2015 Deck – Week 11

On June 13, 2015June 13, 2015 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography2 Comments

The seawall is a frequent haunt of mine, well, as frequent as it is possible. It is a place of solitude, tranquility, inspiration and sometimes perspiration.

I sometimes see things that I want to photograph; a few years ago I’d just shoot it and not worry too much, now I see it and can often not “see” the photograph I want, or not be able to execute it as I wish.

Over the years my view of what I want to capture has changed, maybe evolved, some might say devolved, but it’s no longer just about shooting wildly, unless it’s a situation where the excitement overrides my senses. Each scene takes some amount of consideration, whether it’s milliseconds or minutes.

Even though I may try and try to get a particular subject in as expressive a manner as I want, it does not always work out, I took about 17 exposures of one single perspective/angle of this one, and even when I chose the one that appealed to me the most, I still think I missed “the shot”

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

Depth

On February 18, 2015February 18, 2015 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”

2014 Deck – Week 16

On October 14, 2014October 14, 2014 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2014 Deck, Photography2 Comments

The evolution of each photographer never really stops, and by this I mean their knowledge of the craft, their view on what makes a good composition, their approach to colour, their use of tools… it is a process that each of us goes through, and it really doesn’t stop.

We may settle into a favoured style, and we may be known for things such as capturing facial expressions, or the use of colour in portraits, or known as a black and white street photographer, but often these are not things a photographer does to the exclusion of all else, but merely a focal point (pardon the pun) at a given period in his/her evolution as a photographer.

While I have read about this before, the realization was brought home to me when I was preparing images for my recent presentation at Moray House, and I went in a somewhat unexpected direction (for myself, anyway), I presented all black and white images of areas along Guyana’s coast, and I liked what I chose… I really did (although the worry was still there that no one else would like it).

So, after all that rambling, today I veer in the opposite direction, to an image that I think helps define how I think colour should be used in a photograph, not just to be there as part of the whole, but to make a point.

Canon EOS 60D | Canon EF40mm | 1/100s, f/3.5, ISO100

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

Black Flag

On January 3, 2014January 3, 2014 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography3 Comments

When I saw this flag, I knew I wanted a good photo of it, but never really processed it until now. This was taken on a photowalk that the Guyana Photographer’s Facebook group did in January of 2013.

I think I agree with Nikhil that my definitive photograph involving Jhandi flags was this one from last year’s Deck Project, but if you’re going to photograph along the coastlands of Guyana, you most likely will end up with Jhandi flags in some images.

I don’t see the Black ones as often as I see the Red, Yellow and White ones.

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm | 1/200s, f/10, 10mm, ISO100

Click on the image to see it in the Collection, along with others from the “Out and About” album

Offerings

On August 9, 2013August 9, 2013 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography5 Comments

I was out by the seawall hoping to see a nice sky that I could use for a possible seascape when I came across a flag (Jhandi) planted on the beach with the leaf of the Lotus Flower plant at it’s base with the food offerings to Lord Hanuman.

I tried quite a few angles to get the perfect shot, but still don’t think I got the one that would jump out at me… but this one I liked never-the-less 🙂

Click on the image to see it in the Seawall Gallery along with many other images from the Guyana Seawalls.

Also click on the Lotus Flower link in the text above to see a brief post I once did on the plant.

Pretty and Poisonous

On December 29, 2012December 29, 2012 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

When I was much younger, we watched movies with Cowboys and Indians, and that sort; and we were fascinated by weapons such as arrows (and bows), blow darts and spears. Something about them made you associate the primitiveness and the simple basic but deadly form with skill, rather than the crude but equally deadly firearms.

Reading stories and watching films that included “poisoned darts” was fascinating and intriguing, and it also made you wonder where the poison came from, was it man-made or natural?

One of Guyana’s major tourist attractions is the Kaieteur Falls, situated in the Kaieteur National Park, in this area, there lives a species of the Poison Dart Frogs, Colostethus beebei, it is commonly referred to as the Kaieteur Golden Frog. It is a tiny frog, of a brilliant golden yellow, that lives in the watery areas in the giant bromeliad leaves that are popular around the waterfall.

This frog produces a toxin that (dependent on the dosage) can kill small insects up to larger arthropods, I do know that they tell you NOT to touch the frog, it’s skin secretes the poison, only it’s feet have no poison glands.

On my first visit to Kaieteur in 2009, I was fortunate to see a few of them, and to get a fairly decent shot of one… not great, but decent 🙂

2012 Deck – Week 5

On February 11, 2012February 11, 2012 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2012 Deck, Photography10 Comments

There are some weeks when you have a number of photographs, many that are technically better than others, yet you keep going back to one in particular which, although not the best composed, or the best exposed, nor the best focused image, it seems to demand from you that extra bit of attention.

This image is one such image for me, I had a few that were better, nicer, prettier, more appealing generally, but this one I liked more. The focus was not on the “obvious” subject, and for that reason I almost decided not to use it, but it appeals to me, it is an image that says something more than the others that I took this week.

If it speaks to you, then I am happy, if it doesn’t, then I fully understand 🙂

Fort Amsterdam and The Plane

On August 3, 2010August 9, 2010 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

The eighth day of our stay in Sint Maarten, we started off with a visit to Fort Amsterdam, its ruins are a bit unusual, a part of it was apparently used as a radio station at one time. The attractions at the fort are things like the cistern or reservoir, long unused, the old buildings or what’s left of them, the canons of course, the views from the different parts of the fort, and while we were there one attraction was wildlife, specifically a young bird who let me get close enough for a few nice photographs.

The fort, although something that would be considered a national heritage site, is located on private land behind a Hotel/Resort, so I had to take at least one photo in the compounds 🙂

We then went off to the beach near Maho where the beach curves around behind the airport, and the aircraft head straight down the sea, over the beach and onto the runway for landing, there was a photograph by Jesse Diamond that my brother had forwarded to me prior to this trip, and both he and Nikhil insisted that I try to take an inspired photograph like it, so that was the main purpose of going there, getting Coronas at more than twice the normal price was just incidental 🙂

Beach Flyover, Princess Julianna Airport, Sint Maarten

Before heading home, we took a stop at a Nature Reserve where they have horseback riding among other activities, got a few photos, but only managed to really like these:

Back home I waited for the evening to arrive so that I could play with the setting sun, seated on the veranda, camera at my side and a cold Heineken to my lips, life is good.

As usual, on this trip, I can’t put all the photos in the blog, so click on the ones here and go straight to the site for all 42 new additions to the Sint Maarten 2010 album.

The Deck – Week 29

On July 23, 2010August 28, 2010 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2010 Deck, Photography3 Comments

This week was a poor week for photography for me, didn’t take too many photographs 🙂

The deck photo is not the best photo that I’ve taken all week, but it is unusual for me, so that’s the reason for its choice. Aesthetically, it may not be pleasing to everyone, or as we say, not everyone’s “cup of tea”. I went to accompany Nikhil again, and not having too much time, we took a short visit to the Promenade Gardens again. I wasn’t in the mood for photography, but Nikhil said I couldn’t go and not take something, so after shooting a few things; a flower here a leaf there, I followed him to a spot where he would eventually get his photo of the day for his 365 Project, and the sun coming through the fabric of some leaves caught my eye.

When I put the camera to my eye, there was a spectrum of colours in the light rays that showed in the viewfinder and I was just hopeful that it would also appear that way when I snapped the photograph, to be sure I tried a few different exposures. When peering through th eyepiece of the camera directly into the light it does appear more vibrant, but I think I caught the nice effect that grabbed my attention in the first place.