Robin, Pablo, Valeria and Humberto Castellanos

The two of them left New York, which is where they originally met, and headed back to Miami in 1984. Miami was Humberto’s original port of entry into the U.S., as well as his wife’s birthplace.

Then in 2001 they moved to the Florida Keys where Humberto had a U-Haul franchise. It was the only one in the Keys and it also had an attached flea market.

In 2009, the Castellanos were ready to retire and relax in the peaceful, rural atmosphere of North Florida. They settled in Hildreth, a small town in Suwannee County about 8 1/2 miles from Branford, one mile from the Ichetucknee and two miles from the Santa Fe River. Humberto is a member of the Branford Camera Club.

“My love for photography has never been stronger than now,” he said.

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1940, Castellanos arrived on the shores of the United States at the age of 19, less than a year after the Cuban Revolution. He didn’t come with family, though, he came alone. “My family still believed in Castro,” he said.

While living in Cuba, however, Castellanos developed a love of classical music, an intense curiosity about computers, still in their infancy, and a passion for photography that started when he was 11 years old. That was when he found an Ansco box camera in his grandmother’s closet.

“I became fascinated that its rudimentary controls allowed me to actually change the feelings of these black and white images by changing contrast of clouds and sky and flowers by just pulling a little tab on the side,” he said.

Since that time he has immersed himself in the awe-inspiring world of picture-taking. In the early 1960s he had a photography studio in Manhattan that was dedicated to providing actors with resume photos, but it wasn’t advancing his creativity, so he turned to a career in computers.

Meanwhile, he became a published poet and had four photography shows while living in New York.

“On the side, I became the photographer for the Lexington Conservatory Theater in New York and taught a series of photography classes in the Lexington Conservatory School,” he said.

Of his wife, Castellanos said, “Valeria is a wonderful mother, poet, jeweler and best friend.” Their son and daughter-in law, Pablo and Robin live nearby in the city of Gainesville. “Alas no grandchildren, except my dog, Chispa,” he said. Chispa is a Chi-Russell, which is a combination Chihuahua and Russell Terrier mix.

Castellanos loves technology, which is now an integral element of digital photography, digital imaging, motion pictures and videography.

“This is the country that invented the Internet, which I used when it was a text-based system and I have used since its inception,” he said.

He recently presented a workshop to the Branford Camera Club members on Picasa, an online software application for organizing and editing digital photos. Picasa was originally created by Idealab and has been owned by Google since 2004.

“I was attempting to give an overview of what digital photography has become,” Castellanos said.

His aim was to “get them to understand what goes beyond clicking the shutter,” as well as the reason so many people are captivated with picture-taking. It is all about communication and he explained that Picasa could be the central hub.

“I wanted to expand (their) horizons and to appeal to the natural curiosity of those who already are interested in the imaging world, but have not been exposed to the advancements we have when using the Internet as a means to communicate,” Castellanos said. “I wanted to share my vast experience in this digital world with those who love what they do. Judging by the reactions I got from people after the class, I think I have succeeded and I think it won’t be the last class,” he added.

Castellanos is planning to photograph North Central Florida’s first magnitude springs and the crystal blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

“I love the towns that comprise that area,” he said. “They seem as time has forgotten them and I want to capture their ageless beauty before change transforms them.”

According to Support Florida Forever’s website, Florida has more first magnitude springs than any other state in the country or in the world. These large springs encompass the counties of Walton, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Wakulla, Leon, Hamilton, Madison, Suwannee, Lafayette, Levy, Marion and Hernando. Underneath these springs is the Florida aquifer, a natural wonder unlike any other in the world with 8 billion gallons of flowing, subterranean water giving rise to 33 first magnitude springs that gush more than 65 million gallons of water per day.

When asked if he would ever consider returning to his homeland of Cuba, Castellanos gave a one-word answer of “No.” He later went on to explain, “Friends that were my contemporaries went back and were so disappointed they hurt. I remember Cuba in its prime and have glowing memories I like to preserve. I do not want to ruin those memories.” He also stated that he had no remaining family members still living in Cuba.

“I love to be here in the USA where I pursued my dreams and could travel anywhere without any impediments,” he said. “I love the ideas of the founding fathers who created a system of government, which did not require to change what we are,” he added.