john.mathieson

Would have been a lot better if I had had a 400mm 2.8 lens - but, that is life - this was just with an 18-200 - too far away for a great shot, resulting in some quantum mottle etc - but I like the backlit effect on the tailfeathers.

Trying to photograph these guys makes me really appreciate the work of some of the true masters on this website - it isn't easy to capture the little devils - when I look around photo.net, I am just amazed at some of the hummingbird shots. Lots to learn.

Hmmmm. Too much of a hurry, I guess. Sign indeed! How embarrassing. Have to take more time!

 

Just having too much fun with Photomatix. A fairly average photo can get high ratings just by using HDR software I notice. Now, I should try taking a better photo!! And a bit more editing.

Thanks for looking, anyway.

North Coast, Roatan, Honduras

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your time.

Garifuna village

Very nice effect. I wonder if a bit more colour saturation might look nice. Still, captures the attention. Thanks.

Thank you for your time!

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Very captivating and mysterious. Reminds me of the mood in a 1940s radio drama. Thanks

A really nice result. Did you use something like Photomatix? Is this from a single exposure later tone mapped, or is it HDR with multiple exposures? Very enjoyable effect. That would look great printed up in a large print.

Flagman in Guatemala - angry at a bus trying to play chicken with

oncoming traffic. He pulled a machete and threatened to cut off the

bus driver's head if he didn't pull over.

A guy you want on YOUR side.

Thanks for your comment. This image just struck me as emphasizing the contrast between old and new in a country with such ancient and visible roots. I thought the fisheye might be fun and make it look like a fork in the road. Not really a great picture, just a bit of fun.

I hadn't realized how many people would even bother to look through my portfolio, so I have cleaned it up a bit!

San Juan Sacatepequez is a small Mayan town in the eastern portion of

the highlands in Guatemala. It has a huge flower market well worth

visiting.

Catholicism and Mayan traditional religions are both practiced in the Guatemalan Highlands. If you visit places like the main church in Chichicastenango, you will find an interesting mix of religious practice. The church is even built in a hybrid manner, with 18 steps on the lower part, for the months on the Mayan calendar, and the top 3 steps representing the Holy Trinity. Inside you will see a form of Catholicism quite unfamiliar to other countries - with a mixture of Catholic rituals and Mayan rituals, invoking highly coloured natural objects with candles in small altars around the perimeter of the church. (cameras are forbidden).

In most Central and South American countries, the indigenous populations have largely disappeared, with less than 10% of the population of the country being made of Mayan or other indigenous peoples. The situation is Guatemala is unique, and very different. The Mayans make up around 60 - 70% of the total population, making it the only country in the Americas where the native people still dominate. The domination is even higher in the highlands.

As you say, Evangelical Christian religions have risen sharply, and in some areas of the country they are becoming close in numbers to people who call themselves Catholic. But, the curious thing is the coexistence of the Mayan religious beliefs and practices with the "recent" (ie less than 500 years) religions from the Christian world.

If you speak to these people, many identify themselves as Christians, but they don't even consider that as the same kind of thing as their older and perhaps deeper Mayan beliefs.

The lives of these people have been plagued with horrifying events in the past half century, with war, corruption, brutality and deeply crippling poverty. And yet the deeply ingrained and ancient Mayan culture is still there, where it has essentially disapeared in other countries in the Mayan world. I have been involved in trying to help modernize medical imaging systems in the country, and recently my son spent part of a year volunteering in a series of rural free clinics in the highlands. I have been deeply moved and permanently changed by my time in this amazing country.

I hope this might clarify my earlier remarks.

thank you

Thank you.

Without flash, used expodisc for WB

K"iche woman lost in thought, market day, Chichicastenango

How do you do it? Lovely.

Magnificent. Can you share which tools you used in Photoshop? Would love to try to imitate your work. What a fine picture.

Wow. This looks almost like an animation. Stunning, surreal. Thank you.