Tree on the Canal

As “modern” photographers, many of us share our work online, hoping that we will get recognised, maybe even sought out, it seldom works that way.  One casualty of this online type of photography is the lack of actual physical prints of our work.  There are comparatively few of my images out there, all things considered, but sometimes a few will get out.

One print that remains in my memory is from my very first exhibition, Coastal Wanderings, with Nikhil Ramkarran.  from that exhibition I only “sold” one print, but sales were never my goal, I just wanted to see if people would take my work seriously.  That print was sought after by Mr Colin Edwards of Rockview Lodge in Annai, North Rupununi.

tree on the canal.cdr

Colin has long been a supporter of the arts in Guyana, he has also been an admirer of the works of local photographers including myself.  In the image above, the photo to the right shows a portion of Rockview Lodge, the Kaieteur Falls image under the stairwell is by Nikhil Ramkarran, the black and white to the left as you go up the stairs is mine.  Colin is also part of the team behind the Rupununi Music Festival.

I was reminded of this image recently and thought to offer a special print sale on Metallic Photopaper prints.   For the month of June 2020, I’ll be using the print services available to the site and offering the image at four sizes at a 25% discount.  The high contrast black and white image will be enhanced by the Metallic PhotoPaper print, giving it a finish that you will love.

The image was part of the 2010 Deck Project I did, you can see the image on the site by clicking on the link below:

Tree on the Canal

Before going to the cart, make sure to choose your currency of preference, the coupons are available in US Dollars, Canadian Dollars and British Pounds Sterling.  Depending on your choice of currency, labs in the US, Canada and UK will be automatically chosen to produce the prints.   At checkout use the appropriate coupon code:

In the United States use TREE25US

In the Canada use TREE25CAN

In the United Kingdom use TREE25UK


Thank you everyone, especially those who have supported my journey with their words of encouragement and criticism, both are equally welcome and important to my work.


The House on Sixth

Its been quite a while since I’ve blogged anything here, it’s actually been quite a while since I’ve done any serious photography with the DSLR.  Since I began using a smart phone with a decent camera, I’ve done quite a bit of work on my Instagram project, and the simple joy of pulling out a phone and snapping a photo has reduced the urge to use (or lug around) any larger camera.  But, mobile devices have their limitations, and there are still images that need to be captured differently.

That being said, I made an effort, to stop the vehicle one afternoon, and snap a few frames of a house that I keep passing, and promising to get a photo of, so here it is 🙂


Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105 f/4L  |  Processed in Nik HDR Efex and Lightroom  |  2017


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


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.


Saturated Saturday

Its a very rainy Saturday morning in Georgetown, much like many we’ve had this week and last week.

I just felt the urge to take a mobile phone photo, so here it is 🙂


Samsung Galaxy S7  |  Lightroom Mobile Camera  |  Processed in Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex


Click on the image to see it 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.

Cold


Rest gently in the palm of my hand,
know not the difference ‘tween mine
and your regular haunts.
Don’t fly, for your company I like,
You’re cold-blooded, much like
those I often come for,
Yet you live and your heart beats so fast,
Like the hooves of the horse I ride
across the last threshold.
Stay with me until my next ride,
’tis only moments away,
And then, then must I go;
For another waits for my embrace,
for my dark cloak to cover
and welcome forever…


Cold – 12-8171  |  Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 18-270mm  |  2012


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.   (Edited image, cloned areas to the left to remove stray foliage, for composition/aesthetic purposes)


© Photograph and Poem copyright to Michael C. Lam

Tree of Knowledge


Tree of Knowledge – 13-0493  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-50mm


There was no good nor bad, just life
to this only man, and his given wife,
Days would pass, nights would fly,
animals their friends, of earth and sky;
Everything existed, no rhyme nor reason,
their world, their life, through every season,
All that would change with an admonition,
“Taste not the fruit of the tree, this one”,
All else permitted, this was forbade,
why not partake, why else was it made?
A question asked, a quest begun,
why shouldn’t they eat of this one?
A search for an answer, the first defiance,
revelations shattered the silence,
An answer found, more questions arise,
the world now seen through opened eyes.
The tree of knowledge, a planted seed,
And now it grows, it blossoms… indeed!


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery


© Photograph and Poem by Michael C. Lam, All Rights Reserved

Tower

Back when it was still called Hotel Tower.

There has been a Hotel with the word “Tower” in its name on this spot for more than a century.  I can’t find enough online historical evidence, but before the current name “Tower Suites”, it was the Hotel Tower for many years, and prior to that it was the Tower Hotel.  I saw an 1909 Ad that claimed that “The Tower is the oldest and Best Hostelry on the Northern Coast of South America”.  🙂

Hotel Tower  |  2009  |  Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Sigma 10-20mm


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.