Greetings from Little Havana

The real Havana has been in the news a lot these days but I, being a mere normal working American, can only come as close as the Miami neighborhood of Little Havana. Not quite the same but a pleasurable place nonetheless.

My wife and I enjoyed a few days in Miami Beach, just kicking back and trying to escape the dull Pennsylvania weather for some sun and warmth. We generally just stick around our South Beach hotel and just travel on foot but sometimes we get a car for at least one day, just to stretch out a little and explore. I wanted to visit the Leica Store in Boca Raton, so we took the short drive down and did some window shopping around the Miracle Mile, visited the Leica store, had a nice late lunch and then headed back towards South Beach for the evening.

Since we practically drove right through Little Havana on our way back to the hotel and there were plenty of parking spaces available along the streets during the late weekday afternoon, I thought it would be a great time to walk around and grab some photos. The place is colorful and lively and I had no problem exploring and taking photos. Most folks were accommodating and are probably used to tourists anyhow, so the camera wasn’t a threat. Since I’m generally not a “people” photographer, I prefer architecture and details, I focused more on the colorful facades and signs then waiting out perfect subjects to walk by. I know, I know….people are the favorite subjects in travel photography, but I just can’t get around to shooting them yet. Someday I’ll be comfortable in shooting people.

I traveled light, using only the Fujinon XF14mm 2.8 lens for all of these shots. I had my XF35mm lens with me also but I didn’t use it as the 14 proved quite to be versatile as a street lens.