Stella Maris

On August 18, 2010August 18, 2010 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography6 Comments

Whilst in Sint Maarten, I went to church at a small Catholic church not too far from where we were staying, and when I say “not too far” I mean a couple of minutes walk. The church was called the Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church. On a separate occasion, I walked over to photograph it from the roadside, and although I have already posted and uploaded to my site, at least one photograph of it, I had reserved one for later processing.

The name of the church had captivated me, I assumed that its location was partially responsible. I couldn’t remember seeing a particular effigy bearing the name during my growing years, but I do remember the phrase “Mary, Star of the Sea” being part of hymns and litanies, and probably a prayer. I was surprised to learn that the Latin was Stella Maris, which happened to be the name of the Primary School I went to as a child. It is strange that many of us go to schools and seldom, if ever, question the origins of the name of the school.

Like this church, the school I attended was located on a coastal area, Mary, Star of the Sea, is the patroness of seafarers. Under this title she was believed to intercede as a guide and protector of those on the seas either as travelers or workers.

On this photo I did something unusual (for me) I used an orange filter for a special effect and did a high structure monochrome, the original was nice enough in colour, but I thought it warranted a bit more “umph” for impact. I hope you like it.

Mary Star of the Sea, Catholic Church, Sint Maarten

Casualty of a Hurricane

On August 16, 2010August 16, 2010 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, Poetry9 Comments

From the first time I steeped out and saw Simpson Bay from the house, I was fascinated by this wrecked boat that was in the water a bit east of the house. I took many photographs of it, from different angles, I used different apertures, tried out a polarizer filter on it, I shot it from the house and from along the shore, it seemed I just couldn’t get enough of it. Like most of the large “debris” found along the coastlines of St Maarten, it was a casualty of a hurricane, one of the many that sweep down Hurricane Alley every year, or given its current state, maybe more than one hurricane.

Even though I posted a photograph of it already during my Sint Maarten visit, there was one I had reserved to do some more processing to at a later date, and I would like to share that one with you.

Anchored in the bay,

locked up for the night,

All prepared for the worst

Of the Hurricane’s awesome might

All is peaceful,

Nothing out of the norm

Suddenly seagulls cry out

Wails of the oncoming storm

Winds howl and push

from the bow to the stern

Waves rise and crash

Of the shoreline, nothing to discern

Minutes and Hours

Battling in the fray

unable to tell

the difference ‘tween night and day

The anchors slip

waters filling the hold

is this the fates’ decree

to perish, the tale left untold?

The winds ease,

and the rains abate

Starboard lies the shore

but below lies its fate

Battered and bruised,

seaworthy no more

Never to set sail again

now nothing, but an eyesore.

Sint Maarten Day 7, and Fort St. Louis

On August 2, 2010August 2, 2010 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

The first shot of the day was what might have been called the “Catch of the Day”, Justin (the son of the people at whom we are staying here) and some of his friends had done some spear fishing the previous day and was about to prepare the catch for a Soup.

During the morning, we took a walk down Simpson Bay Road, there were a few older buildings along the road that I had wanted to photograph, although I took a few,there are still a few more that I want a snap at 🙂

The real object of our walk was to get a closer look at the Simpson Bay Market, a nice structure on the Simpson Bay Lagoon across from the Police Station and next to the Coast Guard. I wanted to see what was there to photograph, and my wife wanted to see if any stalls were open, there was only one stall open at that time 🙂 (of course I am not counting the bar or food shop)

And a short walk to the Shipwrecked Pirate, a nice little shop, good footwear, and some unique gift ideas I think, but then I’m a man, what do I know, except that the barrel outside looked nice 🙂 If only it had rum in it, and a tap 🙂

Afterwards, we were taken to do a little climbing, I can’t remember exactly where, I think it was near Baie Rouge, but it had a beautiful view as we climbed and the destination was also a spectacular view at two “seaside”caves that let water into a nestled area, but I wasn’t climbing down there!

For the two caves I tried an HDR image, I didn’t get it perfect, the image has some rotational misalignment, but I liked the scene so much, I decided to keep the resulting image anyway.

We then went on into Marigot (the capital of St Martin, French West Indies) for a short walk around before heading up to the fort, which was the next attraction for us. Marigot also has more that I’d like to photograph, time permitting.

Bandstand / Gazebo, The Marketplace, Marigot, St Martin

Then we left Marigot (not really left it, since it’s a short drive up the hill to the entrance) to see the Fort Saint Louis, or rather the ruins of the fort, I can only imagine what it would look like on a stormy day (not that I really want to be there when a storm hits).

Of course, there are a lot more photos than these added to the Sint Maarten album on my site. Be sure to check them out. The parting shot is one taken as we were exiting the Fort proper.

Go to France!!!

On July 28, 2010July 28, 2010 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

Growing up I frequently heard the expression “Go to France”, it is an expression of disbelief, and equates to the more popular Guyanese expression “carry yuh rass”; when you tell someone in Guyana something that they instinctively and emphatically believe is untrue (without copious amounts of proof), that’s the phrase you are most likely to hear. So if someone tells me that the sun rises in the west, I will tell them “go to France”, or the more colourful alternative already mentioned here 🙂

Sint Maarten is commonly and correctly referred to as the “Dutch side” of the island, but only the residents of the Dutch side and other unsuspecting foreigners like myself would ever refer to the second half of the island as the “French side”, to the residents and especially the Gendarmes (police) and other officials, when you cross the border point, you are in France! The province of St. Martin, France; not the French side, but France! So today I got to “go to France”, finally. Well, we actually didn’t visit a lot of places, but we did a bit of driving to the scenic spots. No offence to the French, but I like the Dutch Side better, it’s more Caribbean and has more character.

I also went back to Back Street, Philipsburg; and then to a swim in the ocean and another chance to see a gorgeous sunset, both of the latter done right from the back of the house. I will miss this most, I think 🙂

And this is only a fraction of the new images 🙂 see other “French Side” photos and more from Philipsburg and the Beach at Simpson Bay at the site, just click on any of the images above.

Just one more image… end of the Fourth Day in Sint Maarten 🙂

Philipsburg and the Bays

On July 26, 2010July 26, 2010 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography1 Comment

Sunday, we were taken on a “crash” tour across some of the island… It was quite comprehensive, but everything was so amazing, I was left dazzled half the time 🙂 The capital of Sint Maarten is Philipsburg, and I want to see how much more of it I can see while I am here, very interesting place!

A view down to the beach from in front of the Philipsburg Courthouse

It would have been nice to get a reverse view of this, but some people parked their hideous cars in front of the courthouse 🙂 Click on the photo and you’ll see some more of the photos, including the courthouse,and a view down one of the picturesque streets of Philipsburg.

And there is just something about these “clocks” that begs to be photographed. I saw at least two of them in the streets of Philipsburg so far…

Clock on a post, in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

And the Bays!!! Who knew there were so many? I still haven’t tagged the images properly simply because I can’t identify them myself (don’t worry, I’m on the case! they’ll be tagged shortly). The have Simpson Bay, Mullet Bay, Cole Bay, Oyster Bay (I think), and I do believe the list goes on further.

Click on the photos to go to the site and see a few others.

And of course, we have the obligatory seaside people photos… I tried a few things different for these two, so they ended up in my sepia and black & white collections.

One of my daughter Miriam and her Uncle Darren, that is more of a warm tone photo than a sepia, but I put it in the Sepia album just the same.

And the other is the black and white, of my wife Maureen and daughter Miriam, I rather like this one, not big on details, but it captures the “feel” rather nicely.

And there ends the second day of my stay in Sint Maarten. Don’t forget to click on the Bay or Philipsburg photos to see other photos from the trip.