danielhernandez

A walk trough Havana

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Oct, 2014

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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo in my last trip to Cuba, where I was born. This was in Old Havana walking around it's cobble-stoned streets.

Time

I went out at around 5:30 pm right after the rain stopped, the sky was still grey but it was a nice weather. Cuba comes to life at that time, specially Old Havana. Most of the people are out walking and tourist take their time to go and visit bars and lounges.

Lighting

This was al natural lights, I loved the idea of photographing at sunset because I was able to get the inside of the hotels and bars to the left. I had to push my ISO to 1000 and the picture still looked clean, even though it was taken with a D5200.

Equipment

I just used my Nikon D5200 with a 16-85mm lens. Hand hold because I was chasing the tourist throughout the whole time.

Inspiration

When I walked around the cobble-stoned streets of Havana with my camera, I realized he wanted to break away from portraying a destroyed city that caused pity but embrace the beauty of its historical architecture. I managed to find a couple of tourist walking through the middle of the street and came out with this frame where we can see Cuba in a romantic way.

Editing

The post production behind this shot in mostly color corrections and some perspective tweaks because the image with show at a 16mm focal length. I used selective color to restore some of the colors of the wall that came out a bit yellow in the original RAW photo and some of the skins as well. I used Adobe Photoshop CC for all post processing.

In my camera bag

I traveled to Cuba with my Nikon D5200, an 85mm 1.8, 50mm 1.8 and a 16-85mm 3.5-5.6. For this particular photo I was walking with just the 16-85mm and my D5200 because I knew I wanted to get wide angle shots of the streets of havana. I wasn't looking for portraits or fast aperture because I wasn't going to shoot at night. I knew I could push my ISO all the way up to 1600 without a problem so I didn't carry my two other prime lenses. It's good to travel lightweight specially for street photography.

Feedback

My only advice is that if you are going to Cuba or any other country, do not photograph the same pictures that have been taken millions of times. Look for different angles, try to give a different perspective of the reality of the country you are photographing. Do not be scare to fail, carry your camera with you all the time. Remember that the camera is just a tool. Chase Jarvis says "the best camera is the one that's with you" and he cannot be more right. Give a meaning to your picture, make your audience interact with your subject and forget about gear and technicalities.

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danielhernandez

danielhernandez

A walk trough Havana

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow danielhernandez

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