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This is a second set of a couple hundred photos taken in Havana, Cuba in December 2011. The first set, which included what I felt were the best 100 photos of the 3500+ images, was uploaded earlier. You can find it here on Flickr
Another example of life being observed from a second floor balcony, up above the Prado.
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As I suggested in my first set of Cuba photos on Flickr, the notion of traveling to Cuba is -- at least for many Americans today -- probably like that of traveling to North Korea. It's off-limits, forbidden by the government -- and frankly, why would anyone bother? But for someone like me, who spent his childhood in the Cold War era of the 1950s, and who went off to college just after Castro took power, and just before the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban missile crisis, the notion of traveling to Cuba has entirely different overtones.
And yet Cuba is only 90 miles away from Key West (as we were reminded so often in the 1960s), and its climate is presumably no different than a dozen of Caribbean islands I've visited over the years. Numerous friends have made quasi-legal trips to Cuba over the years, flying in from Canada or Mexico, and they've all returned with fabulous pictures and great stories of a vibrant, colorful country. So, when the folks at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops sent out a notice in November 2011, announcing a series of photo workshops in Havana, we couldn't resist the temptation to sign up.
Getting into Cuba turned out to be trivial: an overnight stay in Miami, a 45-minute chartered flight operated by American Airlines, and customs/immigration formalities that turned out to be cursory or non-existent. By mid-afternoon, our group was checked into the Parque Central Hotel in downtown Havana -- where the rooms were spacious, the service was friendly, the food was reasonably tasty, the rum was delicious, and the Internet was … well, slow and expensive.
We had been warned that that some of our American conveniences -- like credit cards -- would not be available, and we were prepared for a fairly spartan week. But no matter how prepared we might have been intellectually, it takes a while to adjust to a land with no Skype, no Blackberry service, no iPhone service, no phone-based Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. I was perfectly happy that there were no Burger Kings, no Pizza Huts, no Wendys, no Starbuck's, and MacDonalds. There was Coke (classic), but no Diet Coke (or Coke Light). There were also no police sirens, no ambulance sirens, and no church bells. There were no iPods, and consequently no evidence of people plugged into their music via the thin white earplugs that Apple supplies with their devices. No iPads, no Kindles, no Nooks, no … well, you get the picture. (It's also worth noting that, with U.S. tourists now beginning to enter the country in larger numbers, Cuba seems to be on the cusp of a "modern" invasion; if I come back here in a couple years, I fully expect to see Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets on every corner.)
But there were lots of friendly people in Havana, crowding the streets, peering out of windows and doorways, laughing and shouting and waving at friends and strangers alike. Everyone was well-dressed in clean clothes (the evidence of which could be seen in the endless lines of clothing hanging from laundry lines strung from wall to wall, everywhere); but there were no designer jeans, no fancy shoes, no heavy jewelry, and no sign of ostentatious clothing of any kind. Like some other developing countries, the people were sometimes a little too friendly -- constantly offering a taxi ride, a pedicab ride, a small exchange of the "official" currency (convertible pesos, or "cuqs") for the "local" currency (pesos), a great meal or a great drink at a nearby restaurant or bar, a haircut, a manicure, or just a little … umm, well, friendship (offers for which ran the gamut of "señor" to "amigo" to "my friend"). On the street, you often felt you were in the land of the hustle; but if you smiled, shook your head, and politely said, "no," people generally smiled and back off.
As for the photography: well, I was in one of three different workshop groups, each of which had roughly a dozen participants. The three dozen individual photographers were well equipped with all of the latest Nikon and Canon gear, and they generally focused on a handful of subjects: buildings and architecture, ballet practice sessions, cockfights, boxing matches, rodeos, fishing villages, old cars, interiors of people's homes, street scenes, and people. Lots of people. As in every other part of the world I've visited, the people were the most interesting. We saw young and old, men and women, boisterous children, grizzled elders, police officers, bus drivers, and people of almost every conceivable race.
The streets were clean, though not spotless; and the streets were jammed, with bicycles and motorbikes and pedi-cabs, taxis, buses, horse-and-carriages, pedestrians, dogs (lots of dogs, many sleeping peacefully in the middle of a sidewalk), and even a few people on roller skates. And, as anyone who has seen photos of Havana knows, there were lots and lots and LOTS of old cars. Plymouths, Pontiacs, Dodges, Buicks, and Chevys, along with the occasional Cadillac. A few were old and rusted, but most had been renovated, repaired, and repainted -- often in garishly bright colors from every spectrum of the rainbow. Cherry pink, fire-engine red, Sunkist orange, lime green, turquoise and every shade of blue, orange, brown, and a lot more that I've probably forgotten. All of us in the photo workshop succumbed to the temptation to photograph the cars when we first arrived … but they were everywhere, every day, wherever we went, and eventually we all suffered from sensory overload. (For what it's worth, one of our workshop colleagues had visited Cuba eight years ago, and told us that at the time, there were only old cars in sight; now roughly half of the cars are more-or-less modern Kia's, Audis, Russian Ladas, and other "generic" compact cars.)
The one thing I wasn't prepared for in Havana was the sense of decay: almost no modern buildings, no skyscrapers, and very little evidence of renovation. There were several monstrous, ugly, vintage-1950s buildings that oozed "Russia" from every pore. But the rest of the buildings date back to the 40s, the 30s, the 20s, or even the turn of the last century. Some were crumbling, some were just facades; some showed evidence of the kind of salt-water erosion that one sees near the ocean. But many simply looked old and decrepit, with peeling paint and broken stones, like the run-down buildings in whatever slum you're familiar with in North America. One has a very strong sense of a city that was vibrant and beautiful all during the last half of the 19th century, and the first half of the 20th century -- and then time stopped dead in its tracks.
Why that happened, and what's being done about it, is something I didn't have a chance to explore; there was a general reluctance to discuss politics in great detail. Some of Havana looks like the less-prosperous regions of other Caribbean towns; and some of it is presumably the direct and/or indirect result of a half-century of U.S. embargo. But some of it seems to be the result of the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, and the subsequent collapse of foreign aid that Cuba depended upon.
As for my own photos: I did not attend the ballet practice sessions, nor did I see the rodeo. I did see some interesting graffiti on a few walls, which I photographed; but for some reason, I missed almost all of the numerous political billboards and stylized paintings of Che Guevera on buildings and walls. What I focused on instead was the "street scenes" of people and buildings and cars, which will hopefully give you a sense of what the place is like.
Enjoy!
Lissie at the Austin City Limits Music Festival 2010, Austin Texas, October 8, 2010. The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual three-day music festival in Austin, Texas' Zilker Park. Elisabeth Maurus (born 1982), known by her stage name Lissie, is an American folk rock artist. She released her debut EP, "Why You Runnin'", in November 2009. Her debut album, Catching a Tiger, was released in June 2010.
* Visit my ACL Tribute page, for photos from every ACL Festival.
Photo Copyright 2010, Steve Hopson.
Please, no use without license.
“We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything.” - Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662), Philosopher, Mathematician and Physicist.
13-year old Renan (Tutuco) has a strong tendency to go over his limits, often resulting in small conflict situations with others, which constantly need my attention. Today he walked away rather saddened by the fact that I wouldn't take him for a Sunday trip with a few of the other kids from Hummingbird. It was a consequence for his negative actions against another kid last week.
Only this way will he learn to peel off some of the harder influences of his home environment. As he hates missing out wherever the fun is, he'll remember next time and hopefully make a few more necessary adjustments in the right direction by then.
Lens manufactured with an objective lens of binocular of 7x50.
Fuji S5200 más lente macro fabricado con un objetivo de un par de binoculares de 7 x 50.
La única posibilidad de descubrir los límites de lo posible es aventurarse un poco más allá de ello, hacia lo imposible.
Encounter in Yellowstone National Park. This bison found it more convenient to cross the valley using the bridge.
Tramvía Metropolità S.A.: el 10 de diciembre de 2024 se inauguró la prolongación de la red tranviaria conocida como Trambesòs, entre la Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes y la parada de Verdaguer, donde enlaza con la línea 4 del metro y varias líneas de autobuses. Es el primer tramo de la tan esperada interconexión de las dos redes tranviarias de Barcelona.
Todo este nuevo tramo ha sido dotado del sistema de alimentación por el suelo APS de Alstom, por lo que carece de línea aérea de contacto.
Aquí vemos la señal que, en la parada de Glòries, recuerda a los conductores que deben levantar el pantógrafo, dado que acaba el tramo con APS y comienza el alimentado mediante línea aérea de contacto. Debajo, señal de limitación de velocidad a 15 km/h.
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Tramvía Metropolità S.A.: on December 10, 2024, the extension of the tram network known as Trambesòs was inaugurated, between Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes and the Verdaguer stop, where it connects with metro line 4 and several bus lines. It is the first section of the long-awaited interconnection of the two tram networks in Barcelona.
This entire new section has been equipped with Alstom's APS ground-based power supply system, so it does not have an overhead contact line.
Here we see the sign at the Glòries stop that reminds drivers to raise the pantograph, since the section with APS ends and the one supplied by an overhead contact line begins. Below, a 15 km/h speed limit sign.
K96 arrives into platform 2 at Berowra with run 810H. Berowra is the furthest suburban trains will travel north.
Bajo condiciones limitadas a un show de cetrería en el ZODOM. Por supuesto que una cosa es con guitarra y otra con mandolina!
No voy hablar mas de lo que he hablado sobre una de las rapaces mas perseguidas y acosadas en nuestro pais.
A los que les interese conocer la situacion de esta rapaz y las preguntas que ella nos hace a nosotros, yo les aconsejo ver este video en mi propia galeria.
www.flickr.com/photos/cimarronmayor/4746850431/
Y para aquellos que dudan de su lente 100-400 mm y de su pulso, yo quiero aportarles los numeros del setting de mi camara en este momento y decirles que todas estas fotos fueron hechas a pulso de cimarron y en un dia de poca luz, razon por la cual use ISO de 500.
Canon 7D
Telefoto 100-400 mm
Modo AV hasta la muerte
F8 el numero milagroso
ISO 500
Exposicion 0.025(1/40)
0 EV
No flash
No tripode ni Monopodo
Un abrazo para todos y un honor entregar esta serie de 9 fotos a RAKEL, quien estoy seguro lo apreciara mucho y valorara la agonia a la cual esta sometida esta hermosa rapaz nuestra.
Vivo bajo una lucha constante predicandole a los campesinos de la Cordillera central, que el guaraguao no es un enemigo sino mas bien su amigo y que su plato gourmet no es un pollo sino un raton o una culebra y que ellos deben dar gracias el dia que vean a un guaraguao y pensar que el es todo lo contrario, que esta rapaz mata a los ratones y hurones que son lo principales depredadores de sus pollitos pequenos y que ellos debieran ofertarle un pollo por todos los que el ha salvado. Cuando un guaraguao ataca a un pollo es porque no ha encontrado ratones para sobrevivir y no olvidemos que
Las rapaces atraen todas las miradas e invitan a mirar el cielo
Transmiten libertad y tambien poder
Son consideradas las "Diosas" entre los animales
Y es que cuenta mucho tener poder sobre la vida y la muerte
Hacen aquello que deben y siguen sus designios
Ellas matan para sobrevivir y lo hacen sin sa~na
Tienen alas para la perfeccion del vuelo
Alas para viajar, sin rumbo o con el
En fin, alas para la libertad
Y garras para mandar e imponer sus deseos entre los vecinos,
Ya sean de pelos o de plumas, grandes o pequenos,
Garras para someter a los que estan por debajo
En definitiva, garras para reinar.....
Un abrazo de Cimarron mayor Panta.
Es imposible ser a la vez medico y hombre honrado, pero es vergonzosamente imposible ser psiquiatra sin estar al mismo tiempo marcado a fuego por la mas indiscutible insania: la de no poder luchar contra ese viejo reflejo atávico de la turba que convierte a cualquier hombre de ciencia aprisionado en la turba, en una especie de enemigo nato e innato de todo genio.
The speed limit drops to 55 well over a mile before the toll plaza...
The tolled portion of Interstate 376 (Beaver Valley Expressway) between New Castle and Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. This section is ran by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. The tolls on this road seemed to be fairly high, but the road was well maintained. Also, the road still hadn't been changed to a speed limit of 70 mph as of March. However, since I took these pictures, the road has been converted to all electronic tolling on April 30, 2017. Another thing I did notice is that this highway (and a couple other PTC highways) use a dirt barrier between opposing lanes rather than a wire or jersey barrier.
Interstate 376 - Between New Castle and Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
*Feel free to use this photo, or any others in this photostream, for any use that is non-commercial. Please make sure to provide credit for the photo(s). Please contact me at eckhartnicholas@yahoo.com for questions or permission for commercial use.*
Milan (English /mɨˈlæn/ or US /məˈlɑːn/;[6] Italian: Milano [miˈlaːno]; Milanese: Milan [miˈlã]), the second-most populous city in Italy, serves as the capital of Lombardy. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area (the 5th-largest in the EU) comprises an estimated 5,264,000 people.[2] The enormous suburban sprawl that followed the post-war boom of the 1950s–1960s and the growth of a vast commuter belt suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded well beyond the boundaries of its administrative limits and its agglomeration, creating a polycentric metropolitan area of 7 to 10 million people,[3][7][8][4] stretching over the provinces of Milan, Bergamo, Como, Lecco, Lodi, Monza and Brianza, Pavia, Varese and Novara. The Milan metropolitan region is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density. In terms of GDP, Milan has the third largest economy among EU cities and the largest among European non-capital cities.[9]