Today is portrait day. My bete noir.

For clarity a portrait is defined as ‘A photograph of a person who is aware the photo is being taken’. I find this type of photography totally out of my comfort zone. For me it is very difficult to go up to strangers and ask them for photos. I find it particularly challenging when I do not speak the language. My apprehension is somewhat surprising as I am quite an outgoing person, so you would think I shouldn’t have an issue. I think my discomfort stems from my dislike of invading someone else’s personal space. In Cuba it may not be as hard for me, as the people are in need and very happy to pose, as long as you tip them afterwards, so maybe I am doing them a favour….

My first efforts are a group of men playing dominoes. We have just set off and the group is all present – 10 eager photographers. This presents problem number 1 – setting up the shot without someone else getting in the way. Guess what? The same two people who are always oblivious to the rest of the group keep photo-bombing. Anyway I take a couple of warm-up shots.

I then see two ladies, sitting on a tatty and dirty step, cuddling two sleeping children. They are clearly mother and daughter and the love for each other and the children shines through. They have taken care of their appearance and the children are immaculate which is in stark contrast to the clear poverty of their situation. I am pleased with the result.

I was hoping for a good portrait off the cute children below, but they were fast moving, cheeky and in danger of touching the lens. The first shot could have been great if I had time to adjust the depth of field. The second shot was in focus.

I then wander around for an hour looking for inspiration. I take some great street photography but no portrait opportunities leap out at me.

Finally I find a lady embroidering a table cloth. I love the matching blues of her dress, the doors and her needle-point. I am sure that this will make a great portrait. Ummm.. and it might have done had it been in precise focus. I couldn’t work out why I was not taking sharp shots. Simples! I generally use back button focus and had set the the camera to continuous autofocus when filming the fast-moving children earlier. However, with a short depth off field, single focus was required or any hand movement would move the focal point. Note to self. You had time so check all the camera settings before taking the shot. Grrrr!

The focus on the photo below is good but just one problem. It is not a portrait. Does the lady know I am taking the picture?

It is now mid-day and exceedingly hot so we are making our way to a restaurant for lunch. I stop to watch some musicians and when I look up from my camera everyone has disappeared!

I look all around, go to the crossroads and walk in each direction but no sign of anyone. I end up walking for an hour or more in the searing heat until I can stand it no longer. I settle myself in a leafy square and order a lemonade and bottle of water. Musicians are playing some lively Cuban music and it is nice to be sitting down in the shade.

The lemonade appears and the waiter apologises profusely for having no bottles of water. I looked at my phone and saw I had a message from Matt asking where I was. They apparently were in a restaurant which turned out to be directly behind me when I was filming the musicians. I tried hard to be gracious when I made it back to the restaurant despite serious heat exhaustion!

We spent a little more time shooting after lunch. Again I have some good street photography but I can’t say I nail the brief.

If a portrait could be of an animal then this one is a cracker!

and then the heat won and we headed back to the hotel for some time by the pool.

Tonight we are going to have pizzas. This will make a welcome dietary change and we are told the restaurant we are visiting has a good wood-fired pizza oven. We take our tripods as after dinner we shall be doing a night shoot. We settle at our table and look for the pizza menu which is blanked out. Shock and horror! There are no pizzas tonight as the restaurant has no cheese! I make do with spaghetti bolognese which is quite excellent.

The night shoot is fun but I must invest in a decent travel tripod. The one I am using is decidedly wobbly. I was really getting into the groove when my battery went flat. I was surprised that it died so quickly but of course the shutter is being held open for a long time so much more processing time required. Anyway it is fine as I have a spare battery in my bag…..er no. I’ve left it in the charger by my bed.

Frustrating. I pack all my gear away and watch everyone else having fun. I cannot watch for long as suddenly all the lights go out. There is a power cut and it is pitch dark. Walking back to our hotel over the cobbles is going to be challenging.

Thank goodness for iPhones with torches. It provides just enough light to prevent anyone twisting their ankles. It also is capable of taking great night shots as demonstrated by the little, street-lit house below. Sometimes I wonder why I carry the big camera around with me.