Habana Street was created a few years ago on my visit to Cuba with National Geographic on a Photography Workshop. Every morning we would start the day before sunrise walking the streets of the old town and interacting with the people. One morning I saw this man taking the pig out of the back seat of his car, and lifting it to his shoulder and walked around the corner taking it to the street butcher shop, placing it on the counter. This was followed by the butcher cutting the animal in two large pieces to be able to store it in the horizontal fridge.
The image was created with a Nikon D5 and the Nikkor Zoom lens 28-300 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 135 mm and with these settings: ISO 2000, f/8 and 1/80 sec with + 2/3 EC. The image was PP in Lightroom, corrected for brightness, added light in the shadows and cropped.
I am attaching two additional images labeled Original 1 and Original 2 for story telling.
This round’s discussion is now closed! 8 comments posted
R Gary Butler
Isaac, I love the story that this picture conjures. I lived several years in the PRC and would see similar things there. To my eye the colors are realistic which adds to the image. The shallower DoF, for me, keeps the viewer's eye of the conversation around the pig while letting the background subtly add to the story.
I believe a general guideline in PJ or Travel (not a requirement but rather what a judge may assess) is that portions of arms should not be cropped - so if you can get the whole arms of the men on the left and right into the image, from my experience, that would add to the image. Thanks for sharing. Posted: 02/04/2022 16:21:05
Dr Isaac Vaisman
Gary, unfortunately this was a portrait orientation frame and there is no more to the sides. I was looking at the man with the pig without paying attention to the bystanders. I cropped a lot from the top. Posted: 02/04/2022 17:38:54
Dr Isaac Vaisman
Gary, actually I went back to the original and yes there are additional pixels to the sides. I did a landscape crop this time. Posted: 02/05/2022 06:12:35
R Gary Butler
Well done! Posted: 02/05/2022 07:36:02
Guy Davies
A good take on life in Habana, Isaac. The image tells a story; one that could not be seen now in our highly regulated western society. And yet this is quite normal in this location. I think your inclusion of the arm on the person on the left makes a great improvement, but I think you may now have trimmed off a bit too much at the top. Posted: 02/13/2022 10:12:02
Ian Chantler
Hi Isaac
An every day event there but for us an insight into that life,really nice lighting and well controlled,love the way everyone else is going about their business not taking a blind bit of notice,wonderful piece of social history and a great photo travel image. Posted: 02/13/2022 15:02:52
Erik Rosengren
An interesting Travel or P.J. story Isaac. Your landscape crop and adding canvas to include the balance of the man's arm strengthened the image. Your original background didn't bother me as it was soft and showed the business and living quarters as a miner interest. Posted: 02/17/2022 16:19:55
Bev Caine
(Groups 24 & 48 & 58)
I love this image and am so grateful that we grabbed the opportunity when we did. With the way the world is going I doubt that we'll ever get another opportunity. The street photography gave me enough to last me for years. Posted: 02/19/2022 20:52:21
