Enfundados en descoloridas camisas y gastadas botas de goma, con el habano humeante bajo el sombrero de paja, día a día se internan en el llano para trabajar la tierra mediante técnicas tradicionales, tan solo utilizando sus manos y sencillas herramientas, ayudados por caballos y bueyes.

Estos hombres y mujeres viven despojados de la mayoría de las comodidades  contemporáneas, una vida al ritmo del sol caribeño y la cálida brisa que mece la palma real, una vida de caña de azúcar, de frutas dulces y aromáticas, de humeante café color tierra y perfume de tabaco.

Más detalles sobre las imágenes, y otras historias de Cuba en mi Flickr.

Guajiro Dreams

Guarded by towering rocky masses known as mogotes, crossed by meandering and lonely roads, the Viñales valley is home to the Guajiros, tanned and generous farmers, symbols of rural Cuba.

Sheathed in faded worn shirts and rubber boots, with the cigar smoking under the straw hat, every day they go into the valley to farm using traditional methods, using only their hands and simple tools, aided by horses and oxen.

These men and women live stripped of most contemporary amenities, living to the rhythm of the Caribbean sun and warm breeze that rocks the royal palm, a life of sugar cane, sweet and aromatic fruit, earth-colored steaming coffee and tobacco perfume.

More details on images, and other stories of Cuba in my Flickr.

[links]

• Cuba in my Flickr Photostream
• Daily Inspiration by Nicolas Raddatz at SteveHuffPhoto.com
• Sueños Guajiros – Blog Centro de Fotografia / IM

El mes de Setiembre de 2012, tuve el honor de ser invitado a presentar esta selección de cinco fotografías en una muestra colectiva llamada “Retrospectiva Marcha por la Diversidad”, organizada por Punto de Encuentro (DNC/MEC).

Me sentí inmediatamente seducido por la exhuberancia de esta disciplina, la pasión que genera entre sus seguidores, el temperamento de equinos y jinetes desafiando los elementos, la sutil belleza de la geografía campestre como telón de fondo. Por ello, a fines del año 2009 emprendí una investigación que me ha llevado a lo largo de miles de kilómetros, explorando de manera vivencial la experiencia del raid para conocer sus colores, formas y texturas, su gente y tradiciones.

La presente selección de fotografías pretende vislumbrar la emoción, energía y velocidad de esta disciplina, así como su dimensión cultural en la construcción de la identidad del hombre rural.

+ info: www.larutadelraid.com

The Jupiter 8 50mm f/2, a Zeiss Sonnar clone from the former Soviet Union. If you’re into experimentation, manual focus lenses, or just enjoy “vintage” gear, at around $50 it is a bargain, and can be easily found on ebay.

It has that cool Soviet era retro look, with engraved cyrillic characters and the KMZ logo that make you dream of cosmonauts, spies, Lada cars, and cold war paranoia as well, but let’s not think about that for a moment.

Jupiter 8 on a Panasonic GF1 Micro Four Thirds camera

This is a review from a photographer’s perspective. Forget about charts, brickwall photos or artificial studio shots and technical details – there’s people that can do that much better than I do. My goal is to convey the feeling of using this gear in the real world, and what elements it might add to your imaging palette.

Design and handling

Like most rangefinder lenses it is quite compact, and matches Micro Four Thirds cameras nicely. The J-8 is known for being quite prone to flare, that makes the lens hood a must. Lens, L39 to m43 adapter and hood are around 8cm deep – not pancake sized but not that terrible either.

As requested by fellow photographers: I got my lens from artemstore in ebay, the adapter is from rainbowimaging.

Jupiter 8 on a Panasonic GF1 Micro Four Thirds camera

My copy has smooth aperture and focus rings, but none of them have click stops, so when out shooting I found myself checking those settings from time to time, if only to make sure they were where they should be. The lens has a reassuring weight to it, without being heavy, and balances nicely on the GF1. For some reason when mounted on the camera, all the aperture, and distance markings that should be facing the upper plate ended up facing the camera’s right side. Funny. [Edit: the M39 to μ43 adapter has 3 screws that allow repositioning the lens - now my Jupiter 8 has all markings on top as it should be! Thanks to Tedolph at DP Review Micro Four Thirds forum for pointing this out.]

In use

Because of Micro Four Thirds crop factor of 2x, the venerable Jupiter 8 becomes something like a moderate tele at 100mm equivalent (in full frame terms). In reality, you don’t get quite the same compression or depth of field, due to the size of the sensor.

Pictures straight out of the camera have low contrast and look a bit washed out, I had to adjust the black point and contrast quite agressively to get an adequate result, and I believe that shows in the rather “compressed” tones of the pictures – you may like it or not, I accept that as part of the look.

Before and after postprocessing.

My intended use for the Jupiter 8 is mainly as a fast portrait lens with character. If you wonder what do i mean by character, well, think about the spies, lada cars and Sonnar heritage again . It renders images in a way you simply don’t get with current lenses, with all their corrections, exotic materials and software aided design. I would describe the pictures as having a lovely buttery, warm, tender feeling to them.

Portrait, Sarandí del Yí, Uruguay.

The flattering “glow” at f2 is great for people shots. The characteristic sonnar bokeh,although not that evident due to the crop factor, is generally very pleasant and buttery, displaying a gentle transition from in-focus to blur. It can get a bit busy if there are elements with lots of detail in the background, though.

Portrait, Sarandí del Yí, Uruguay.

Manually focusing a lens this long requires practice. Judging focus using the camera’s LCD is not an exact science, and even with the GF1 focusing magnification, it’s easy to get the shot just that tiny bit off so as to ruin it. Moving subjects become a challenging proposition, and although focus can be nailed, it is an exercise in determination – or plain stubborness.

Portrait at the short races, Zapicán, Uruguay.

After some warm up I grew to like the challenge of using this vintage lens on my GF1 – In the future, I would like to try manual focusing with an EVF, I’m sure that would allow for less hit-and-miss.

Marking horses, Sarandí del Yí, Uruguay.

Conclusion

What’s to like

The Jupiter 8 is a great bargain lens. It is full of character, renders beautiful images, and fits Micro Four Thirds cameras such as the Panasonic GF1 like a glove. Works great for portraits. It is hardly an instant gratification tool, rather, it demands a learning curve that must be endured – and that’s exactly why it can help you improve your photographic skills.

What’s not to like

Manually focusing a 100mm equivalent lens is unwieldy, although with practice I’m sure the ratio of good shots improves. The lens is prone to flare, and the unprocessed images lack contrast, although after proper post processing they can look very special.

Spread the word

If you enjoyed this review please spread the word or pay a visit to my photo blog home.

After class, Sarandí del Yí, Uruguay.

Have fun!