Hired to photograph a 3-day conference in Miami Beach, Florida, I jumped at the chance to escape Canadian winter and go somewhere warm. It was January, -20c, and ice covered everything. Hotel, car rental, and travel expenses were covered as part of the conference deal. Standard. I added return flights for Nikki at my own expense. And we made 3-days into a week.
Driving across the border to Buffalo, we then flew to Fort Lauderdale. After the conference I pried Nikki from the luxury spa with my credit card, and with 64Gb of video footage and photos in the can we jumped in the rental and headed for Hollywood Beach. I rented a place overlooking the Atlantic coast, aiming to take a couple days to unwind and recoup. I was recovering from my stroke, 3 short months earlier, and that conference had taken a lot. I refuse to slow down. I only have one gear: Balls out. Frankly, I am an idiot. But I deliver. When I say I will get things done, I will get things done. Bet on it.
I also had a yearning to swim in the Atlantic again, being at heart still a Brit. But this time, it was above freezing and I could remove some clothing. Clad only in T-shirt and trunks, I fulfilled my goal of swimming the Atlantic on both sides. English and American coasts. I will note, it’s not easy swimming any ocean with one working arm and one working leg. But I did it. I have video to prove it. Nikki, recording from the shore, can be heard wondering if I was going to make it back to shore. I, of course, had no doubts. I stayed within my comfort zone. Which was, admittedly, further than some others on the beach not recovering from a stroke. But hey… that’s them. This is me. I was at ease. I may be an idiot, but I’m not stupid. 🙂
After a night eating, drinking, and singing “Seven Bridges Road” (Nikki made me promise never to post that video, but I like to watch it) we danced with strangers on the boardwalk outside our bar. Grandparents, parents, kids dancing with grandparents. No alcohol. Families just out to have fun walking the boardwalk, together. That is a great memory, too. We went back to our room and slept the sleep of the “We earned thi…”. Honestly, it was a wonderful evening. Most of the people we met? Also tourists. Take whatever meaning from that you will.
This Photo
This photo was taken at sunrise from the balcony roof of our Hollywood Beach residence. I rose around silly o’clock, as I had planned. After setting up the camera, lens, tripod, I was joined by Nikki in time to see the sun rise together. We joined hands and watched, as I monitored the camera screen and took photos. I have dozens. Different compositions, changing lighting, technical stuff. Nikki just let me drop her hand and work. I was in the zone and did not want to miss a second. She knew that. And just smiled as I got on with it. She let me roll. Patiently. Enjoying watching me being me. Being happy.
After taking this and oh, so many other photos, I was replete. One more item checked off the bucket list. An Atlantic sunrise. Rather than (being from the UK) an Atlantic sunset. I packed up the camera, lens, tripod. We had breakfast. Loaded the rental. Checked out. And drove. The Everglades. Cape Canaveral. Discovery Cove, where we swam with Dolphins. So many places. So many memories. But this one… this silent moment holding hands at sunrise… this one stands out. This. The moments behind the camera. Those uncaptured moments. The memories the photos bring. Those are sometimes the best.
This is why people take photographs.