(Re)Visiting
Nearly two years ago Steph and I took a Caribbean cruise for our anniversary, which I wrote about here and here. It was an amazing trip for a number of reasons. The most obvious is that we were able to celebrate our anniversary in our favorite way, by the water and with good food and drink always within arm's reach. It was also the first time we had sailed with Virgin Voyages. Being an adult only cruise line, it meant that we had an opportunity to relax with each other without our kids. Link and Wes are such a big part of our lives, but sometimes you just need time with each other.
But it was also an amazing trip for me as a photographer. At that time I had already gotten deep into film photography and was exploring many different emulsions. I discovered Kodak ProImage just before leaving on that trip and instantly fell in love with it. I also learned to love the 50mm focal length on that trip, spending the majority of my time on a Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2 lens. I also found an affinity for shooting serene, people-less scenes.
All of that is important because these days I rely heavily on the 50mm focal length, both for personal and wedding photography. But also because the more I shoot weddings, the more I fall back on these portraits of solitude for my own photography. I spend so much of my time photographing and editing pictures of people for work that when I can have fun and slow down for my own photography, this becomes a nice change of pace.
Much has changed for me since that last Virgin Voyages cruise. Except for my Leica M3 and R4S, together with very few lenses, I now shoot with Nikon cameras and lenses. But I've also committed to Kodak UltraMax as my color film of choice. It gives me the colors and contrast that I used to spend lots of time getting with post processing. So when I was packing for another Virgin cruise to celebrate Steph's 40th birthday I knew exactly what I was taking with me. I packed my Nikon F3, AI-S 50mm f/1.2 and 35mm f/2, and a couple of rolls of Kodak UltraMax. A simple set up that works for me really well.
All Aboard
The first day of a cruise can be hectic. We dropped off each of our kids at their respective summer camps and visited Steph's grandmother before heading to the port. We arrived shortly after our boarding time, still well before the ship would set sail, and made our way to our stateroom.
As this was intended as a celebration of Steph's 40th birthday we splurged a bit and upgraded to a larger room. I made no photos on that first day of the cruise. We hit the pool and sipped on warm weather drinks until we had to inevitably return to our room to prepare for dinner.
These Virgin cruises always have a crazy party post-dinner, and we attended every one. That first night was filled with dancing and laughter. We returned to our stateroom late, but ready to rise bright and early the next morning for our respective expercises.
I awoke before sunrise morning, before Steph had even stirred, for a yoga session. Having done this on the last cruise, I knew that that the yoga room featured large windows that allowed one to see the sunrise as golden light flooded the room. So I mounted the 35mm f/2, which has become my go-to lens for most occasions, and loaded up some UltraMax before leaving our room. The day was much cloudier than I'd hoped. But the view of Key West, our first port of call, as the sun rose slowly over the horizon was still quite beautiful.
The yoga started easy and quickly advanced into more challenging poses. I had worked up a sweat by the time we were finished. Not wanting to waste the morning, I went to the top deck to get some cardio in. There's a nice track up there that allows for some pretty nice vistas.
The morning had gotten much grayer. I made a few exposures as I walked along the track, but ultimately decided that the flat lighting would lead to photos that I wasn't going to be happy with and decided to call it.
By that time Steph had finished with her morning work out so we met up for breakfast. We decided as we typically do when Key West is a port of call, to stay on the ship. As native Floridians, Key West is just a few hours drive from us in Miami. While we don't visit Key West often, we've been plenty of times and don't feel the need to explore it. Plus, all our favorite Key West activities begin after nightfall. So if all we'd be doing is eating and drinking, well we've already paid for our food and drinks aboard the ship.
After breakfast we decided to change into our bathing suits and hit the pool. Each pool on a Virgin cruise has a bar close enough to step out of the pool and be within ordering distance from the bartender. So we got ourselves a couple of margaritas and sat in the shallow end. However, due to the overcast skies, the weather was uncharacteristically cool. We quickly moved over to the hot tub where the heat of the water was balanced with the cool air on our chest and shoulders.
While the majority of my personal and travel photos have become serene landscapes and minimalistic compositions with a focus on nature and architecture, I still love portraiture. Particularly making portraits of my family and friends. So when Steph was looking as lovely as ever in her Virgin Voyages red bathing suit, I had to make the portrait.
These sorts of contextual portraits are my favorite. While I do like the art of tightly composed portraits with short telephoto lenses, like the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 and 105mm f/2.5, I much prefer wide angle portraits. Longer lenses are more flattering for portrait work. However, if you know how far and where to position yourself with a wide angle lens, portraits with context become really fun. They allow a photographer to put their subject in a place and time. So for someone like me who makes photos largely to remember events, places, and people (something I've written about here), these sorts of portraits are powerful.
Finding Good Light
I didn't make too many photos that second day of the cruise due to the cloudiness. I didn't want dull, flat photos to commemorate this trip. I cared less about making nice pictures that day and more about enjoying the amenities on the ship, eating delicious food, and imbibing strong drinks.
The next day, however, a day at sea, was a totally different story. I again awoke bright and early for yoga, but by the time I'd finished it was clear we were going to have the weather we all hoped for. The skies were blue, with only a few clouds, and the water was clear, providing a gorgeous contrast with the sky as a backdrop for photos. Excitedly, I went back to our room for my camera and Steph and I decided we'd meet up again for coffee and breakfast in a about an hour.
When you're a photographer, finding good light is exciting. I remember what Christmas felt like as a young boy. Finding good light is just about on that level. Suddenly scenes that seemed unexciting and uninteresting are appealing and pleasing to the eye.
I tried not to replicate too many of the pictures I'd made on the last cruise. And while this was a different ship, the aesthetic and layout was nearly identical. So I used some of my favorite frames, the ones I thought really worked from those rolls I shot two years go, as inspiration and tried new takes on them.
Like using the red of these binoculars as a contrasting subject against the blue backdrop. This led to me thinking about my compositions more carefully and getting creative.
To give an idea of how important good light is, how much it makes a difference, I'll present two identical pictures with the only difference being quality of light. They were both made at roughly the same time and from roughly the same place. Using the distance marks on the track you can see that I was pretty consistent with my placement of these two. The first of these was made on the second day with the overcast skies and flat light. The second of these was made on the third day, with gorgeous early morning light. The sun was no longer rising and giving the litany of soft pastel colors that Caribbean sunrises are known for, but it was hanging low in the sky, giving a softer light than the harsh midday sun. The second of these is obviously superior in every way. There is more depth to the image and separation of the various elements. The track, railing, and glass panes all become distinct elements on their own instead of meshing into one dull blob of color. The stark difference between the sea and sky is also an important element, breaking up what might otherwise be a monotonous background with visual interest. It is a marked improvement over the previous exposure.
I didn't spend all day with my camera. The goal of this cruise, after all, was to celebrate Steph's birthday. But I didn't rush through my morning photo walk. I was really feeling the vibe. And because it was early enough that the deck was still fairly empty, finding compositions that showed the quiet solitude I was after was an easy task.
In the end, all the exposures I made that morning were ones I was very pleased with once I got my scans from Palm Film Lab here in Miami. This too, is a rather under-appreciated aspect of photography. Just as important as finding good light is finding a good lab that will process your film perfectly. And part of that process is how the film is scanned. I love how Palm interprets my negatives. I always get back exactly what I wanted.
Bimini Beach Bumming
Our fourth day, and last port of call, saw us return to Bimini Beach Club, Virgin Voyages private beach in the Bahamas. This location has something for everyone. The cabanas are luxurious, the beach is serene, and the pool is exciting. Like a scene out of MTV's spring break, the pool area, where the many bars are located, is a party the likes exist in very few places outside Bimini Beach Club.
Last time I was here I made some great party pictures, but it was the quiet seascapes that really resonated with me after I got my film back. One of them would go on to be selected for LFI's Mastershot gallery, which I wrote about here. So I was most looking forward to a quiet walk along the beach, possibly while Steph inevitably napped on a lounge chair by the pool.
This time around it was no different. The calm and quiet of the beach provided me with some of my favorite photos of the trip. I walked for about a mile before turning around and heading about a mile in the opposite direction of where I started, all while Steph caught some z's by the pool.
When I had brought my Leica R4S with me two years prior, I had loaded it with CineStill 50D. I am glad I did so then because the color palette is different from UltraMax. CineStill 50D leans towards softer pastel colors, while UltraMax is more saturated and contrasty, while still being subtle in its color rendition. That alone gave me photos that look different from before. And the experience of shooting the Nikon F3 versus the Leica R4S is worlds apart. The Leica R cameras are fantastic, truly great cameras, but The F3 has no competition from any other SLR...ever.
I spent the time I wanted to on the beach, but when I returned, Steph was still knocked out. I didn't want to wake her, so I decided to keep shooting. I wandered around all of Bimini Beach Club, exploring areas I had not visited on our last trip. I found a few seascapes that I had not seen before. I also found a whole world of minimalistic scenes that had gone unnoticed previously. These, unsurprisingly, were my favorite photos of the rolls I shot.
I employed different compositional techniques depending on the scene. But always these compositions were simple and focused on drawing attention to the few elements nestled into these minimalist frames.
For many of these I used portrait orientation rather than landscape orientation. Since I started shooting weddings two years ago, I have been preferring this sort of image orientation. Many years ago I balked at portrait orientation. I thought that if we were supposed to shoot that way then cameras wouldn't need to be turned over to accomplish it. Where I am today, however, is that while I default to portrait orientation, I will use whatever best suits my compositional needs. And it just so happens that the majority of these shots were most interesting to me with a vertical draw to the subject, using negative space as a way to balance the minimalist subjects that took up much of the frame. What it gave me were some of my favorite travel photos I've ever made. Simple, elegant, and yet still entirely documentary of where we visited.
Final Focus
The Nikon F3 is fast replacing the Leica M3 as my favorite travel companion camera. And with good reason. While my love for the M3 has not diminished, the F3 accomplishes something that takes extra steps with the M3: confidence. With the M3 I often read light by eye and shoot from the gut. There's definitely a place for this. But in situations in which I am not certain of how my eye has read the light, I have to pull out and external light meter to ensure I haven't underexposed my scene. This can complicate an experience that should be quite simple. And for most situations I would just err on the side of caution and overexpose what I think I'm reading. But when I'm traveling and may not get another chance to make such photos for a long time, if ever again, well I want to be sure.
The F3 has allowed all that to take place inside it's viewfinder, which is deadly accurate. Sure it requires a battery to fire it's shutter at anything other than the sole 1/60 mechanical speed. But how often do we need to change those? And they're small enough that you can always take some spares with you should they die on you mid trip.
The other reason the F3 is fast usurping the throne of the M3 is that it's viewfinder has 100% coverage with a x0.75 magnification, meaning that no matter what lens I mount I will always see the entire image that will make it into the frame and I can see the entire viewfinder even with my glasses. It cannot be overstated how incredible this is as a glasses wearer. It is sometimes the difference between nailing the shot, which can be troublesome on occasion with the precise framing I do with these symmetrical minimalist frames, and beating yourself up because you missed it by that much (to be read in the inimitable voice of Don Adams as Agent Maxwell Smart).
We have three more trips scheduled for this summer. We will be spending the week of July 4th on the west coast of Florida in Ft. Myers (something of an annual homage for us), followed by a week in Orlando visiting Universal's Epic Universe, and finally a week and a half in Europe. The F3 will be with me perpetually as my travel companion. Together with my Ray-Ban glasses, 70's era A-2 bomber jacket, and 90's era Omega Seamaster, it has become something I can't travel without. It's dependability and ease of ability to let me make exactly the photo I see with my eyes is like no other. For now, however, I'll continue to be glad that I chose the F3 to document Steph's birthday cruise.
More Caribbean Cruise Photos
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