Travel Photography in Cuba using Micro Four Thirds - A photo essay

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share with you a black and white photo essay on the Guajiros, Cuban peasants who produce world-renowned cuban tobacco in the Viñales valley.

A Guajiro cleans the soil with his oxen. Taken with the Panasonic GF1 and Olympus 45mm 1.8.

The complete photo essay can be found here: http://www.nico-foto.com/guajiros/

All pics in the photo essay were taken using Panasonic GH2 and GF1 bodies, Panasonic 14mm and Olympus 45mm. The kit was carried using a Billingham Hadley Digital, a fantastic small bag for a light/unconspicuous micro four thirds outfit.

If you are interested in seeing more Cuba photographs shot with this same kit, you can also visit my Flickr set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasraddatz/sets/72157632464051675/

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www.flickr.com/nicolasraddatz
www.nico-foto.com

Wow, thanks for sharing... Cuba is on my to do list for sure

Great, strong black and whites. Did you use the B/W setting in the cameras or do the conversion in photoshop/lightroom?

Any filters used?

Very dramatic light in the  following image.. like it  a lot

Guajiros transportando leña (Guajiros carrying wood)

Liked these a lot, and identify with your kit since I have a GF1. Am looking forward to taking it  to Cuba, and not just staying in a beach hotel. Lots to see.

F.

Very enjoyable set, I clicked through them all. Looks like you could put together a decent photobook out of the trip.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Great series at the first link.  Didn't want to spend all night on the second as it was extremely slow loading on my connection.  Liked the series I viewed a lot.

There are so many things about these photos that are done perfectly -- choice of subject, composition, but more than anything, the tonal range you were able to achieve.  Many of them remind me of the kind of range Ansel Adams was able to get with his Zone system.

Thanks for sharing.

Great shots. You have a great eye for composition and I like the drama of your B&W conversions. I might ease back a bit on the vignette on some of them but, overall, great work. The first shot of the vintage hood ornament foreground with the transport truck full of farm workers in the background is a  real banger of a photo. It deserves to be printed large and hung with pride.

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Dave Sanders

Nico, can you briefly comment on how you did the post processing techique to get the lovely BW?

Great images! I am going to Havana in about 5 weeks, and we are also going to some outlying areas including Vinales.  I use a M4/3 too (Panasonic G3).

I too am curious about your B&W process - please share. Did you use the NIK software?

And thanks to the people there f0r their hospitality to you and all of us who see your pix.

Cheers, geoff

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Geoffrey Heard
http://pngtimetraveller.blogspot.com/2011/10/return-to-karai-komana_31.html

very good work Nico, in particular for the choice and evident understanding of subjects, the atmosphere, the expression of them being at ease when you photographed.

I f you allow me a note, I think the subject is strong, technically well captured and the B&W an appropriate choice: no need to vignette.   A minor weakness, strange for a person of your talent and experience.

Compliments and thanks,   Vittorio

I like the subject of the photos and the B&W treatment as well.

Thanks for sharing

Alex

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Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game. From Bob Dylan's 'Hurricane'

The photo you posted as a "teaser" is promising.

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Roel Hendrickx
lots of images: www.roelh.zenfolio.com
my E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html

Great photo essay! I especially like the one with the horse and man with the bucket of water.

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http://www.adventurerob.com

I'm surprised and delighted by the very good feedback from the forum members. Thank you all guys for your kind comments.

I've been a micro four thirds user for a couple of years, and I believe it is a great system for travel photographers, it hits a sweet spot between size, weight, portability, and image quality.

@artyone

Thanks for your comments. I used lightroom and nik's silver efex plugin for the processing of these images.

@FrankS009

Definitely bring your GF1 to Cuba, it is a great camera for getting up close to people in a non obtrusive way. Make sure to get out of hotels and discover the real Cuba, very nice and friendly people, just make sure to understand how their economy works, particularly their need for dollars (convertible pesos or CUC as they call them, really).

@jkrumm

Thank you, in fact I have a couple of dozen or so of other "keeper" photographs, but I restricted to Viñales and the Guajiros in order to come up with a coherent photo essay.

@19andrew47

Thanks for taking the time to visit my site, I appreciate.

@pegasus1457

Wow, thanks a lot for the compliments! I don't think i'm nearly close to any of the masters (HCB, Ansel Adams), but your kind comments made me smile. Thanks!

@Dave Sanders

Thanks for the comments Dave. I know what you're saying regarding the vignette. It is one of those things that can be easily overdone. I'm guilty of that. In this particular photo essay, I wanted to work around the idea of memories. This whole album is an idealized, somewhat romantic version of Viñales and what I saw there. I wanted to work within this idea of digging in the past, as Cuba is like a living time machine - so the pictures are in black and white, with heavy vignette, and the portaits have like a timeless quality to them, they could very well be pictures from the fifties. I may have gone too strong on the effect, but there was an aesthetic as well as conceptual reason for going for that "look", a certain "atmosphere".

@jimboyvr

Hi there. I used lightroom and nik's silver efex plugin to get the look of the images. My first step is to work the image in LR to get to a good starting point: get rid of colour noise, reduce a bit of chroma noise, make sure white balance is right, and make sure that shadows and highlights are balanced. After that I edit the picture in nik's silver efex, I generally test a few presets as starting points and then I customize the look to fit my vision. It is a trial and error process. For this photo essay I used a couple of different looks depending on the specific picture.

@Noah Genda

Hi Noah, please read the comment above regarding post processing. Definitely go to Viñales, you will love the place. Rent a bike, hire a guide and go to the surrounding areas. You will never forget being there.

@Hen3ry

Cuban people is very friendly, particularly in smaller towns like Viñales. Thanks for commenting!

@Vittorio Fracassi

Thanks a lot for your insightful comment. As I mentioned to Dave Sanders a few paragraphs above, there was a conceptual as well as a sentimental reason for going with that heavy vignetted look. It is possible that it feels a bit overdone, particularly on pictures with clear skies, where it is much more evident, but I believe it is true to my vision. Unless you go for a clean, neutral look, post processing will always be a subject of debate, I suppose.

@agott123

Thanks!

@RoelHendrickx

Thanks Roel. Very cool site btw!

Thank you all for your very positive feedback. I really appreciate that you took the time to see the pics and commenting!

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www.flickr.com/nicolasraddatz
www.nico-foto.com

Thanks Rob for your comment. That picture of the man and the bucket was in fact a shot I "discovered" back home, while making the selection of pictures for the essay. I had completely forgotten about it, and it kinda grew on me as days passed. There's something magical about the atmosphere of that picture. I also love the man's sincere, gentle look.

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www.flickr.com/nicolasraddatz
www.nico-foto.com

The vignetting is way too heavy for my taste.  Otherwise, this is a remarkable set.  It shows of Cuba (and Silver Efex) beautifully.  I'm sure many people would think colorful Cuba isn't suited to black-and-white, which makes your choice all the more compelling.

Thanks for sharing these. I really enjoy seeing real people in far away places and your shots give a little peek into what life is there.

Nice work.

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Elizabeth
efg40

It is not easy to see so many photographs in black and white, all beautiful!

Outstanding work!

You make me want to go to Cuba soon

Thank you.

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(equipment in profile)
stefano-italy

What a great photo essay, no matter what gear was used. It's not often on this site that you get a real story presented so well and as a viewer feel transported. It's viewing work like this here that makes me wish we talked about gear a whole lot less and more about the work.

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www.flickr.com/photos/brudy