Reflection

On October 11, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography, thoughts7 Comments

Often, we are so focused on what’s ahead of us, that we forget to look back.

The things we have done and seen as we travel this road through life have shaped us, whether those things were good or bad; the people we’ve met, the places we’ve been, the experiences we’ve had, they all add up and influence our decisions one way or another.

When we look back it is probably more important to see the beauty that was and is there, rather than dwell on the bad memories; not to say we should ignore them, but nothing good usually comes of dwelling on negative things, and reflecting on brighter moments will likely put us in a better mood than we had been in before.

There are times we can look back and see a moment in quite a different light, see that there was definitely something there worth having happened, having seen, having done, and know then that because of it, we are changed.

As we continue the journey, just take a moment every few miles to look back, the reflection might be more pleasing that it appeared while passing through.

Pakaraima Reflection | 2016 | Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105L

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

Drought

On October 5, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

The interior of Guyana faced some prolonged periods of drought over the last few years, I’m still not sure the rains that have fallen in recent months has managed to reverse the conditions significantly.

Leafless trees always seem to make for nice photos…

Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105L | Guyana, South America.

Sunset at KB

On October 1, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

Following up on yesterday’s image, It was a sunset, but the scene called to me to process in black and white for that composition, the next evening, I decided to take multiple exposures for an attempt at an HDR Sunset; same area, different composition and view 🙂

Three exposures, combined in Nik HDR Efex Pro II, minor adjustments in Lightroom

Canon EOS 6D, Canon 24-105L | Karasabai, Pakaraima Mountains, Guyana

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery, a set I call Scenic Experiments, all HDR images 🙂

Karasabai Skies

On September 30, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography6 Comments

I had just finished up some work, and simultaneously finished up my processing on a photo I took in the Pakaraima’s earlier this year, and I was heading into my vehicle to head home when I was approached by a man of Amerindian descent (our indigenous people).

He called me by my last name, and inquired if I was indeed Mr. Lam, the one who took photographs, once I replied in the affirmative, he proceeded to ask if I had a brother named Patrick, again, I said yes, he apparently went to school with my brother at some point. He then told me how much he enjoyed my photos, I was somewhat stunned to be thus approached on the road, but I was also thrilled. It seems he is now embarking on his own photographic journey.

I would probably never have had the courage to do what he did, but I realise now that I have left many things unsaid to many people simply because I was unsure of how they would take my approaching them gushing about how much I like their work. Judging from my own reaction, I regret not saying to those people whose work I admire, that I love their work, and that they inspire me.

On to the photography – I don’t think I’ve ever treated one of my “safari”or photos taken in the Rupununi or the Pakaraimas in a similar manner to that which I do my seascapes and coastal photos, but something about this one steered me in that direction (yes, the clouds, I know) 🙂

Karasabai, Pakaraima Mountains, Upper Takutu – Upper Essequibo Region, Guyana

Click on the photo to see it in the Gallery.

Since I started using WordPress for this blog, other than using the online interface to write, I’ve been using Windows Live Writer as my main off-line way of drafting and preparing my blog-posts, I had heard sometime back that MS was not developing it further (although its pretty great as it is), this one I tried using Open Live Writer, which is so identical to MS Live-Writer that I forgot I was using a different software. So far, I like it!

Soaring

On April 8, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography4 Comments

Whether it’s over the coastal villages, the riverain areas, the open savannahs or the mountains, seeing a bird soaring gives a sense of freedom, a sense of wonder, a sense of space.

Of course, that might be just me.

Somewhere along the trip, my friend (a bit hard to believe I’ve known her since primary school days) Praharshanie mentioned she had loved one of Nikhil’s photos of a bird over the mountains, and that I should take one. I have probably taken a few over the years, but none that really worked for me. We were sitting on the benches by Charlie’s place at Yakarinta when we saw this scene, and of course, camera(s) in hand I set to shooting a few frames to see what I could get.

So, I like this one enough to share. 🙂

March 2016 | Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 24-105 | Yakarinta, North Rupununi, Guyana

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

Kurupukari Crossing

On April 7, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography2 Comments

I was reading somewhere recently (online) a caption for a photograph that said “crossing Kurupukari” and it occurred to me that some people probably genuinely think that the river that they are crossing with the pontoon/ferry is actually called Kurupukari – the river is none other than the mighty Essequibo.

Kurupukari is apparently the historic name of the Amerindian village now known as Fairview, which happens to be the only Amerindian village located within the Iwokrama Rainforest Programme Site. The rapids or waterfalls seen near the “crossing” is referred to as the Kurupukari Rapids or Kurupukari Falls, the area on either side of the river where the pontoon/ferry and boats come ashore is/are referred to as the Kurupukari Landing; this landing allows for the transport of vehicles across the Essequibo River along the Linden-Lethem Trail / Road.

I’ve taken many photos at the crossing, as have many other people, it has a scenic quality that is endearing but not necessarily easy to capture on camera. While photographing it this last March I realized what was one of the things that I loved about it, it was the openness, the width of the river, the wide expanse of sky above. In this photo I try to convey that sense of openness and also the scale (there’s a boat/canoe crossing the river).

Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm | Essequibo River, Kurupukari, Guyana, 2016

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

The Bush

On April 6, 2016April 6, 2016 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography7 Comments

Shooting in a Rainforest can be fun, rewarding even, but there are some parts of Guyana that are not quite rainforest, where the variety of trees forms a tangle of verdant threads in a patchwork green tapestry, and it’s hard to take a photograph to show the scale or the beauty… this is where I like to think is the type of area most Guyanese generally call “the bush”; although to most of us coastland dwellers, the “bush is anywhere beyond the towns that have visible treelines blocking your view 🙂

This one was taken just past 58 Mile, Mabura area. Even in this quick snap you can see a fair variety in the trees, of note is the scale of the vegetation to the vehicle disappearing up the road.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 24-105 f/4L

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

2015 Deck – Week 10

On June 5, 2015June 5, 2015 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.

Balance

On May 30, 2015May 30, 2015 By themichaellamcollectionIn Photography8 Comments

Balance is over-rated… it’s boring, right?

I mean, eat a balanced diet… where’s the fun in that? Balance your time between sleep and wake, work and home, business and pleasure…. you get the drift… keeping the balance is just too hard; of course, going totally unbalanced is not good, not good at all, trust me, I know.

I was out along the seawalls on a midday walk (yes, no one who is balanced would be doing that either!), and I was composing some shots, I normally do not position my horizon in the centre anymore (that was the default position when I started taking photos), but something about this scene made me want to balance the earth to heavens proportion in the frame.

My thought processes often differ from the moment of pressing the shutter-button to the time of processing, and that might be a good thing, at the time of processing, I was looking at the elements and the thought that came to mind was a bible verse… no, I do not normally go around quoting bible verses… but this one many people already know; it is from what we know as The Lord’s Prayer