Manaca Iznaga is an old plantation located just outside of Trinidad, Cuba, in an area known as Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills). Sugar plantations have always been an integral part of the Cuban economy. This dates back to the 1500’s with the arrival of the Spaniards who introduced sugar cane to the island in 1512. I had the opportunity to visit this area during my trip to Cuba in 2014. There are various structures on this plantation but the most prominent is the Torre de Manaca Iznaga. The tower, named after the plantation, is about 150 feet tall and was used by the owners to monitor their plantation and keep track of the slaves that worked the land. It also housed a bell that marked the beginning and end of the workday.
The image below was taken from a port at the top of the tower that looks out over the plantation fields. I’m a fan of these type of images as they really draw your eye to the intended subject.
This image was taken with my SONY NEX-6 using my E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS set on 16 mm. The camera was set on Aperture Priority mode with the aperture set at f/9, shutter speed at 1/640 at ISO 200. I took a series of 3 bracketed photos (-1, 0, +1) and brought them together into one image using Photomatix. Final work was done in Photoshop.
Click on the image to get a better look at it. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions or suggestions.
© 2015 T. Kahler Photography
