Photography; I shoot what I like, and sometimes people like what I shoot. All photos are copyright to Michael C. Lam unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Possibly the last post of the year. It seems that there will often be Jhanda (or Jhandi flags) in many of my compositions, that’s because they’re like Kiskadees on Guyana’s coast, everywhere!
Jhanda – 16-2644 | Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm | 2016
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery
My fascination with Jhandi flags continues… either that or there’s a severe lack of things to shoot along the seawalls 🙂
We each want to be unique, to stand out from the crowd… the same crowd that we spend so many days trying to fit in with, to identify with, to be a part of. After years of shooting everything and anything, learning bits and pieces about photography (and still learning), a portion of my photography had developed a style that had become recognizable, and the subject matter in tandem with that style of capturing and processing lead to a project called Oniabo.
During 2014 other local photogs used similar styles on similar subject matter, at first I was flattered that others were also pursuing and experimenting this way and proud of the achievements of these photogs, then I began to wonder if in this manner, I would become just another of the photogs who “also” did things this way, composed this way, processed this way…
For a while this year, I stopped seeking out the scenes which made me so happy to shoot and process, instead looking for other things to try, other avenues of expression. One of those experiments has borne fruit, but it is not one filled with passion. I still seek out different ways to express myself photographically, but I also cannot turn off the zeal I have for this particular type of image, so I’ve taken off the blinders that I adopted, chosen to express myself the way I want, they way I should, and I look forward to the rest of the journey with all these talented photogs, who inspire me even as they tell me that I inspire them.
Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20 | 1/200s, f/10, 10mm – 2:39pm
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images for this year’s Deck Project
I was actually thinking Coppertone CIgarette as a title since I actually used more of a Coppertone than a Sepiatone on this one… eventually the actual image remains mostly Untitled, except for the numeric designation of 15-5337.
Taken during the second week of this year, I gave it a single star rating so that I’d remember to go back to it for further attention.
I liked this one, even though I could not line up my composition in time for what I am accustomed to doing, getting the thirds sorted out, the vanishing point more thorough, and my lines running where I wanted… either in spite of that or because of that, I think it came out well 🙂 As I’ve been told many times by Nikhil, we need to know the rules so that we can know when to break them effectively.
2015 | Ogle, East Coast Demerara, Guyana.
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other Sepia type images in the Collection.
Third time.
I have no idea why I keep going back to this particular set of images, I’d shot a few frames of these fishermen on a photowalk in 2013, and I realized yesterday I’d now processed three of them…
one was a cover image for my Facebook page, a second one I had processed as a vignetted sepia image (two years ago):
And yesterday, I clicked on one and felt the need to process it in black and white…
Different but similar images, treated differently, tell different stories.
Click on the images to see them in their respective Galleries.
People write all sorts of things in the sands at the seawalls… and beaches worldwide, from Love Letters (Pat Boone sang about this), to drawings, to directions to the nearest Qik Serv, to Hearts with cupid’s arrows through it and the Lovers’ names inscribed, all to be washed away with the next high tide.
Those messages are as transient to us as we are to the timeless sea; and yet, we keep making those markings and the sea wipes them out again.
I snapped a photo in passing this fellow as he used quite a long stick to mark out something in the sand, I have no idea what it was he was drawing, maybe it was a message to an extra-terrestrial ship 🙂
Midday Markings – Kingston Foreshore, Georgetown.
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
As I was titling this photo I was somewhat reminded of the TV Series “Bones”, maybe it was a recent discussion on the show that prompted the title “The Wood in the Frame”.
I saw this discarded wooden frame amidst the rocks on the seawall. and by contorting myself and peering through it I could see that I might be able to frame some of the Jhandi flags within it… I could not get both my head and the camera into the space available (and I didn’t really want to move the frame), so I know my focus might be spotty, so I was fully prepared for some crazy images to come out.
I had angled slightly down to ensure I got the base of the frame, so it was expected that I’d most likely get the wood lying across the frame in focus. 🙂
I think it came out nicely. (Yes, I know, most of you would have moved the frame so you can get the angle right, the focus right, everything right… I like the experimental method over absolute perfection sometimes)
1/250s @ f/10, 24mm, ISO200
Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
This week’s photo is about Implied Motion. OK, I lied, it’s a photo of a Jhandi flag at the Kingston seashore, but as it turns out it is one of those images that displays implied motion (at least for me)
Whenever we try to convey the idea of motion in a still photograph we usually do one of two things, we either have the main subject show motion blur with the background or rest of the scene in focus (such as light trails at night on the street, or a speeding cyclist, slightly blurred with the track sharply in focus) or we do the reverse, with the main subject in focus but the background blurred (such as in panning shots, or a pedestrian in front of a speeding minibus – by “in front of” I mean with respect to the camera, not the business end of the minibus – although that would make a dramatic photo of a different sort). 🙂
Another method might be to blur everything, such as taking a photo from inside a moving vehicle, creating that “vortex” look (on a side note, using the zoom on the camera while standing still produces neat effects too)
Chrono Photography is also a neat trick used to convey motion, by capturing multiple instances of a moving subject and then layering them in your favourite photo software creates a good sense of the subjects path through the frame.
After babbling about all these ways to create a sense of motion in a still photo, I will just say that I used none of the above for this photo.
This photo is either serendipitous or pure photographer’s luck (hmm, maybe one has something to do with the other). I had stepped out of my office intending to walk around a few blocks, upon looking up at the sky I notices the clouds in a lovely “blown” pattern, I decided to walk to the seawall instead. I have taken many photos of the roundhouse before (and will probably take many more), I have also taken many photos of Jhandi flags before (and will likely take many many more), but that day I saw the clouds in a dispersed pattern, a Jhandi flag blowing in the wind with the roundhouse as a backdrop, and I decided to compose and shoot it, I took a few exposures, then saw five birds flying from the roundhouse towards me… Serendipity!
I was also shooting with the Sigma 10-20 Ultra-wide lens on the camera, so I also got a bit of lens distortion at the edges that helped with the appearance of motion in the clouds toward the edges even more.
That’s a lot of preamble for one photo, but I hope I bored you enough that the photo is now more pleasing 🙂
Canon EOS 60D | Sigma 10-20mm
1/250s, f/11, ISO 100 | 6°49’34” N 58°9’45” W
Click on the image to see it in the gallery along with other images from this year’s Deck Project
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.
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.
It is not every week that I can come up with something that pleases everyone, so this week don’t expect something that pleases you 🙂 but if it does, hooray!
I went to the Essequibo Coast a few weekends back for a wedding (photos from which I don’t have permission to share as yet), I took photos other than wedding ones, so here is one from the first day there, which happened to be the last day of the 30th Week of 2011.
It seems that from the North-West region to the Corentyne Coast there is a common theme on the shores of our land, Jhandi Flags! You can’t seem to walk the beaches, sea-walls or the coastline in general without seeing them.
The Michael Lam Collection's Blog 