Tag: man

Midday Meditation

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

If I had the time in the middle of the day, I’d probably be doing just like this fellow in the photograph… sit and just stare out to sea for a while; but I was taking a walk and taking some photographs 🙂  (The walk ostensibly for health reasons and the photos for my sanity) I’ve photographed this spot many times, I was going through an old album when I came across this one and thought that a square crop would work nicely, then I saw the faint details of the clouds and thought that some tone-mapping would give me more detail and a monochrome version might just look nice, and voila!  I got a bit of haloing, but I can live with that 🙂

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images in my Sepia Collection

2014 Deck – Week 09

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2014 Deck, Photography2 Comments

The fascination with all things coastal continues!  Of course, it’s more like searching for images that I like and since most of my time seems spent on the coast, that’s what you’ll get 🙂

The fishing boats at Lusignan, always seem to compel me to take a few photos, even if I never use them, but this one worked well for me, I think my processing went a tad overboard (no pun intended) but at the end of it all I still liked the final image.

I was considering a Dutch title for the image since the word Moored comes from the Dutch word Meren (according to some dictionary I was reading), but then the name Lusignan was from France, so I went with a French title instead (not that anyone really cares) 😀

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  1/250s, f/10, ISO 100

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

2014 Deck – Week 08

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2014 Deck, Photography2 Comments

This week was the week of our Republic Celebrations in Guyana, which I’ve shared photos from already, as is my custom, I look through those to choose one for the Deck Project.

This year there was no one image that stood out to me as much as this one did.  I had processed it in Black and White and had decided not to include it in the original upload, I was still not sure anyone else would like it.

I like it, it seemed to me to be a moment frozen in time… something more sensual than what was occurring all around… maybe that is why I converted it to monochrome, to remove the distractions.

I hope you see something other than a Mash Photo 🙂

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery 🙂

Mashramani 2014

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

Mash_2014

I’m not sure I ever come out of these events with the right photos… but I think I usually get a few that are nice, and once in a while, one that is very nice.

Mashramani was on a Sunday this year, making the following day a holiday, so it was more relaxed for me in a way, there were a few bands fewer as well, so the last band came earlier than normal, which is good, I always get a bit peeved when the last band comes and the sun is already getting low in the sky

I was without my flash this year, and shooting into the sun without fill-flash was a different experience for me.  Also without my Tamron 18-270mm I felt a bit lost, but I stuck to my plan of attempting it with a borrowed Canon 55-200mm, and I think I did a fairly decent job of it.

I usually cull the set much more than this, but I think that these are fairly representative of the day, and I decided to keep almost all of the first draft.

Click on the image above to see the Gallery on the site for the full set, I will try to do a Select collection soon.

A Walk on the Conservancy

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography6 Comments

We recently had a Photowalk  for willing members of the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook Group, it was ostensibly called “Canal #2 Photowalk”, that just meant we met at the western end of Canal #2 on the West Bank of Demerara, right where it meets the Conservancy, from there we chose a direction to walk (by default we headed North).  Each member is initially allowed three images to upload to the album on the group, and Fidal Bassier wanted us to put some emphasis on “Composition” for this PhotoWalk, so there was some discussion about it… and I chose these three photos for certain reasons.

First image:  House  – 14-1649

I was mentioning to someone at the beginning of the walk (or a few someones) that it is important to know what makes a good composition, read as much as you can on things like the Rule of Thirds, Leading Lines, and other compositional aids, rules and guides.  Once you know these things it makes composing a decent image all the easier, but it also allows you to realize that some scenes will allow you to “break” those rules.

For this image I pretty much threw the Rule of Thirds away… the main compositional aid being a Leading Line – the bridge leading you to the house, but even this is muted a bit by the shadow across the early portion of the bridge.

Second image:  Sit – 14-1654

Initially the impulse was to zoom in to avoid all the clutter in the photo to simplify the scene down to the man, the boat and the conservancy behind him; but I thought that including the rough woodwork and using the low sun as a backlight would make for a nice silhouette shot or at least a more inclusive rather than exclusive composition.  The low-hanging branch also helped enclose that corner of the frame.  Shooting into the sun naturally desaturates a scene, and I used this to advantage in the colouring of the image.  I also again ignored the Rule of Thirds and relied on the leading lines of the wood and the bright sun to lead you to the subject.

Third image:  Prelude to Sunset – 14-1698

It seemed that although a few of us wanted to stick around to see the sunset, others preferred to get going… so I took a Prelude to Sunset photo.  When I first started taking photos, I would be happy with just a plain nice sunset, but as I began to appreciate some more the images that actually made me look twice at them, I came to realize that some Sunset images (and most landscape ones, come to think of it) needed a foreground object in the composition to hold your attention as well, so I tried to include a portion  of a rusty pontoon.  I exposed for the sky and had already decided that I would be doing some post-process fill-light to regain some detail in the pontoon.

I hope I didn’t bore anyone with all of that… overall, I think it was a good Photowalk.  Click on the images above to see them in the Gallery along with other images in the “Out and About” album.

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 45

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography4 Comments

Sunrises and Sunsets are considered a cliché type of photograph by many, yet I am still drawn to them, not as often as before, but I still enjoy a good sunrise or sunset, and I enjoy taking photos of them too  🙂

When I take a photo of a sunrise or sunset, I try to include some other object of interest, since a sunrise is just a sunrise and a sunset just a sunset (well, most times, there are possibly exceptions).

I was driving home, when I saw some lovely pastel to darker colours in the late afternoon sky, and thought I should at least stop somewhere to see if I could get a nice photo,  the tide was in, and I spotted someone line-fishing, probably for Cuirass, and quickly snapped off a few shots before walking to the seawall to see what else there may be.

As it turned out, I’m very happy I took those shots, it came out well.  I hope you like it.

Click on the image above to see it in the Gallery

2013 Deck – Week 36

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography2 Comments

I had taken a number of photos this week at the Lusignan seawall area, but this one stood out for me from the moment I chimped and saw the image on the camera’s display screen.

I frequently see Jhandi flags along the seashore, but was never witness to the actual planting of one or seen the ritual taking place at such an event.  Needless to say, I still haven’t; but on my way back to the vehicle that day I did see some people bringing their flags to the wall, they had brought them in the back of a vehicle, and were passing them along to each other to put by the sea.

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Click on the image to see it in the Collection, along with other entries for this year’s Deck Project.

2013 Deck – Week 33

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography2 Comments

The coastal seawalls of Guyana are definitely one of my favourite places to be,  I’ve seen life anew, life renewed and life’s farewell there…  I’ve seen families relaxing, fishermen working and many other activities of our coastal culture…. I’ve seen the sun rise and the sun set and I’ve seen scenes that I’ve failed to capture in photographs.

This blog is a bit of a ramble… just warning you 🙂

I’ve been visiting the seawalls, from Kingston to parts along the coast; Buxton, Lusignan, Plaisance, Montrose… just to name a few places…  even Mariah’s Lodge and other parts along the Essequibo coast… and at each spot there is something new to see, but the feeling is usually the same to me.  Whether I’m alone, or with friends or family, I could feel an almost instant sense of relaxation as I step towards the shore and feel the wind upon my face…

I’d hate for others to be offended, but whether I’m with others or not, I feel alone… not in a lonely sense but in a sense of self… I feel unencumbered and free…

I can walk along the beach with my best friend, engrossed in conversation… and still feel it…  I can sit upon the wall with all my extended family… and still feel it, I could sit alone upon a rock and the feeling would be no less nor no more…  Can I photograph that feeling? No.  I think you either know what I mean, or you don’t.

This photo reminds me of that feeling… A man alone with his horse, walking the shore.

Click on the link to see it in the Gallery.