film for Cuba

[Peter S]

Will be off to Cuba for two weeks in November and wonder whether anybody has any suggestions for nice locations to take pictures. Will be bringing a M6 with 90/2.8 Elmarit, Summicron 50/2 and Hexanon 28/2.8 (latest acquisition , found a new one for EUR 375, very lucky).

For B&W film I will bring lot of Tri-x. But Cuba seem to be a colourful country so I intend to also take colour negative film with me. As I do not have a clue about the quality of the light I was wondering whether people here can help me with suggestions, including filmspeed. Anybody here been there, any tips?

Thanks

Peter

 

[DerekF]

Peter,

The last time I went to Cuba was in 2000. It was a sun vacation for us so we spent most of the time at the resort in Varadero, but we made trips everyday to the nearby town (it was about a half-hour walk from our resort) and a day trip to Havana. Havana is a really beautiful city, very colorful and relatively unspoiled (for better or for worse) by the lack of a large corporate/capitalist presence.

That being said, we went in mid-December and the sun was very strong most of the time. Even when it rained, it would clear up to blue skies within half an hour. I'm planning a return trip sometime this winter and am planning to take some Velvia 50. However, I generally prefer to shoot B&W, so I will be taking more Tri-X and/or HP5+. My personal opinion is that if you are planning on taking colour shots, use slide film if you're comfortable with it. Some areas of Havana (if you go there) are quite colourful and I think slide film would do more justice than colour negative film.

But above all, enjoy your trip!

 

[Socke]

I was in Matanzas last year in october/november. I had BW400CN, Fujipress800 and Sensia 100 and a dSLR with me.
My lenses on the Contax G2 where 28,45 and 90 with the 90 used least. I had it loaded with Sensia 100 most of the time and, due to the lack of a second G, a TVS with the BW400CN mostly.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Color and B&W. If I were going, and could afford it, I'd take Kodachrome 64, or Velvia 100 (or 100F), some Fuji Press 800 (color night shots), and lots of Tri-X. You can push that baby and the grain will be luscious. I think you'll find the 50 Summicron will go surprisingly well with every single one of them.

I think we're on a similar thought frequency...

 

[dave74]

thunderclouds and pencils

thunderclouds and pencils

A regular SW view from our Varadero hotel was of impressive thunder clouds over the soccer fields, full of kids playing their little hearts out. I also found the light very strong, curiously flat, and shot colour as Cubans are bright people.
But, be a nice guy and stock up with cheap pencils, ball point pens, and blackboard chalk...then visit any school and become popular; even more so if you can finagle some used baseballs from a thrift store..
Varadero's an OK place, Havana fascinating, have a great trip.

 

[dkapp]

Great suggestions for color positive film. If your not comfortable with slides and want great color saturation, I suggest Kodak 100UC.

Here is a link to a gallery of Kodak 100UC images.
http://analog.lifekapptured.com/index.php?x=browse&category=31

You can also use the drop down box to find other films. The collection is slowly growing.

Dave

 

[Toby]

Pinar del rio in the west of cuba is a great place to shoot it's tobacco country trinidad in the south is supposed to be very nice although apparently not so easy to get to. The picture of the cow in my gallery was shot neap pinar del rio and you can see how amazing the scenery is. Havana is great (but you knew that) although it starts to feel a bit hostile outside the main tourist areas. I took Provia 100 and used it for the whole trip I went in february and it was sunny virtually every day. Another tip it might be worth getting up earlier in havana before the usual con artists and beggars etc. appear.

 

[david b]

Everyone shoots color there. It's overdone. Stick with b&w and the 28/50 combo.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

As I do not have a clue about the quality of the light I was wondering whether people here can help me with suggestions, including filmspeed. Anybody here been there, any tips?

I have never been to Cuba, but am no stranger to the latitude. It is very bright compared to, say, most of Europe, specially this time of the year. You really don't need "contrasty" lenses, and Velvia may be overkill, but in November the light ought not be as bright as it is during the Summer, yet very pleasant. I don't know where you're from, but I'm assuming either Canada or U.K., if not Germany. I know the light is not so nice to work with already this time of the year during most of the year to get nice vibrant colors, but you shouldn't have that problem down in Cuba.

Given that I have no clue as to what the direct environmental conditions during November would be, perhaps somebody who does should address this question for you directly. Remember to keep your lenses well aired, don't let moisture build up. Give them lots of sun (in short, prevent fungus growth).

Happy shooting and safe travels!

 

[anandi]

We spent a week split between Havana and Varadero. Havana old city was pretty amazing. I have some shots up on my flickr gallery here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aanandi/sets/800749/

These were shot with my digital camera. Old havana does lend itself to black and white photography, but the flashes of colour in the city in the cars and brightly coloured buildings are worth capturing too, not to mention the sunset on the Malecon.

One tip: to really get a feel for the city and people get out of the 'touristy' old city for a while as well, not necessarily photogenic, but lot's more stories there to capture.