2013 Deck – Week 47

Every once in a while I will look at a scene and I would be moved to try to photograph it using the technique known as High Dynamic Range (HDR), and on even fewer occasions, I would look at the scene and think that it would make a good Black and White HDR.

I had just picked up my daughter from her “After-Classes” and we took a drive by the seawall, as soon as we pulled up and parked I saw the way the tide was out, and how the sky was over-cast with some low hanging clouds, I knew I wanted to try a few photos near the metal piling that’s been there for ages, and I thought it would render nice in HDR.

I tried to keep her from running ahead and getting footprints all over the area, but it wouldn’t have mattered, her footprints didn’t last too long in that mud 🙂

I tried a few angles around the sheet of metal, and decided after on this portrait oriented one, The way the shape of the puddle, the arc of the wet and dry sands (mud), the curve of the receding water-line and the straight horizon all clashed, made the scene seem more fluid to me.

I hope you like it. (Three exposures blended for an HDR image)



Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

2013 Deck – Week 45

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 43

I got what amounted to somewhat unsatisfactory choices of photos for this week, so I chose one that had some appeal, and then, at a loss for words to accompany it, I then wrote an almost equally unsatisfactory poem 😀



Take a break from the working day
And take a stroll outdoors,
Out where the ocean meets the sea,
where winds blow and birds soar.

Feel the sand between your toes
And the shells under your feet,
Inhale the salty sea breeze
Get away from the streets…

Let the wind blow your hair
Let the sun warm your face
Let’s go to the beach,
Let’s get out of this place.


2013 Deck – Week 42

This week, there was a photo-walk to Hope Beach to see the sunrise, then onto the Mahaica River.  I knew from the outset, once I had seen the sunrise, that most likely my choice for this week would be a Sunrise photo.

I had already uploaded a landscape oriented one to the group, but I had taken a few portrait oriented ones as well, and it was one of these that I had already made up my mind to use for the Deck Project.

I had tried to get low, for a low perspective, and I was using the Sigma Ultra-wide again, I liked the texture in the rock I was using as a foreground object, but because I was hand-holding the shots, I knew that I wouldn’t do an HDR, not while balancing and trying not to fall into the water 🙂   But since I knew that I wanted that texture to come through, I had already decided on my post-processing… some shadow reduction and some dodging on the rock’s surface to bring out those textures.

I hope you like it



Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

2013 Deck – Week 40

This year, I think most of my photos come from the Seawall areas along the coast of Demerara, simply because I’ve had little opportunity to go elsewhere…  but the amazing thing about the seawalls, is that I think you can take a photo there every week and still come away with something interesting

This one I was tempted to call “Low T”, but knowing the western mind-set it would probably be a bad idea 😀

Took this using a low perspective, with the Sigma Ultra-wide 10-20mm, even at 1/200s the bird in the sky shows motion blur 🙂 (Probably added a bit to that with the wide-angle distortion at the edges of the lens)

I hope you like it.



Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

2013 Deck – Week 36

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 34

There’s a certain satisfaction in getting the “feel” of a photo correct.  I don’t go out with pre-conceived ideas in my mind of what I want to shoot or how I want it to look, I’ve seen this lead to disappointment too many times, but I’ve seen other photogs do it; they have a vision of what they want and the set about to get it no matter how long it takes them or what they have to do to get it.  I admire that, but it’s not my current approach.

When I do come across some scenes that have a certain impact on me, I try my best to capture what it is that I see, what I want to convey through this medium to someone else who may look at it, and that takes a combination of not only getting the composition right but of processing it the right way as well, and I think I got it right on this one. 🙂


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


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

2013 Deck – Week 33

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.

From the Bandstand

Sheltering from a light rainfall, I took the opportunity to snap a few photos of this gentleman walking on the wall… the rain didn’t bother him, and here he’s even taking a drink out of that bottle 🙂


Canon Rebel T1i  |  Sigma 17-50mm  |  1/640s, 17mm, f/11 ISO 400

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with many other images from my journey in Sepia images 🙂