I must confess that up until a couple of Februarys ago I had never been in Miami, except for some stop-overs on longer journies. Last year however, I did finally have the opportunity to get into town for a few hours. I was there on other business, which pretty much consumed the entire three days. Nonetheless, with a little finagling I was able to put together about three hours of shooting time.
It has always been a frustrating experience for me to find myself in a place I have always wanted to shoot but then have just a few hours to do it. My usual approach, if I don’t have specific destinations in mind, is to just start traipsing around in the most likely spots. Before hand I try to check out the picture postcards on sale in the lobby for what those spots might be. My aim is to get at least one “iconic” photo of the locale if possible, but in the end I’ll be happy with whatever I can get.
This time I was there in the season of clouds and rain, although the temperature stayed in the benign mid-80s. The absence of blue skies is not what one usually associates with the typical Miami photo.
So here’s what happened:
The Atrium of the Grand Hotel and Condominium
This was the view from my floor of the establishment in which I stayed. I’m off to a good start when I can grab something right out the door (or window) of my room!
The Neighbors
View towards North Bay, Miami
Now I start my walk:
The Miami River
When walking around downtown Miami, the architecture is definitely what imposes itself upon you. The image below was the view just to the right of where I took the one above.
Rear entrance to a condo
Downtown, Looking Up
Decorum (detail of “Male Torso, by Colombian sculptor Fernando Boltero)
An office window on Biscayne Blvd
Most cities, if not all, have a certain prevailing “feel” in almost everything that is built within their borders that reflects their character. Miami certainly does and what it is could be summed up in big, bold, solid color.
Most of the photos above were taken in a two-hour window we had before getting back to the airport. No matter what your time constraints are, just grab your camera, open your eyes, and go for a walk!
35,000 Feet
I still had some digits left in the camera for this spectacular sunset, somewhere over and between Florida and Texas.
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David Ryan Photography 