Tag: trees

2013 Deck – Week 29

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography4 Comments

I was quite disappointed with my photos for this week, but I figured that somewhere in there was a photo that I could use for the Deck Project.  I did a Panorama, but it was somewhat uninspiring (maybe I’ll look back at it with a different vision later), I had lots of Street Photos that were out-of-focus, badly composed, and uninteresting even…

I did have three photos of the Anglican Bishop’s Residence (Bishop of Guyana), and one I rather liked, but decided not to use, this one I liked and I had thought early on in the process (like when I clicked the shutter) that I’d like to see it in Sepia, so here it is…

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

This is one of the very few examples in recent years of someone restoring a Victorian styled building in Georgetown, rather than demolishing it, although it created some controversy, I think that it was a good move in the end, for the City, if not for the Diocese.

On the Beach

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

When taken from a low perspective with an utra-wide-angle lens, scenes take on a different look 🙂

The bright whites at the top of the wood are harsh reflections from the one o’clock sun.

Canon EOS 60D  |  Sigma 10-20mm  |  1/125s, 10mm, f/8, ISO 100

Click on the image to see it in the Black and White Gallery, along with many others in my Black and White Collection.

2013 Deck – Week 26

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography1 Comment

As the year progressed, I expected to be using  more Street Photographs, as I am not getting the time or opportunity to do lots of the scenic ones I like.  So this week’s taking did not surprise me that most of what I had were Street shots, and the only one I thought worth tackling to process and share was this one.

Those who know me, know that I have a thing about having the horizon level, especially where a scene is involved, but I’ve been told and shown many photographs where having the horizon absolutely level is not optimal or necessary from an artistic standpoint or through necessity.

Don’t get me wrong, I still think I could have tilted this to get the horizon straight… but it is what it is… 🙂  And I actually like it the way it is.

I’m not very good at it, but this is one of those shots using the “From the hip” technique 🙂

2013 Deck – Week 25

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography, Poetry4 Comments

This week, I’m adding a new image not only to the Deck Project but to my slowly growing (as yet untitled) Seascape project.

It may be more a combination of landscape and seascape, you can see the road and the seawall, but I still consider it part of the Seascape set 🙂

Canon EOS 60D  |  Sigma 10-20mm  |  10mm, ISO100 | Red filter in Post-process

Click on the image above to see it in the Gallery.

The Driftwood.

Have you seen the driftwood that climbs the rocks,
and basks in the midday sun?
The one that crossed two oceans and a sea,
Yes, that’s the one.

It was cast adrift by a little boy
who threw it from the shore
To see if it would then return
back to him once more

He watched it bob among the waves
until it was lost from sight,
Then away he ran to play among
the children of the night

Upon many beaches it took a rest,
then washed to sea again
until it touched upon our shore
and bathed in sun and rain

I doubt that you will find it now
for I passed a hobo this morning
And I thought I smelled some fish broth
and the scent of driftwood burning.

Every Tool

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, thoughts6 Comments

I’m not a purist; I don’t hold the belief that whatever JPG comes out of the camera is the reality that existed in front of the lens.  I do, however, believe that there is a certain amount of “truth” in my photographic work.  Friends and colleagues, other photographers and budding photographers in the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook group have heard me make the distinction between Processing and Editing many times.  And I will briefly make it here again…

Since I shoot in RAW format, the camera does no processing to the file (whenever you shoot JPEG the camera applies certain adjustments to the image, contrast, brightness, etc.) so I have to Process it in software, often referred to as Post-processing.  This usually involves adjusting sliders in a software like Aperture, AfterShot, Lightroom, LightZone, etc., things that are adjusted range from brightness and contrast, to hue and saturation, cropping, temperature, white balance, noise levels and more.  Although this is usually applied over the entire image, some software allows you to do it to parts as well.

Where I draw the distinction between Processing and Editing, is when the image is altered so as to become a new image, distinct from the original in content.  Simply put, if I add something or remove something from the original photograph, then it is no longer the same, it is now a work of graphic design, not only photography.

Do I Process my images? Always.  Do I Edit my images? Sometimes.  I’ve cloned out trash that otherwise marred the scene (the lone plastic bottle on a grassy stretch), but have often left in loads of trash because it was part and parcel of the scene.  I don’t have anything against editing, but I don’t think its fair to call it a photograph after you’ve added in entire clumps of trees, removed several utility posts and added muscles to an individual… that is definitely in the realm of photo-illustration or Graphic Design.

I am also a big proponent of using every tool that you need to get the image that you saw with your eyes, and in your mind across to the viewer.  Whether its special filters on the lens to get a mood or effect, an angled lens in the developer of a dark room to create a distorted view, using Black and White (Film or processing) for an aged or structured look, using long and super-long exposures for light trails or flowing water, external flashes and reflectors for extra lighting on a subject, gels and filters for colour enhancements, or even doing some of this on the software end, I am for it, but I believe in being true to the original vision as much as possible.

Fancy processing and editing is no substitute for a good original image.  I am no expert or professional, many of my images come out of the camera looking very disappointing, and I often discard or simply not process them.  Yes, you can “save” them, I have even done so on some occasions, simply because I believe that they were worth saving, but they had to have something good in them to begin with; a good composition, a relatively good exposure, and maybe even compelling elements to the composition.

I’ve rambled enough… time for a photo.  This is one of those photos that I “saved”…  The original was good, maybe better than good, but it was not what I wanted….  I wanted more detail in the sky, more of a structured appearance than the original coloured version, and (because of an architectural quirk) more symmetry.

Canon EOS 60D  |  Tamron 18-270mm  |  21mm, 1/160s, f/7.1

I used Lightroom to create five different exposures from the original, each 2 stops apart in exposure, then I used Nik HDR Efex Pro to merge my new exposures and coax the detail I wanted from the overall scene, then I used Photoshop (I know, I’m a horrible person) to skew the perspective ever so slightly to gain some symmetry.

Although I did not add or remove anything, I normally would consider this edited since I used Photoshop to change the original proportions of the image, but in this case I’d let that slide 🙂

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with others in the Black and White series.

2013 Deck – Week 23

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography2 Comments

Keeping a photo project going is not easy, I found that many times I “force” the images by going out looking for things to shoot… and often times I’m not entirely satisfied with the results.  Most of the images that I like are the ones that I just happen to see, being in the right place at the right time  🙂

I was on the pavement near the intersection of Regent Street and Avenue of the Republic when I noticed the reflection of City Hall in the flooded pavement and road near to me, I actually had my camera in hand and tried to compose a few shots between people walking by me, and vehicles splashing the waters occasionally.

Some people can go out and “make” the photos, others are just the instrument that is manoeuvred into the right place at the right moment to see and capture what is shown to them  🙂

Canon Rebel T1i  |  Sigma 17-50mm  |  17mm, f/8, ISO400

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with the other images in the 2013 Deck Project.

Offerings

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography5 Comments

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.

2013 Deck – Week 21

On By themichaellamcollectionIn 2013 Deck, Photography3 Comments

I was perusing my takings for the week and I had pre-selected 16 photos that I was thinking of using for the Deck Project, some street photos, some seawall photos a few bird photos… you get the idea…  Maybe it’s the mood I was in or just that most of them seemed “normal” to me, but I ended up choosing one that I knew was not necessarily a great composition, and then in processing I also did some unusual work with the sliders 🙂

All that being said, I don’t expect many to appreciate or like the final result, but to me the entire thing was so off-kilter that I ended up titling the image just that… “Off-Kilter”, and it grew on me.  🙂

Canon Rebel T1i  |  18-55 Kit Lens  |  1/200s, f/11, 30mm, ISO400

Processing notes: Selective desaturation and hue adjustment.

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

In the countryside

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

The headline might be misleading….

In Guyana, this photo could have been in the capital city of Georgetown, but it’s actually in the village of Good Hope on the East Coast of Demerara.  In this era of washing machines and dryers, it’s neat to see clothes drying in the afternoon sun on a clothes line near coconut trees  🙂

Something about fresh sun-dried clothes has a crisp clean “feel” to it that transcends the sense of touch, it goes to the sense of smell, straight to your brain and tells you this is fresh, outdoor fresh… it puts a smile on your face and a bounce in your step.  🙂

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images from my Out and About Collection

The Red House

On By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography5 Comments

Many years ago I missed the photo-walk that Nikhil, Naseem and André took around Georgetown.  They had termed it the Georgetown Safari, and they covered much of Georgetown over two days.  I have always meant to try to cover as much of historical Georgetown as I could, but never seem to get a good start on it.

I was on my way to work, and driving past the Red House when I noticed the sky beyond it and thought this was as good an opportunity as any to take the photo I wanted of this building, the point of view is not unusual, there are dozens from this vantage point, but I like to think I did the scene some justice.

It is a single exposure, but I did some tone-mapping to draw out some detail from the scene, and I cloned out a short piece of electrical wire that sneaked into the frame in the upper corner.

Canon 60D  |  Sigma 10-20mm  |  14mm, 1/125s, f/5  |  Nik HDR Efex Pro

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with other images from around Georgetown, Guyana.

I always figured that the building got it’s name because it was red, but never knew that it was because it was covered with Red Wallaba Shingles.  It dates back to the days of Colonial Rule, and records indicate that the “Colony of British Guiana” acquired it in 1925, from then until 1953 it served as the place of residence for many Colonial Secretaries.

During his stint as Premier of British Guiana, from 1961 to 1964, Dr. Cheddi Jagan also used it as his Official Residence.  Under subsequent leaders, it was utilized for various government offices.  In 1999, two years after Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s death, while serving as the fourth President of Guyana, the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre was established in the building (a purpose it still serves to this day)

It is apparently also referred to as Kamana Court, a name I had not heard until today, and for which I can find no more information