Tag: The Deck

2015 Deck – Week 12

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography, Poetry2 Comments

Sometimes we become entangled in the minutiae of our daily lives and forget or overlook the things that are truly important, I’m no philosopher but sometimes introspection leads to thoughts about things that I often figure are best left to wiser men to figure out – like, why does the toilet paper always seem to run out when you really need it and can’t reach a new one easily? 😀

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I saw this cloth tied to a bamboo pole on the seawall, not sure if it was part of a Hindu ritual, a flayed and battered Jhanda (Jhandi flag) or just a piece of cloth tied to a pole…  It intrigued me enough that I took quite a few photos of it, trying to catch it and freeze it’s motion with a fast shutter speed… and when I was processing the photo, only then noticed the bit of seaweed tangled in some of the threads… this might have been a bit of that Sargasso Seaweed that recently washed up on our shores.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF24-105mm  |  105mm, 1/500s, f/8, ISO 200

A cruel world, tears and flays
The skin and nerves apart
Love and life, soothes and calms
This tender fragile heart

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

500

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

The Art of Photography and Photography as Art

2015 – Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm

This blog post is a milestone of sorts, it marks my five hundredth blog post.  It began on a sad note, with a photo from my maternal grandmother’s funeral, it has been more of a photo journey rather than a photo blog, more about myself and the photos than about the photos themselves I suppose, so it’s rather like a journal…almost… of sorts.

On this journey I’ve learnt a lot, with still much more to learn, I’ve met many other people with a passion for photography, and many who love to look at beautiful imagery.

I have learnt that there is a difference between the Art of Photography and Photography as Art, and I believe that it is a realization that comes to most of us who pursue it with an aim for creating “art”.

2010 – Canon T1i, Sigma 18-270mm

It sounds presumptuous even to my own ears to refer to anything that I produce with the camera as “art”, but people like my friend Nikhil would thump me behind the head for even saying that.  Not everything I take can be considered as art, so I humbly submit that I have a few that may be taken into consideration by those who are more knowledgeable than myself and more in-tune with the art world to be judged and pronounced as art.

Nikhil would also tell me that I have had work exhibited once at the National Gallery of Art (Castellani House) and have also been among the finalists in two of the recent Guyana Visual Arts Competitions, so I can’t get away with trying to play modest about being called an “artist”.

2011 – Canon Rebel T1i – Tamron 18-270mm

I began as most of us probably did with learning to use the camera and just snapping away at anything and everything that caught my eye.

After a while it began to be more important to learn and understand the art of photography, to understand how light plays an important part, where paying attention to composition results in a much better photo of the same subject.  The art of photography is to know your camera (whether it’s a mobile device such as cellphones or a larger DSLR) to learn what it can and cannot do, and to know how to use it to accomplish what you want.  Like any craftsman worth his salt, the art of the craft is the union of the person and the tools at hand.

It is good to learn different techniques, different approaches, different styles; that can be part of your arsenal, but it need not define the photograph you take.

2012 – Canon T1i, Tamron 18-270mm

The photograph is an extension of your self, it is a product of your own thoughts and skills, when the photograph stops being just a snapshot and becomes an expression of an idea, a concept, more than just a moment frozen in time, then it is possible that you have created a piece of art.

Photography as Art has to be more than just a pretty photo of a pretty scene or even a technically perfect photo of a dilapidated house, for a photograph to be Art it should have soul, it should convey an idea, elicit a reaction from the viewer, it has to be seen, talked about, appreciated or ridiculed even.

2013 – Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 18-270mm

Not many of us in Guyana can successfully claim to be original in our photographs, most of it has been done before and by better artists than ourselves, Photography as an Art has to overcome the fact that everyone now has access to a device that captures images, and in the maelstrom of images swirling around the internet we have to produce a piece that stands out, that makes people stop and look, but also to have them remember it afterwards, to recall it and speak about it.

Art is subjective, that’s basically saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it is not enough for the creator of the piece to want it to be art, the viewer has to appreciate the piece, not necessarily from the perspective of the creator but from how it affects them.

2014 – Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105mm

All the images in this post are “new to you”, they are from the six years than span this blog, 2010 to 2015, one from each calendar year.  I went through the files looking for images that I have overlooked, or just not processed,  not looking for any subject in particular, but for images I think worth processing, worth sharing and reflect what I would like to show others.

I hope that at least one strikes your fancy.

Click on each one to see them in their respective galleries in the Collection.  Thank you for being a part of my journey so far.

2015 Deck – Week 11

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography2 Comments

The seawall is a frequent haunt of mine, well, as frequent as it is possible.  It is a place of solitude, tranquility, inspiration and sometimes perspiration.

I sometimes see things that I want to photograph; a few years ago I’d just shoot it and not worry too much, now I see it and can often not “see” the photograph I want, or not be able to execute it as I wish.

Over the years my view of what I want to capture has changed, maybe evolved, some might say devolved, but it’s no longer just about shooting wildly, unless it’s a situation where the excitement overrides my senses.  Each scene takes some amount of consideration, whether it’s milliseconds or minutes.

Even though I may try and try to get a particular subject in as expressive a manner as I want, it does not always work out, I took about 17 exposures of one single perspective/angle of this one, and even when I chose the one that appealed to me the most, I still think I missed “the shot”

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

2015 Deck – Week 10

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography2 Comments

In Guyana, when you’re hungry and you want some “fast food” (that’s a relative term, as anyone who has been to a fast food restaurant knows only too well) the place to go is the nearest Chinese Restaurant, or maybe not the nearest, but one you know and trust… ok, trust is a strong word; the one that hasn’t given you “belly-wuk” as yet.

As you can imagine, it’s unlikely that I’d be in a Chinese Restaurant with the camera in hand, but these days the built-in cameras on our cellphones (mobile phones for you northerners) are pretty decent, a year ago I’d probably never have tried to take this photo, but with different gear comes a different attitude.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini Duos  |  Instagram

I’ve been in that chair, probably with the same expression, a few times before… 🙂

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery, for other images from my mobile phone photography experimentation, check my feed on Instagram.

2015 Deck – Week 09

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography2 Comments

This blog is now 5 years old…. it doesn’t feel like it. Today I am feeling somewhat introspective….

 

I am not my parents…

I am not my ancestors…

I am not a representation of one particular political party or the other, of one race or the other, of one ideology or the other…

I am the debris upon our coast, that which is a product of the actions of others, whether deliberate or accidental.

I have been cast upon the shore, faithfully placed or carelessly thrown.

I have been left on my own, to survive or perish.

I may be strong or I may be weak, but mother nature will still prevail.

I may be solitary, or in the company of others…

I am the debris upon our coast.

 

Click on the image for a better view in the Gallery

2015 Deck – Week 08

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography2 Comments

Each week it is hard to make a choice of a photo for the Deck Project, mostly because its hard to separate the emotion involved with the image at the time of it’s being taken and the merits of the image itself, but for Week 8 of 2015, I think it’s mostly because I think to myself that I came away from that week, which was mostly Mashramani images, with what I thought of as very uninspiring and “average” images.

Seven weeks later and I was finally able to look at them and chose one that I felt was different, or maybe just not the “usual” of the crop.

Am I happy with it? Yes.  There are quite a few that I’m happy with, but it seems to me that I now want a little “more” from my images than just the “pretty picture”.  I’m not there yet, but I’ll keep trying.

Context:  this reveler was very close up behind the truck, it was 3 in the afternoon, although the sky was partially overcast, the sun was shining nicely down on the parade at this point.

Canon EOS 60D, Canon EF24-105mm f/4L

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

2015 Deck – Week 07

On 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

mashkids2015

2015 Deck – Week 06

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography1 Comment

I almost regret using the photo “Removing the Lines” for the Four Days, Four Photos challenge that James Broscombe had set for Nikhil and I…  It is a photo that had something to say… and would have allowed me to have something to say too 🙂

That left me going through the rest of my week’s haul looking for something that stood out 🙂

Although I go out with hopes of getting nice landscapes or seascapes, I am usually also looking for anything else that might be useful to my own vision of my photography, and recently, I’ve been shooting some unusual scenes (for me, anyway)

This is one I think that is more Nikhil’s subject type, but not necessarily his style, There was something about the way the shadow fell that caught my attention, and then the way the shadow changed as the surface upon which it fell changed made me look again.

In this light (no pun intended) I was drawing a comparison to the way our actions and our attitudes to others often elicit different reactions and responses from each person, while we cannot control or even predict how others react to what we say or do, we should be observant of that reaction, so that we may learn from it, and be aware of it for future reference.

All shadows are not equal, and each shadow changes with the surface upon which it is cast, sometimes the shadow is sharp, and defined, at other times it can be diffused or even murky.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105mm  |  1/320s, f/10, ISO200

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

2015 Deck – Week 05

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, Photography2 Comments

A new Koker takes shape at Buxton.

In the context of current instability mostly due to imminent elections in Guyana, this can lend some social commentary, if one chose to look at it from certain vantage points.

You may have to look twice, but there is dog running away from it all in the scene.

I leave the storytelling to your own imaginations 🙂

Buxton, East Coast Demerara  |  2015  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm

Click on the image to see it in the 2015 Deck Gallery.

2015 Deck – Week 04

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2015 Deck, PhotographyLeave a comment

On a Saturday after work (which is generally after noon) I try to make a stop along the seawall, just to walk, feel the breeze, and hopefully get a few photos in, the harsh sunlight in the middle of the day is generally considered to be “not the best” light for photography…  but for me, it’s the time I have available mostly, so I have to make it work 🙂

I’ve walked past this particular piece of wood many times, but never saw anything I wanted to shoot… that happens a lot to me, but this day, the sky had some nice striations, after squinting and peering at the sky for a while I decided it had enough detail to work with for what I had in mind 🙂

Thomaslands, Georgetown.  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images in the 2015 Deck Project.