Havana By Rain
Havana is that rare place that looks every bit as good under leaden skies and drenched in rain as it does in bright sunshine....
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Havana is that rare place that looks every bit as good under leaden skies and drenched in rain as it does in bright sunshine.
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Aug, 2016Views
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Awards
Winner in People in streetlights or rain or both Photo Challenge
Top Shot Award 21
2020 Choice Award
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Superior Skill
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Emotions
Impressed
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on the streets of Havana, Cuba, during our honeymoon last year.Time
This was taken on 13th October 2015, at about 4pm in the afternoon, as a thunderstorm rolled over the city. Needless to say, I got very wet that day!Lighting
I really wanted to capture the glowing light from the sodium streetlamps and their reflection in the rain runoff on the street; the colour seemed to fit so perfectly with the vibrant tones that typify old Havana. I had to use a fairly slow shutter (1/15 sec) in the gloom of the storm, which was a bit tricky with no tripod, but it had the happy effect of capturing the movement of a pedestrian dashing out of the rain.Equipment
I used a Nikon D5100, with the standard 18-55mm kit lens. No flash, no tripod. Focal length of 55mm, ISO 800, 1/15 sec, f/6.3.Inspiration
My wife and I had been walking around old Havana all day, and although I had taken plenty of photos of peeling paintwork, Spanish architecture, 50's Cadillacs and vibrant colours, they were all under bright Caribbean sun, and I felt like I'd taken lots of very similar images, like the usual ones you see on travel brochures. So when thunderclouds rolled overhead and stared to dump their contents on our heads, I had to take a moment out from our headlong dash back to the hotel to capture a side to Havana we hadn't yet seen. My wife pointed out the wonderful view up this street, and I managed to hurriedly capture this shot.Editing
I tweaked a few things in the RAW file, lightening the shadows, upping the saturation and vibrancy slightly to bring out the colours, which were a little muted by the darkness of the storm. The main post-processing involved cropping the photo - the original photo is in portrait, and has a nice leading line in the form of the gutter, but this original also lost some of the impact of the colours and the sodium lamp, hence the tighter crop you see here.In my camera bag
I typically carry just two lenses. The first is a Nikon 50-200mm VR AF zoom, which I tend to use for wildlife shots - it is great for shortening the perspective and allows a nice shallow depth of field to help isolate the subject. But my go to lens is the Nikon 35mm prime lens; the image quality with this lens is noticeable superior, plus its fast speed makes it great for lower light situations. I also find that the fixed focal length forces me to slow down slightly and think about the shot more carefully - you can't just zoom in or out, and have to actually move to frame the shot, which immediately gets you thinking about composition, direction of light, etc. I'm a self taught photographer, so anything that helps stop me from just clicking away without thinking is a great help, and saves a lot of processing time later.Feedback
Havana is a photographer's dream - the riot of colours and textures there are unlike anything I've come across elsewhere. But don't get caught just taken the cliched shots of Pontiacs and Spanish columns - be on the lookout for a different side to the city, different angles, different subjects, different times. If you are in a part of the world where thunderstorms are fairly regular, use that to your advantage, because the light during and after a storm is often wonderful. Aim to head out during the storm - it's warm in the tropics, so getting wet isn't the end of the world - and enjoy seeing a side to the world that often we only see from behind glass. But make sure you have the right protective equipment for your camera, because those electrics won't enjoy the rain! And in more gloomy conditions,consider taking a tripod, although the additional set up times means you might get even more wet.
