5 Degrees of Cuba

After flying back to London and trying to get things sorted after the holiday I did not have much time for photography. I decided to set myself a challenge by trying to summarize my experience in Cuba with only 5 pictures and no text.
So here they are, let me know what you think and if there is a need for more text.

Real and Fake

LC1, f2.2, 1/15, ISO 400, JPG, 78mm

One last afternoon in Havana before going to the airport and back to London. The trip here in Cuba was great and I will definitely come back, there is still a lot to see here and to take pictures of.

In the coming days I will update my Dropbox Gallery of the trip so do check back there if you want to see more pictures.

Play Another Tune

GRD, f5.6, 1/400, ISO 100, JPG, 40mm

Back in Havana I decided to take it easy and just walk around using the GRD I only. It was good to get a different approach to things but mostly to leave the heavy and bulky LC1 in the hotel.

Back in Time

GRD, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 200, JPG b&w

The architecture of the houses in Vinales is different from other places in Cuba so a trip there is definitely recommended even if not much else is happening.

Valey of Vinales

LC1, f5, 1/640, ISO 100, JPG, 90mm

Today, I went for a horseride around the Valley of Vinales. It was a great trip, the scenery is amazing. We stopped at a local tobacco farmer who made some of the best Mohitos and also showed how Cigars are made. It was a great trip and well worth doing.

Jesus in his Prehistoric Park

GRD, f4.5, 1/250, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Although I initialy planned to stay only in Havana and Trinidad, people kept recommending a visit to Vinales so I decided to take the 8h taxi journey there.
Vinales is a tiny place surrounded by a fantastic valey with a great landscape. It has again a completely different feel from Havana and Trinidad. There is almost nothing happening but if you like hiking or take a hose ride around the valey it's more than worth the stay there.

If you are in Vinales you should also go and visit Jesus in his Prehistoric Park. He is a great talker and knows a lot to make a very worthwile 30 minutes tour of his park.

Ancon Beach

LC1, f5, 1/100, ISO 100, JPG, 62mm

Ok, I find beach holidays a waste of time and don't like sitting at the beach and baking in the sun. Still, I decided that coming to Cuba I should at least see one of the beaches. While the beaches are very nice it was a horrible experience, there is absolutely nothing to do and unless you have one of the all inclusive badges you can not even buy any drinks. I was glad to leave after only 2h and go to see the national park and the waterfall there.
I don't think I will return to a beach anytime soon.

On a different note, Ricoh has today announced the new GXR 'camera'. You can read my thoughts about it here.

UJC

LC1, f4.5, 1/50, ISO 100, JPG, 58mm

Trinidad might be small but walking around takes longer than you might think. I took this shot while walking back from a short visit to the tiny airport.

In the end though everyone returns to the Casa de Musica where bands are playing all through the day.

Crucero

LC1, f2.8, 1/800, ISO 100, JPG, 90mm

Today, I went for a walk around Trinidad but also went out of it and walked around the great landscape and to an old abandoned school.
Trinidad might be small but there is still a lot to do and see here. It also seems more happening than Havana with clubs everywhere and people partying more. The downside is that due to the small size you keep running into more tourists.

On a different note. There will be another Ricohforum London meetup on the 21st November, you can find all te details here.
If you are around you should definitely come by, there will be a few surprises and with the rumors of a new Ricoh camera being announced in the next days it should be a very interesting meetup.

Cigar Man

LC1, f3.2, 1/50, ISO 100, JPG, 90mm

Arrived in Trinidad after a 6h bus journey but it was more than worth it. Trinidad is a fantastic place, it feels completely different from Havana though.
Just going for a walk around the cobbled streets is great, people are also different and the pace is slower. The buildings are much better preserved than in Havana so it is nicer to take pictures.

If you come to Cuba make sure you visit Trinidad and while here go to the Restaurant Colonial and ask for 'El Bolo'. He is a real character and can tell you a lot about the place, you can also stay at his house near the historic center of Trinidad.

I have updated my Gallery with pictres from Trinidad, you can find it here.

La Moderna Poesia

LC1, f5, 1/1000, ISO 100, JPG, 34mm

This is my favorite shot from today. I saw the name of the place and the girls walking towards it so knew I had to gt the shot. I almost missed it because of the focus lag and focus priority of the LC1. This is really frustrating but otherwise I think the GRD III and LC1 complement each other very well, if only the LC1 would be lighter and smaller.

Before going off to Trinidad tomorrow I went around Old Havana and to the Capitolio today. There is still so muc to take pictures and explore here but Trinidad should provide plentiful opportunities, too.

Standing in the Rain

LC1, f2.4, 1/100, ISO 100, JPG, 90mm

Today I got wet twice, first in the morning while it was raining, and then again in the afternoon while walking along the Malecon to take pictures of the waves.
In both cases my LC1 and GRD III got quite soaked but kept on going without problems.

This was not my favorite picture from today but being in Cuba for a few days already I had to post a picture of a old car and this I really like. My favorite picture is of the old lady in the yellow raincoat that you can see in my Gallery.

Playing

GRD III, f1.9, 1/140, ISO 400, RAW

Walking around Old Havana is great, there is so much to see and take pictures of. Every day it's different and the people are great.
A lot of life happens outside here, the warm weather and lack of anything to do inside means people are always out and socializing.

Under Che

GRD 3, f2.5, 1/189, ISO 100, JPG

Most pictures you see from Cuba are of colorful buildings, nice cars and smiling people smoking cigars on the beach or in a park. This was what I expected when going to Cuba but the reality is different.
People are poor, the cars and buildings are falling apart and while people do smoke cigars it is not something you see all the time. The smiling people from pictures are indeed smiling because they work for the tourism board.

Cuba is a great country with great people but it suffers from Communism as other countries before it but mostly from the US embargo.

Due to the very slow internet connection and limited time to post I will add my text later and only post the pictures in the coming days.
For more pictures look on my Dropbox Gallery.

Early Morning Call

LC1, f5, 1/500, ISO 100, RAW, 90mm

After the limited photography I could do yesterday, I decided to get up early and start wandering around. The light was very good in the morning and it was also more pleasant than later in the day.

Havana is a fantastic place for photography with the old cars, buildings and the colors everywhere but it is also not easy to avoid taking clichee pictures and staying away from the usual tourist snaps. There is almost too much to take pictures of and for street photography I need to get a better feel for the people and the place, at the moment it's a bit more difficult.

This is one of the pictures I took in the morning, I liked the light and at first only wanted a picture of the guy on the phone but the woman walking past made the picture much better.
The LC1 performs great overall but is heavy to carry around and of limited use when speed is required. The harsh light sometimes is very challenging for the cameras though so I really appreciate having live view to help with the exposure.

Arrived in Cuba

LC1, f2, 1/25, ISO 400, RAW, 28mm

After arriving in Cuba I wanted to get out and take pictures, it was dark already but there were still lots of photo opportunities. Unfortunately I had to sit around and try to sort out the hotelroom.
I still managed to take a few pictures while waiting and after finally sorting the room for the night. Still, with the flight taking up most of the day and the waiting around it was not a good day for photography.

Internet is limited and very slow so updating my blog will be done in batches whenever possible.

You can find the full Cuba Gallery here.

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 7

This is the last day with the iPhone, all pictures have been edited with the somewaht lacking Best Camera app by Chase Jarvis and are also on the even moe lacking bestcamera website.

The next blog update could take a few days. From tomorrow, I will be in Cuba for the next two weeks on a photography trip.

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 6

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 5

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 4

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 3

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 2

iPhone Diary Week 2 - Day 1

GR Digital III - A Serious Compact

In case you have been wondering why my GRD III review has been delayed that much, this is to do with me being quite busy recently but also because I want to make it a very extensive review that should hopefully answer all questions regarding all three GRDs.

Another reason is that I have been working on a project for Ricoh. They have asked me to make a book for the GRD III. This was a great project and I am really happy to have had the opportunity to work on this.
Now that the book is finished and printed, I thought I will upload it so you can have a look and see the book. It looks fantastic in print and it shows why looking at pictures on screen is not the best way to appreciate them.

You can see the full book here.
Now you can also order the book on Blurb by clicking here or below.

GR Digital III by Cristian Sorega

The full book is quite big so you might have to wait a bit for the pages to load for the first time. To be able to read the text you have to click on 1:1. If you have problms with the loading times let me know and I will reduce the size of the pages so it loads faster.

One other thing I am very happy about is that Ricoh has chosen a few pictures from my book to print a big poster and advertise the GRD III at Foto-Koch, the biggest camera store in Düsseldorf and the place I bought my very first Ricoh GRD I over 5 years ago.

In the meantime if you want to read some excellent reviews on the GRD III have a look at Carl's review and also at Wouter's review. Both have done a fantastic job with their reviews.

Flash Series #4

GRD III, f5, 8 sec., ISO 400, RAW

This will be the last of my flash series pictures before I start a new iPhone week.
Taking a macro picture when you can't see anything on the screen is quite challenging but I still like the result. This was also taken handheld since I don't own a tripod and would not take it with me anyway.

Flash Series #3

GRD III, f2.8, 8 sec., ISO 64, RAW

Although th picture does not look like it has been taken in a park, it has indeed be taken in Grenwich Park not far from the main road through the park. I never understood what this stone in there for and find it looks pretty ugly but maybe it has a point to it that I fail to see.
I have added noise and vignetting to the picture before converting it to b&w using the infrared setting.

Flash Series #2

GRD III, f2.8, 7 sec., ISO 64, RAW

Today, I decided to try out the Slow Syncro flash option on the GRD and play with the flash settings a bit. It is very interesting to take flash pictures in almost complete darkness where there is nothing but black on the LCD screen.

Flash Series #1

GRD III, f2.8, 1/32, ISO 400, RAW

The days are getting shorter, it is darker in the morning when we get out and motly grey during the day. While walking to work today, I got an idea for a short series on my blog.

There is not much I dislike more than flash pictures taken with a compact camera so it only makes sense that I base my theme around this. I will try to take pictures where the use of the built-in flash is obvious and to make it more difficult these pictures need to be taken outside in the park. This means one thing probably and this is that my next pictures will probably be pretty awfull so you have been warned. ;)

My experience with flash is very limited and I try to avoid the use of it whenever possible so this will be a challenge for me to hopefully experiment more with it and get some decent results by the end of it.

Me & My Map

GRD III, f2.8, 1/1700, ISO 400, RAW

As good as the GRD III quality is, I simply fid it difficult to push the RAW files as much as I can do with the JPGs from the GRD I. The noise pattern is also different and much more pleasant on the GRD I. If only I could get a GRD III with the GRD I sensor and processing it would be fatastic.

A Bit of Color

GRD III, f1.9, 1/750, ISO 64, RAW 1:1

Watching the Band

GRD III, f1.9, 1/10, ISO 800, RAW 2:3

I went back to the Cahrlotte Street Blues bar, this has quickly become one of my favorite places in London, the atmosphere is very good and you have live music 7 days a week.
I took a few pictures of the bands playing with the GRD III but noticed that even a f1.9 lens with ISO 1600 is not always enough to capture the motion. This picture is taken at ISO 800 but with the EV at -1 and in 2:3 format but I felt 16:9 worked better. The focus was on the two guys on the side and not on the band so this is why the background is slightly out of focus and overexposed.

Looking Around

GRD III, f1.9, 1/270, ISO 64, RAW

Marketing Space

GRD, f4.5, 1/310, ISO 200, JPG b&w

Watching

GRD, f3.2, 1/1000, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Morning Frost

R10, f5.2, 1/2, ISO 400, JPG, 200mm

I love early mornings and it was a really nice morning today. It was pretty cold but also a clear sky. While walking across the heath I had to stop and take in the great view with the ground frost rising and creating a nice atmosphere when illuminated by the passing cars, street lights and the quarter moon. Looking up I could see a lot of stars and constelations. This was simply amazing in this moment and I wish I could have taken a picture to show all of this but think this picture works quite well and leaves some things to the interpretation.
These things might be small but we don't really take time to appreciate them, we keep rushing from one place to another and in the mornings just drive by in our cars or in the bus without stopping and looking around us. Early morning is the best time of the day for me because it feels like a different world out there.

The Gentleman

R10, f5.1, 1/125, ISO 125, JPG

This is one of my favorite pictures with the R10 but at the same time I wish I would have taken it with a better camera. It was not easy to get it due to him being across the street and the screen freeze and people and cars being in front made it even more difficult.
I had to process it quite a bit to get the desired result, the JPG smudging that Ricoh does is not nice and destroys any form of detail. Adding some noise to the pictures gives them at least a nicer feel and they seem more crisp.

Ricoh GRD III Review Teaser

I am still a bit behind with writing my GRD III review so I thought I will post a small teaser today. There will be more coming up in the next days and I hope the review will be done soon.
I will not comment this picture but will leave it up to you to get to your own findings. What I can say is that these pictures should show quite well why I like the GRD I b&w JPGs so much.

The cameras were all set to A-mode and f4.5, ISO 400 and b&w JPGs.

Staircase

GRD, f2.4, 1/45, ISO 400, JPG

When you get out of Old Street station you can't help but feel you're in a derelict building. The whole underpass leading out of the station is a dump and you have to wonder why it has not been demolished a long time ago.

The Three

GRD, f2.4, 1/20, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

A Rose For You

GRD, f4.5, 1/68, ISO 200, JPG b&w

Took this picture while walking around Covent Garden today. The weather finally improved and it was a lot more fun to take pictures.

Reading The Weatherforecast

R10, f4.5, 1/25, ISO 400, JPG

It has been grey and raining so not great for taking pictures with the R10. This is a picture I took while having coffee. I converted it to b&w and added some noise to it.

Spice

R10, f5, 1/540, ISO 100, JPG, 28mm

Took this picture on my way home after missing a few pictures and getting frustrated with the screen freeze of the R10. As much as I like the bronze color and wish the GRD III would come in bronze, I always wish I have the CX1 when using the R10. The CX1 is a massive improvement over the R10 an the CX2 even improved on this.

The Fountain

R10, f4.5, 8 sec., ISO 80, JPG

I really like going out very early in the morning, the world seems differet in the early hours before the rush starts, when everything is quiet.
I took this picture on my way to work while being one of the first people in Greenwich park. Unfortunately the R10 only has a exposure of 8 seconds, a bit longer would have ben nice in this instance.

Father and Son

R10, f5.9, 1/190, ISO 383, JPG, 200mm

It was a quiet Sunday and while I should have been working on my GRD III review, I decided to take it easy and went for a walk. I took this picture with the R10 but almost missed the moment because of the screen freeze, the CX1 is so much better in this respect and I am glad Ricoh fixed this issue now.

Charlotte Street Blues

R10, f5.2, 1/35, ISO 800, JPG, 200mm

While out in town and having a coffee in Charlotte Street I saw this Blues place. I was not aware of it befre and think it's quite new so decided to go and check it out.
This picture is with the R10 at ISO 800 so the quality if not fantastic but I still like it.

Behind The Clouds

R10, f5.2, 1/540, ISO 100, JPG, 200mm

Today, I recieved my 'Ricoh Around the Globe' camera so have now a few days to use it till I have to send it on.
I quite like the R10 and the bronze color is simply fantastic, it's a shame Ricoh stopped using it in later models.

Riding Together

RD1s, f5.6, 1/2000, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Another picture from the RD1, this time I made sure I focused beter and have also used the out of camera JPG.
The Epson RD1 is a great camera but it attracts a lot of attention from people, like all rangefinders do these days. I am also not too big a fan of the whole manual focus experience and rather use a good, fast and reliable AF system. I am also not a big fan of the 2:3 format and prefer the 4:3 format or 16:9, if I want something wider.
The experience however is great and the manual controls are as they shoud be with a proper manual focus on the lens and not the rubbish dSLR lenses with the video camera focus ring. I wish a manufacturer would start producing proper dSLR lenses with proper mechanical controls on them.