In the beginning…

Well, maybe not “the” beginning, just “a” beginning.

It was probably around 2007 that I began to pay more attention to what went into the frame, to what it was I was taking photographs of.  Prior to that it was mostly point, click, “look, isn’t that pretty??”  Most probably weren’t pretty at all, but family and friends always say “yes, it is”  –  In 2007,  somewhere amidst the generic photos, there began to emerge a few that stood out, and I think that I was seeing things, the things around me, differently, and in so doing I was capturing them differently, light was beginning to take on lifelike characteristics that would change how everything looked, and how everything could be captured on a few thousand pixels.

It was now not so important to capture every detail, but just the ones that would help tell the story, using light and dark, contrast and brightness to illustrate an idea, a concept, a feeling…  It was time to pay more attention to the composition rather than just the subject.

I decided to take a look back at the photos I took ten years ago, to see what, if anything, was worth sharing.  Most of the images I took were family oriented, so those didn’t count, but I was experimenting, looking around me and trying to capture something out of the ordinary (ordinary being the family photos, nothing captured can compare to even the ordinary of professional photographers, much less fine-art photographers).

I even tried my hand at pointing the camera at strange people, out in public, although I was still much more comfortable pointing at non-human subjects, those that might not complain or make a fuss.

And its also the year, I did my first Photo-Walk, not what would really be considered a photo walk, but myself, my brother, Andre, and two friends, Nikhil and Naseem.  We went for a drive “over the river” up to Wales estate on the West Bank of Demerara and I think up to Windsor Forest on the West Coast of Demerara, stopping every now and again to take some photos.

That photo-walk was somewhat of an eye-opener as well, in a relatively short distance, there was quite a lot to see, and a good variety of subjects and scenes to photograph as a result.

This isn’t a retrospective of any kind really, just taking a look at some photos with an eye that has had a decade of shooting, and processing them anew.    They were all shot on a bridge camera, or an advanced point-and-shoot camera, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS, a 6 Megapixel camera with a 1/2.5” CCD sensor, so there’s not a lot of post processing I could do without delving into the realm of editing.

Back then I was mostly all about colour, vivid vibrant popping colour, so the monochromatic versions (BW) you see are how I see them today, not then.

I chose ten images to illustrate what I had accomplished that year, I don’t think I would have found very many, if any, more that are worth sharing.  I hope you enjoy a few.

All the images were reprocessed, and cropped.  Click on any image to see them in the Gallery.


Walkabout

Just a photo.

I’ve had it processed for about a month now, but after waiting for the right words to say, I figured I’d just share it 🙂


Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  2016


Click on the image to see it in the Up East Gallery, along with some other choice images  🙂


Boats at Better Hope

Once in a while, I’m fortunate to be on a PhotoWalk with some fellow photographers, last Sunday was one of those days, and while I think my total take in terms of absolute exposures for the afternoon was about 30, I think I came away with about three photos that I liked, and more that are usable, and that’s a good percentage for me.

This one I chose to share as a blog post rather than in the group album, in which I have shared two others 🙂


Boats at Better Hope – 17-3100  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  2017


Click on the image to see it in the Black and White Gallery in the Collection.


© Photograph copyright to Michael C. Lam, all rights reserved.

Exposed Coast

Being on the northern coast of South America… I suppose that’s what we have… an Exposed Coast… facing the mighty Atlantic Ocean.  Luckily for us, hurricanes never seem to come close to shore here… Smile


Exposed Coast – 13-0514  |  Canon EOS 60D  |  Sigma 10-20mm  |  2013


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.


Big Sky

I wonder… when the old poets and song-writers wrote of the wide-open spaces in the Wild West if they resembled the savannahs and mountainous areas of our own Guyana in any way…

It’s probably hard to imagine, but I used a wide-angled lens on this, cropped slightly on the left for composition purposes.  I figure unless you’re standing there you wouldn’t feel it…

Those are two small trees on the hillside (mountaintop) and all around them are rocks of varying sizes and the tough mountain grass that grow between the rocks in the hard top-soil.  And just a large expansive sky above.  The scene was bathed in the after-noon sunlight.


Big Sky 16-1679  |  Canon EOS 60D. Sigma 10-20mm  |  2016


Meanwhile, in the opposite direction, looking more West, it was a bit more cloudy, but with the sun still glaring through the clouds, and the valleys and mountains rolling into the distance.  Same Camera, same lens.  🙂


Big Country 16-1677  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  2016


Click on the images to see them in their respective Galleries.


Jhanda

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


The Sea

Every time I say something about the Sea, I have to wonder how many people think about the fact that what we see beyond our shores is not a sea, but an ocean…  but it would sound really silly calling the barrier the Ocean-wall.

Anyway, back to my fascination with the sea (or ocean) and our coastline, here’s a photo 🙂


Sea – 16-2637  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  2016


Click on the image to see it in the Black & White Gallery along with many other Black & White images in my collection


Whither We Wander

I’m not sure what it is, but I sometimes sit and wish I were back on the trail, out in the open with a dust cloud behind me, potentially unseen or unphotographed vistas before me, a cold beer in my hand and the wonder of creation to explore.  I’m a town-man, I doubt I’d survive too long out there… but the calling is there.

Here’s a scene from Kato 🙂


Whither We Wander 16-1652  |  Kato, Potaro-Siparuni, Guyana  | 2016


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery


Pull and Push

Often, I can just sit on the edge of the rising or ebbing tide, and marvel at the forces at work, to keep in constant motion this massive amount of water that must weigh an unimaginable but calculable amount, the Pacific Ocean alone takes up almost half the Earth’s surface…


Pull and Push – 16-1777  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  2016


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery