Benz World Blog » Caribbean

Forgotten Oceans

Jason Benz — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 22:40:01 +0000

This is a composite of seven images blended in Photoshop. The ocean photography is from parts of the Caribbean in the Global Reef Record. Most of the work I do at Panedia is aimed at helping The Ocean Agency raise awareness of what is happening underwater. One of the challenges is the seas are easily forgotten. People generally don’t spend much time down there. It is out of sight and out of mind, so weeks, months and years can go by without considering the impact modern life has on this worlds oceans.

In 2012 Australia took a big step forward in creating the worlds largest marine park. Unfortunately this protection is under threat. In 2017 the federal government announced draft plans to allow long-line fishing and damaging seafloor trawling to take place in large areas of Queenslands Coral Sea and the waters off the coast of Western Australia, New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

The director of the Centre for Marine Futures at the University of WA said “The proposed protection zones for the Coral sea ignores all the science about what is needed to ensure we have healthy oceans and also ignores the government’s own risk assessments on what activities are compatible with conservation,”

Capitolio Nacional

Jason Benz — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 09:45:54 +0000

This is Karen’s photo of the National Capitol Building in Havana. It was the seat of government in Cuba until after the 1959 revolution. As of 2013 restoration began in preparation for it to be once again used for the national assembly.

Rasta House

Jason Benz — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 13:40:45 +0000

This building near Port Antonio in Jamaica is painted with the pan-African colours Red, Gold and Green which are based on the Ethiopian flag. It has been a stock photo at Shutterstock for 10 years and still gets downloaded every week. It was shot on an early digital compact camera EX-Z3 less powerful than the average mobile phone camera theses days.

Cuban Music

Jason Benz — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:25:44 +0000

The music of Cuba is exceptional. History has made it unique. We found it in every city in the cafes, bars and on the streets. Being a musician in Cuba is considered a profession worthy of a wage from the government. I grew up in the UK where being a musician was considered a lack of profession. In 2013 Sony looked to the Caribbean for music. In 2014 a delegation from Sony visited the Cuban state owned record label with an offer of world distribution for the island’s national music archive. This week’s announcement confirmed global licensing of 30,000 songs dating back to 1964.

Split Toning was used to process this image in Camera RAW. I used the settings from this shot as it has become the most popular one from Bluesfest 2015.

Conception Cathedral

Jason Benz — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 01:55:01 +0000

This is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Cienfuegos. Roman Catholicism is the main religion in Cuba. In 2015 Raúl Castro lifted a ban on people of any faith joining the Communist party. This ended the separation of Religion and Politics which has existed since the government declared itself officially atheist in 1961.

This photo was taken with an early compact digital camera EX-Z3 in 2004. It is also the first image I had accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Pimped Classic

Jason Benz — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 10:10:21 +0000

Karen photographed this classic car in Cuba. If anybody knows the model please leave a comment. I used fractalius and photoshop to pimp it up.

Cuban Thaw

Jason Benz — Sat, 11 Jul 2015 12:37:56 +0000

I photographed these people in Cuba in 2004 when Fidel Castro was still running the country. I was pleased to hear that the USA plan to reopen their embassy in Havana this month, after 54 years. Maybe it says more about the American political system when only an outgoing president, unencumbered by elections, can take the risks needed to resolve historic problems.

Cienfuegos Square

Jason Benz — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:38:13 +0000

This is Cienfuegos Square in Cuba. It is one of the Caribbean images from the old website I took in 2004. Before I get back to Australia I have been transferring some of the old images to the new photoblog.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Three Huts

Jason Benz — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:20:07 +0000

These three buildings are in Negril, Jamaica. This is some of the earliest photography I had accepted for stock. I don’t know if it would be accepted for today as the agencies seem to be getting more strict or maybe the need for turquoise ocean shots allowed them to overlook the camera and jpeg quality. This image needed work in Photoshop to remove speckle.

I plan to post a few more images of the Caribbean as I copy the best content from the old website to the new blog.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Sky Palms

Jason Benz — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:37:33 +0000

These silhouetted palm trees were in Negril, Jamaica. I took this almost 10 years ago when I first started experimenting with Photography. I was using an early digital compact camera Ex-Z3 with a LCD display. This shot would be difficult with a DSLR as framing the shot is normally done with the viewfinder. Focusing the sun onto your retina is not the best way to go about improving your photography.

I plan to put up more images of the Caribbean as I move from the old website to the new blog.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.