Mash 2023

On February 23, 2023February 22, 2023 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Its unlikely that I’d be going out to the main Mashramani float and band parade this year, but I do enjoy seeing the Children’s Mashramani Parade (that would more accurately be the schools parade)

I’ve processed images taken last Saturday at that parade, if you click on the graphic below it will take you to the Gallery with the images (at time of publication all images had not uploaded, it was taking inordinately long to do it)

For all those heading out on the road for Mashramani, be safe, enjoy, and keep shooting!

Children’s Mash Parade 2020

On February 21, 2020February 21, 2020 By themichaellamcollectionIn PhotographyLeave a comment

Each year, they (they, them, the powers that be) make it harder to actually witness the main Mashramani Parade as a family, but fortunately the Children’s parade has remained somewhat constant. Each year we go out to see the children’s Mashramani Parade about a week before Republic Day, and each year we enjoy it for what it is 🙂

This year marks Guyana’s 50th Republic Anniversary. With Oil being the biggest development in recent years it is no surprise that many of the costumes reflected this.

I’ve uploaded 164 images from this year’s parade, you can see them all in the Gallery by clicking on the image above.

2015 Deck – Week 07

On February 17, 2015February 17, 2015 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography1 Comment

Each year I normally do a post on the Children’s Parade, then follow up with one that I’d choose for the Deck, this year, call it laziness, or expediency, or simply a desire to show the one that I was excited about, I will do it all in one post.

This year’s parade was marred by some rain, and when I say marred, I mean for me and my equipment, most of the children seemed to quite enjoy themselves in the changing weather 🙂

I got a few good photos, more than a few “eh” photos and maybe one or two better than average ones…

The one I chose for the Deck may not have the same impact on the viewer as it had on me as I am still fresh with the emotion and excitement of the moment… the rain was still falling, my sister Mary was trying to hover near me with an umbrella (she knows how expensive camera gear is) and the young man who was pulling the main float of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs had seen me and was dancing and heading straight for me performing all the way.

I don’t normally chimp, but soon after he had passed and there was a short lull in the parade I scrolled back to see if I got anything that was usable, and even on the on-camera screen I could tell, it was about 85% good. 🙂

Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, 2015

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

The other images I have from the Children’s Parade are in the Mashramani 2015 – Children’s Parade Gallery, click on the image below to see them all in the Gallery

2014 Deck – Week 08

On March 14, 2014March 14, 2014 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 March 5, 2014March 5, 2014 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

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.

2014 Deck – Week 07

On March 4, 2014March 4, 2014 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2014 Deck, Photography2 Comments

Many readers assume that my photo for the Deck Project for each week is the “best” photo from that week, while sometimes this might be true, it is not always so. The photo I choose is usually one that can, by itself, make a contribution to the 52 photos that comprise the Deck Project, and it can often have meaning or relevance as a photo to myself more than to readers / viewers.

This photo that I chose for this week may very well fall into that category of not necessarily being the best, but to me it stood out among others from the Children’s Mashramani Parade, this young lady had lots of energy and I liked how her darker skin contrasted with the white costume, and how the touches of coloured glitter accented ever so slightly the celebratory nature of the event.

She was part of the Smalta sponsored band from Chateau Margot Primary School, their main costume was depicting their theme “Princess of Peace and Purity” which they entered in the Ages 8-10 Fantasy Category. This young lady was not the “Princess” or the main costume, she was one of the banner or standard bearers at the front of the “band”.

I hope you like it 🙂

Canon EOS 60D | Canon EF55-200mm Lens | 1/500s @ f/7.1, ISO100, 200mm

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

For a Small selection of the Images from the Children’s Mash Parade, check the Children’s Mash 2014 Select album.

Mashramani Children’s Parade 2014

On February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography3 Comments

Although I am much behind in my current Deck Project, I thought it prudent to choose and process photos from last weekend’s Children’s Mashramani Parade.

As usual, I am seldom disappointed with the parade itself, the Children are always great to see, I often say it is better than the Adult’s Parade…

I will be making a shortlist of these photos soon, but for now you can click on the image below to see the current images in the Gallery

2013 Deck – Week 08

On March 2, 2013March 2, 2013 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

Most of my photographs from the recent Mashramani parade for Georgetown were of one particular style, but somewhere in the middle of all the fast flying shots that I took I managed to capture one that was quite different from the wide shots of the floats or the half-body close-ups of the revellers

I don’t know if it’s the photography book I have been going through, but for some reason this image stands out from the plethora of photographs that I took on Mash Day.

The book is “Through the Lens – National Geographic Greatest Photographs”, and it contains some truly amazing photographs. I am certainly not claiming that any of mine can class with anything from National Geographic, far from it, but the “feeling” that I got from this one was different from the rest, and I think that it is a better photo for that.

You have to see it large, please click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

For me, this shows a woman lost in the moment; it’s just her, the music, the rhythm, the motion… alone in a crowd, part of the band bu apart from the band all at once. This is “the moment” for Mashramani 2013. I hope you like it.

Mashramani 2013

On March 1, 2013March 1, 2013 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

I know that most people’s Mashramani photos are already out there, and I have to say that this year saw a large increase in not only the amount of photos out there but also an increase in the quality of the photography of the event.

In trying to “cover” the event I take a lot of photos, which means I then have to process those photos. This year I used two cameras, I had a wide-telephoto Sigma 17-50mm on the Canon Rebel T1i body and the slightly longer telephoto Canon 18-135mm kit lens on the Canon 60D body (my favourite lens for the event, the Tamron 18-270mm, has an issue I cannot resolve as yet, it’s slow to focus, which is not good for moving subjects). My favourites from these events have always been close shots rather than wide, but I decided to try to get a variety anyway.

As I expected, my favourites are still the close-up shots 🙂

Click on the Image above for the full Gallery

For a hand-picked selection, click on this Link, I selected my favourites, not necessarily the best ones, just the ones I like 🙂

2013 Deck – Week 07

On February 21, 2013February 21, 2013 By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography1 Comment

When shooting an Event, it’s usually important to try to get photos that cover the gamut, spans the diversity, from the beginning to the end, so that viewers can get a sense of the whole, but amidst all of that I am usually on the lookout for that one shot that stands out, that transcends the transformation from reflected light, to digital data on a sensor to pixels on the screen and finally to ink on a page.

Does this image from the recent Children’s Mashramani Parade do that for you? I know it does it for me.