On our return from Las Terrazas to Havana, I started shooting some images out of our tour bus window. At one point, this local “bus” pulled up alongside us and I captured this image. Unlike the other images in this series which are cropped square, this one is cropped 2:1 for a better effect.
These riders are part of my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Shot with a Nikon D600. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO 04 Film, and Photoshop CC.
On Saturday in Havana, we headed out to take the ferry across to Regla. Along the way, I saw this shop owner getting ready for the day. He was reading the paper – rather intensely. I just loved his look, and the textures on his face, with his glasses, and in his hair and hands.
He’s a part of my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Shot with a Nikon D600. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04 and Photoshop CC.
On Friday in Havana, we decided to skip Dawn Patrol and instead headed out after sunrise. Doug and I were in the “slow group” – our organizer had wisely (in my opinion) broken our group of 14 into two groups of 7 – the hares and the tortoises. We opted for the slow group – and we rewarded with an opportunity to walk with a great Cuban professional photographer – Jorge Gavilondo.
A few minutes after we left the hotel I came across this painter who was checking us out. A quick flash – is it OK? – and I captured this image. The larger color version is also wonderful – but I love this monochrome treatment.
The painter is a part of my Faces of Cuba portfolio – shot with a Nikon D600, post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04, and Photoshop CC.
On our first full day in Havana, we headed first to the Plaza of the Revolution and then on to the University of Havana. It had rained a bit earlier that day – and the skies were still a bit grey – and interesting!
As we headed into one of the university buildings, I happened to notice this woman looking down at us. I loved her pensive mood!
She’s a part of my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Shot with a Nikon D600. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04, and Photoshop CC.
One of the real treats of our week in Havana was being able to shoot on the streets with Cuban professional photographers. They showed us their favorite venues and helped us appreciate the rich textures of Havana in our photography.
We were fortunate to be teamed with several outstanding Cuban photographers – including this one. He’s Raúl Cañibano Ercilla – a superb street photographer. I had some much fun just watching him work – how something would catch his eye, how he’d quickly pull his camera up to his eye and snap off a shot or two – and then move on. Just a delight to watch him work.
One afternoon we went to watch a dance exhibition – and I was able to catch this image of Raúl at work – this time using a monopod.
See my earlier post about Raúl’s portfolio book now available for purchase from Amazon.com – it’s a superb body of work.
Raúl is part of my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04, and Photoshop CC.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, on our last day in Havana we went into a multi-family apartment across from Parque Central. We had a great time there – great people, great light – just a wonderful 40 minutes or so.
Earlier I posted “The Beauty“. This is her aunt – who’s very proud of her niece and a very happy woman in her own right!
The Aunt is part of my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04, and Photoshop CC.
This is another image from our last day in Havana last January. We were out walking the neighborhoods in Central Havana when we came across this woman waiting along the street. She had full command of her small corner there! The bright sun was flowing in over her right shoulder making this grab shot a bit tricky – perhaps this is one great example of the dynamic range of the sensor in the Nikon D600 I was shooting with.
Another in my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04, and Photoshop CC.
On our last day in Havana, we visited a nearby family apartment in Central Havana – several families sharing space in what must have been a much wealthier family’s private home back before the revolution. The natural light through the windows was just beautiful that morning – helping to create some great portrait opportunities like this one.
She’s part of my Faces of Cuba portfolio. Post-processed using Lightroom 5, VSCO Film 04, and Photoshop CC.
Doug Kaye and I met up for one of our irregular Friday photo walks today – this time in Berkeley. We did a bit of shooting down at the Berkeley Marina before heading to 4th Street and a great lunch at Zut!
Heading to lunch, we walked a couple of blocks and, along the way, came across this bronze sculpture – which, as it turns out, is named Pablo and is the creation of Mavis McClure.
I thought the light on Pablo was pretty special – and sat down to try to capture what interested me. Angular light across the face is almost always special and interesting – and Pablo’s oversized hands and the light on one of them just added more visual interest for me.
I opted to crop it to a square image, adding a black border, and processing it in Lightroom 5 as a monochrome image. As I look at this image, I’m sure Pablo’s thinking good thoughts!
It was great for me to get out shooting again with Doug today – brightened my mood and brought on good thoughts! Doug captured a shot of me composing this image.
Earlier today, photo buddy Doug Kaye and I met up at the de Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for one of our monthly photo shoots. We try to get out for a few hours before lunch on a roughly monthly schedule and then head to a nice spot to share lunch and chat. Today Doug wanted to learn more about Bitcoin – but that’s a story for another day!
We’re starting to have a few favorite venues for these photo shoots. Embarcadero Center and the Ferry Building seem to be at the top of our list – there’s always great shots available there. It’s a beautiful combination of great architecture, that amazing fountain, the Ferry Building shops/restaurants (Slanted Door!) and street photography. So much in such a beautiful spot.
This morning we headed to the de Young – I think this was our second time shooting there together. A great thing about the De Young is that they allow photography in their permanent collection areas – and they’ve got some great collections! Another great thing is the tower that rises up about ten stories above the museum and provides a remarkable floor to ceiling view of the western part of San Francisco. It’s a special spot – and a great example of what Jay Maisel calls a “stage” – a place just to observe as people come and go. We’re becoming pretty good at spotting these stage opportunities – during our trip to Havana Cuba earlier this year we found a couple that we great spots.
This image is one of those shot on the stage – and, for me, it captures the sheer delight these little devices bring into our lives. She took a couple of iPhone shots from this end of the tower – and that look on her face says it all!
This image was shot with my Canon PowerShot S100 – and post-processed mostly in Lightroom 5 with a few final tweaks in Photoshop CC. Below is a shot of Doug “working the stage” in the tower at the de Young!
You must be logged in to post a comment.