This Christmas vacation was first and foremost for family, since my wife’s entire side of the family was on the trip. So although I was excited about the photo opportunities in Cuba, I packed light (a Nikon D7100 and 18-200 lens), knowing that most of our time would be spent at the resort and I wouldn’t be spending a significant amount of time taking photos. For the most part my camera stayed in my room, since bringing it to the pool or the beach is just a bad idea! Instead around the resort I relied on my pocket camera in a dry bag, which also rarely came out except for a few pictures of my son in the pool.

Although relaxing by the pool and swimming in the ocean was fantastic, I couldn’t wait to take a day trip in to Havana. Since we had such a large group, we had our own personal tour guide who took us on a tour around old and new Havana. We stopped at a few famous landmarks and took a walk through the streets of Old Havana. It was a fast pace to be sure, and I didn’t have a lot of time to stop and take photos, without fear of losing the guide in the crowds. There were a couple of times where I looked up from my camera and had a brief moment of panic because I couldn’t see anyone I recognized, so I shot fast and kept moving!