Wow! What a holiday! I have wanted to go to Cuba for about five years and finally got there. It lived up to my expectations and much more. I did of course mainly take photos of the beautifully kept old cars and amazing architecture. After travelling around Havana, Vinales in the west and then down to Trinidad in the south, we headed to the all-inclusive luxury of Varadero for proper relaxation.
Hannah took a sneaky one of me. Tip: notice I have crouched down to get a low angle and am shooting directly into the sun. I know this is counter-intuitive to a lot of people, but try it. You’ll get a completely different look to your photos. You can either shield the sun from getting right into the lens (see photo below) or let it come in and create flare (the yellow circles of the various parts of the lens – see photo above)
This shot is all about composition and lines. It’s important that the horizontals are horizontal and the verticals vertical. To do this, use the telephoto end of your zoom. The wider angle the lens the more you will notice distortion and your photo will have curved lines that should be straight.
Love this shot. It really sums up Havana to me. Walking one block away from the tourist trap and you’ll see Cubans going about their daily life with no interest in what you’re doing.
The evening light was amazing. These photos directly above and below were taken at 6.30pm.
Another of my favourites. I noticed this car coming out the corner of my eye, pre-focussed on the pavement in front and pressed the shutter just as the car came past.
Old & new
Good luck with getting this going again!
These fantastic textures and colours were everywhere.
The graffiti says “pose for the camera… wait for the flash”. I also waited for the car to come into shot.
We had a lot of mojitos in two weeks. Varying a lot in quality, these were the best. Yum!
A local shop in Trinidad.
I started to photograph this car when the owner very proudly came and told me it was his. We got chatting (in my fairly limited Spanish) and he told me he was a carpenter and showed me round his workshop.
Vinales, the tobacco growing region. Above is the drying house, below is a close up of the leaves.
A tobacco farmer.
Cigar rolling…
The finished product.
More fantastic light, this time in Trinidad
The family that owned of the houses we stayed in. Some of the happiest and nicest people I think I’ll ever meet.
The stunning beach in Varadero.
