Daily Inspiration #271 by Jorge Ledesma
“A vibrant Hispanic culture permeates everything in Little Havana, Miami — colorful murals, monuments to heroes past and present, elderly men playing dominoes as they discuss politics, and cigar rollers deeply at work amidst Little Havana’s ever-present aroma of Cuban coffee. These scenes of daily Little Havana, Miami life play out amidst a backdrop of Little Havana’s pulsating music, vibrant storefronts, unique art galleries and quaint restaurants.” This is the description given to tourists as they come into Miami and are in search of visiting the sites. Let me start off by saying I agree 150% with this statement, its all that and more.
I had been meaning to re visit Little Havana for quite some time already and just this past weekend the mood was right. I generally don’t like going on a photowalk if I don’t feel the mood is right, which you all can probably relate to at some point or another but this one felt differently, I just had to go.
All these images were taken with the Olympus EPL-2 and the Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.8. I must say that I highly enjoy this manual focus lens over the venerable 17mm pancake. Something akin to what Steve’s always saying about the Leica glass but the OM 50mm has soul, its got spunk. I can’t quite describe it so I’ll let the images speak for themselves but its certainly got that pizzaz. The images were all captured near Little Havana’s famous Domino Park on Calle Ocho and were processed in Lightroom 3 and Silver Efex Pro 2.
If you ever have a chance to visit Miami, Florida, then this community is a must see and ridden with street photography imagery to fill up a few memory cards. Cheers.
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Name: Jorge Ledesma
Site: “The Decisive Moment” over at http://jorgeledesma.net
Image Titles:
1. The image with the man and the cuban cigar is titled “Soy Cubano” which translate into English to “I’m Cuban”.
2. The image of the gentleman playing dominoes is titled “Pensando en ti” which translate into English to “Thinking of you”.
3. And the Portrait of the profile of the gentlemen is titled “Mi vieja Cuba” which translate into English to “My Old Cuba”.
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Note: Thanks Steve for having this option to share with your readership. I’m a huge fan and your site its always one of the first ones I check everyday. Keep up the great work and I hope you enjoy this small photo essay. Cheers.
Warm regards,
Jorge Ledesma
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As a friend of Jorge’s, it’s great to see him featured here. A wonderful guy, and keen photographer. He’s a great part of the street photographer community. Cheers to Steve for featuring him here. Keep on keeping on, gents.
Thanks everyone for all the great insights. I re did the last two images and I must say that you’re correct, I pushed them a bit too much, to say it lightly, I’ll be publishing the entire photo essay soon in my blog, as it tells the entire story better than 3 images. Again, thanks Steve for this wonderful opportunity.
Cheers everyone,
Jorge Ledesma
Jorge I really enjoy the first one. The gentleman has a beautiful character filled face. Would love to see more of him. I think he would make an excellent photo essay subject. The other two to me need a bit less contrast if you would allow me to use the word. Their faces are already rich in details from age and a bit of less blackness would work for me at least. But that is just my opinion. Thanks for sharing.
Well done, really strong images. They all tell individual stories or set you thinking. Love them.
I like the low key lighting look in you pp. Nice contrast, especially no1.
Way too much post-processing. There’s a difference between good B&W and digital, fake-looking B&W. PP should enhance the photo, and not cover up the photographer’s lack of photo skill.
I think the PP was ok. You captured the essence of your subject well. Good job.
Thanks so much Steve, I really appreciate you sharing these. 🙂
Bryan- i agree, i thought the processing was a little too strong too but i still enjoyed the set.
Is it just me, or do they appear or are processed fairly extensively? I personally have no qualms about it, but it does detract a little from the image for me.
Thanks Bryan, I appreciate your constructive critique, like I told Sherry above its one of those places that seems way out of the norm especially down here in Miami and I wanted to portray that look. I was really on the fence with this set, whether to go with color or go bw. They are a total of 10-12 which I’ll be publishing in two weeks and its tells the bigger story. Thanks again.
Since you elaborated, I shall too. Personally I do like nr. 1 and nr. 3. I have nothing to say really about the second. I have no qualms about processing per se, however I strongly believe that as soon as processing becomes overly evident. It detracts from the images.
That’s not to say strong processing is a no-no. It would depend on the look you’re trying to achieve. As in this case, accentuating the fact these people are old and wrinkled seems a little contradictory to the ‘vibrant’ idea.
Oh and please don’t take it as critique, I don’t think I’m qualified. Just a personal opinion.
Hey Steve, sorry it’s not related with your post, but how do you do to link your posts with G+, automatic or manual?
Thanks,
Stephane
Manual for FB and G+.
Mr. Ledesma these images are both moving and beautiful. Thank you for sharing them.
Thanks Sherry, this place is really like visiting a time warp, you just have to be there to see it.