

This was taken with the Canon 60D using a Sigma 10-20 ultra-wide angle lens, this combination was my favourite; I had gotten quite attached to it, quite familiar with the ultra-wide aberrations that I could use to advantage, and I even became quite fond of some of the softness I got from multi-layered scenes.

My processing is by no means unique, and I have no secrets about it; this one was cropped ever so slightly to adjust for the horizon, it was processed in Lightroom for brightness, contrast, texture, etc., then I took it into DXO’s Nik Silver Efex for the final black and white treatment, using a High Structure harsh approach with some localised adjustments in the sky and near the koker (sluice), with a red-filter applied for the darkening of the sky. Nothing was added or removed (aka Edited), just processed for the final look.

Sons of Stribog – 20-7135 | Abandoned Koker, Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, Guyana. 2020

…the winds, the sons of Stribog, blew as keen daggers.
The earth groaned, the waters thickened, a pall of mud
lay over the fields and the very folds of
Igor’s standards shook in agony.

The Tale of Igor’s Campaign

Those kokers that just sit there off the shoreline always fascinate me, they remind me that our shoreline was once further out, and that mother nature (or the Gods, whichever ones you care to blame for it) has reclaimed it. The quote above is from a Slavic poem, the mention of the winds, the Sons of Stribog were synchronous with the look of this image, with the seemingly forceful dispersal of clouds by the winds. Weird associations and thoughts often happen with me 🙂

Click on the image to see it in the Black and White Gallery, along with many other images there. Keep Shooting!

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.

Lamaha Canal Koker

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments
Koker at Lamaha Canal – 20-7271

Maybe because of the narrowness of Water street at this point, or for some other reason, this Koker stands out, alone across the canal, I’ve known it for most of my life, passed it many times, even photographed it from a distance a few times (from High Street), it was only when I was actually walking here (its a lonely area, so its not something I’ve done before) that I walked past it and noticed that to the south of it there’s actually a smaller Koker alongside a pump station.

Koker and Pump – 20-7287 – at Water Street, Lamaha Canal section

According to the koker / pump attendant, there are actually multiple waterways, not just the large Canal we usually see, and the kokers were used together to control the flow. This older one does not operate anymore, its been broken and not repaired. The pump was in working condition, the attendant was happy to talk to us and explain things.

Attendant – 20-7289

The jobs the koker / pump attendants do are quite important to a city like Georgetown, which lies about 6 feet below sea-level, often we see flooding and blame them (the attendants), but its not always just their fault (sometimes it is), our city’s drains are usually clogged with trash from our very own citizens, or overgrown with weeds, and I’ve recently seen the works by our very own government who filled in a large drainage canal (which had gotten quite clogged over the years) to make walkways, or more like a promenade.

Our drainage system was developed way back in colonial times under the Dutch and British, and the capacity was calculated to accommodate certain types of rainfalls, today we have a lot more rain, and it seems a lot less drainage, but sometimes, aesthetics are more important to those in power than the practicalities of daily life. (just my opinion)

Out There

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, thoughtsLeave a comment

Some thoughts on the photographic process.

For me, the Photographic Process encompasses several stages, some think of it as simply taking a photograph with a device such as a camera or a phone, but I’d like to just mention the stages that I consider part and parcel of the Photographic Process, all of this just to speak specifically about one part that has to do with some of my black and white images.

The photographic process begins with the Photographer’s Eye, seeing that which is intended to be captured, since we all see things differently, this first part starts the differentiation of one image from the next and “my image” from “your image”.  Secondly, our camera adjustments, for many this is done using the automatic settings, but for others it may entail making several adjustments to modes and setting values for shutter speed, aperture and ISO;  these settings are usually determined by the lighting conditions and the desired “look” of the resulting image.  Next comes the composition, determining what to include in the frame, what to exclude, and a variety of other compositional techniques.  Then we click the shutter button.

In our current digital age, this is usually the end of the process, it gets shared on social media, etc., some may pass the image through a simple software for preset filters etc before sharing.  For photographers, this has only been half the work, the next stage is to process the image, depending upon the ultimate use of the image this can be done in a myriad of ways; for me, I seldom do weddings or portraits, so generally the image is intended as ”art”, yes, it sounds pretentious, but that’s what I usually intend, so I would often process the image through Adobe Lightroom, and for many of my black and white images, I also use DXO Nik Silver Efex for the black and white processing.  Once the image is processed to my satisfaction, it is then shared to my site or to social media.  For me, however, the process ends at another stage, when I actually have the image printed.

Out There - 14-5265
Out There – 14-5265 | Oniabo Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, Guyana | 2014

The size of the printed image is usually limited by a few factors, including the size (usually in megapixels) of the original capture, the content of the frame (composition) and the type of processing done to the image.  Some of my black and white processing can result in things that would not look well if printed large, such as today’s image.  I used a high contrast process and worked to heighten the structure and clarity of the image, in so doing there is a resultant “haloing” in existing high contrast areas of the image, when enlarged this can lend the impression that the image was “edited” that portions were spliced in, when in fact they were not.  So, in short, I most likely would not print this image large, possibly 16” x 24”’ as the largest print, this would retain the integrity of the image for me.

This is not a new photograph, it lay unprocessed in my files since 2014, I went scanning through the archives again this morning and spotted it, wondering why I never processed it (as usual).  It is not the latest addition to the Oniabo Collection.

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images in the Black and White album.

In the beginning…

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

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.

Walkabout

On By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Just a photo.

I’ve had it processed for about a month now, but after waiting for the right words to say, I figured I’d just share it 🙂

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  2016

Click on the image to see it in the Up East Gallery, along with some other choice images  🙂

2015 Deck – Week 28

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography5 Comments

I’m about to mention some things of which I am quite ignorant about, so anyone wishing to clarify, extrapolate, correct or otherwise educate me on it are welcome to do so.

I usually like to say something about the photo I am presenting, so here goes:

On the coast of Guyana, we see large shipping vessels (trawlers) heading out to sea for fishing, some smaller boats do so closer to shore (but often out of sight us of land), we see men (and women) cast-net fishing, we see some fishermen using rods and lines, and there are likely more methods than I know of, but one type was explained briefly to me because of a photo I took in which I was trying to identify the craft/vessel/device being used by the fisherman, this was the pin seine method.

Pin Seines are usually about 6 feet high and vary in width, the seine or fishing net usually carries a mesh size of three and a half inches or less; the seines are usually pinned to vertical stakes/poles, they are set up at high tide in the intertidal zone (between the tide lines/marks).  When the tide ebbs, fish are trapped in the nets and retrieved by fishermen.

One method of retrieval is by using what is locally called a catamarang, not to be confused with the more stylish catamaran.  The catamaran is a double hulled boat, while the only resemblance to the “double” part that I’ve seen on catamarangs has been the two long boards lashed/secured together forming the base of the vessel.  The catamarang basically consists of the wooden base which is about  14 to 18 inches wide by about 7 to 9 feet long (I haven’t measured one as yet), with a central wooden box the width of the base by about 2 feet long and about 12 to 18 inches deep (high).  It is operated by the fisherman kneeling or standing with one leg upon the base and pushing across the mud with the other leg, the central box is used to store the catch.

Seeing them skim across the top of the water/mud is usually impressive to me, probably because I’d be afraid to try it myself.

All that just to show you a photo of a fisherman returning to shore with his catamarang (and a few fish that are unseen) under a dappled sky.

Canon EOS 60D | Sigma 10-20mm  |  1/160s, f/9, ISO100

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

Serenity of the Shore

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

Whether it is the soft roar of the waves as they rush to shore, the melodic crash as they break upon the rocks along the seawall or the almost deafening calm that engulfs you when the tide is at its lowest, there is a serenity that reaches deep within and soothes like a herbal balm, and sets your mind, your soul, your very being at ease.

I remember the afternoon I took this, there was a girl walking a dog along the seawall, a few boats were moored at the usual spot near the Lusignan/Anandale outflow canal, my daughter and her cousin were playing among the rocks, then later they played on a swing (old tyre on a rope), the tide was so far out that it would take quite some time to walk to the tideline, I was out there hoping for a nice sunset or interesting clouds to make a good scene…  I took quite a few photos, this one being among the earliest, not because it jumped out and screamed “take me”, but just because I was there, the scene was there and I felt like shooting something… it happens sometimes.

Revisiting the image after two years, I saw the potential that my subconscious saw… or I only now have a different detached perspective on it, whichever excuse works for you, I think I finally got what the scene was saying to me.  🙂

Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 18-270  |  84mm, 1/160s, f/5.0, ISO 160

Click on the image to see it in the Black and White Gallery, that gallery now holds quite a number of my monochromatic images that I am very fond of..