Morning Commute

Well, not quite, but it feels that way sometimes.

The sands of Playa Cancun ahead and the city and main hotel zone in the distance.

This is my sixth time this year and I have no idea how many times it's been over the years. Never tire of it though. I used to live here many, many years ago and it still feels like home, even now.

You win some, you lose some

This is the 14th floor pool deck of the Icon Brickell complex in Miami, looking out over Biscayne Bay.

Three buildings form around it on the north, south and west sides, leaving the open view you see here facing east. The buildings to be seen are on Brickell Key a small island just offshore. Each of the three Icon buildings are more than 50 floors, offering magnificent views of the bay, Miami River and downtown.

The Viceroy Hotel occupied the west building until it was acquired in June 2016 and changed to a W. I shot it and this picture in 2010 when it was Viceroy managed.

I loved this pool deck and watched the sunrise from it more than a few times.

So what?

Well, the damn thing leaks and had been found to be structurally unsound. The residents of Icon Brickell and the new owners of the hotel tower (an arm of the government of Qatar) have to cough up $14.4 million dollars to fix it. The fix will also take well over a year during which time there will be no pool deck and ongoing construction noise as it is shored up from all sides.

The lawsuits are flying, not at the talented architects at Arquitectonica and Phillipe Starck's firm Yoo, who designed the buildings, but at the contractor.

It's going to be a mess. Such a shame.

Here's the thing - it's not all about you

At least it shouldn't be.

I recently read a travel piece in the New York Times by a writer named Freda Moon. Whining and self-indulgent, the piece has all of the charm of a warm Chardonnay. The basic ingredient had potential, but the manner of serving is all wrong. How Ms Moon convinced the Old Gray Lady to publish this is beyond me.

The title of the piece is, "Bringing a Destination Wedding Within a Family's Reach". not a bad premise for a nuts and bolts service article in the "how to" fashion, but Ms Moon's piece gives no insight how to accomplish this and instead focuses on her own self-induced travails and they're not very interesting at that.

When Clay Felker was Editor of New York magazine he championed "New Journalism", where the writer injects themselves in to the piece they are writing and becomes a significant part of the story. Tom Wolf and Hunter S. Thompson were let loose on the world and for writers of their talent the story became better for it. Ms Moon has no such gift.

Currently, the Scottish writer Andrew O'Hagan does this brilliantly with his travel essays, as does Lawrence Osborne, the English writer. I assume that Ms moon is not from the British Isles. Nor is she Dervla Murphy, the swashbuckling Irish writer who dragged her young daughter across Madagascar and wrote it up in a book called, Muddling Through In Madagascar - a highly recommended read.

Travel writing relies upon observation and anecdote and it takes a good raconteur or skilled writer to interest us enough to care. Ms Moon's petty tribulations bored the shit out of me. Starbucks has made billions by not serving you a cup of coffee, but by giving you an experience that's all about you, and Freda Moon and her ilk lap the attention up and regurgitate this as a way of life.

The cod's wallop that was served up in this offending piece was about attending a friend's wedding in Punta Mita, Mexico, with baby and husband in tow. Punta Mita is a pricey enclave just north of Puerto Vallarta. I've worked there and know it quite well so I was interested in reading the article. Our poor scribe couldn't afford the rates at Punta Mita so they took cheap digs down the road. Thankfully I was spared stories of tarantulas in the bed and lizards in the shower, but I did get the tale of her baby soiling it's diaper as the Lyft driver arrived to take them to the airport in San Francisco.

On that omen she should have taken the hint, stayed at home and made up an excuse for the New York Times because the article became no better as I toiled through one laborious, self-indulgent sentence after another. The writer's observations of her location were few and shallow and the prose was mundane. I'd advise her to keep the day job but I fear this may be it.

Serviceable travel writing is fairly straightforward, here's where to go and what to do sort of thing. Good travel writing is hard to come by and ranks high on the literary scale for me. Actually, Lawrence Osborne claims that he has turned his back on it these days to pursue fiction because travel writing is really from another era.

I think I know what he means and if I may expand on that thought: Good travel writing is losing an audience in these times of pre-packaged trips to an all-inclusive, tweeting at every opportunity in-between taking Selfies and posting cell phone shots of everything that comes your way on Instagram.

The more travel marketers use terms like experiential and authentic, the less it becomes so.

Pity, but there are still dinosaurs like me- and O'Hagan - who can appreciate a good yarn well told and seek to inject some depth into creative endeavor.

Litbu, Punta Mita

Mayakoba Magic

Forty minutes south of Cancun and ten minutes north of Playa Del Carmen, Mayakoba is several hundred acres of jungle, mangrove swamps, man made canals, a golf course and three (soon to be four) gorgeous resorts. A gorgeous beach with turquoise waters tops it off.

Fairmont was the first and was soon followed by Rosewood (pictured above) and then Banyan tree. Hyatt Andaz is scheduled to open by the end of 2016.

This was my third time in nine years and it's as good as the first day I laid eyes on it. Owned by Spanish developer OHL, who have sensitively developed the land, with the addition of the canals and little streams, all of which are man made, they have created a nature preserve among the wetlands of the mangroves. Myriads of birds - you should see the size of the Great Blue Heron - deer, coati, raccoons, crocodiles, iguanas and mammals of all kinds are to be seen throughout the day.

The larger canals connect the three resorts, while the numerous streams are within each resort and allow one to watch the cormorants dive for fish while sitting on your patio or terrace. It's a great way to have morning coffee and watch the sun slowly rise over the trees.

Electric powered boats, like the one above, ply visitors to and fro and many of the casitas have their own private dock for water taxi service if you prefer it to the golf cart shuttle service available at all of the resorts.

Highly recommended and don't forget to bring a camera!

Grand Hyatt, Playa Del Carmen.

The recently opened Grand Hyatt is right in the middle of the bustle on 5th Avenue, the main shopping, dining and place to be seen street in Playa.

It's also a block long and stretches out to the beach. Distinctive, modern architecture set it apart and certainly raise the bar in the area known for its local boutiques, cafes and shops. From cheap T shirt shops to Cartier and Mont Blanc, they're all there on Avenida Cinco.

I work in the Riviera Maya and around Playa about three or four times a year and have developed a taste for Playa, which I first of all quite disliked. Resorts on the Riviera Maya are relaxing and tranquil while Playa is busy, very busy. Traffic is a hodgepodge of everything imaginable and no one seems to know what a stop sign is. Parking is almost impossible - unless you know of my secret spot. It took a long time to find so I'm not telling.

Aside from that, it's full of real characters, both tourist and local and there's never a dull moment.

Thanks to Braulio and the rest of the folks at Hyatt who made it a pleasure. The above is sunrise at the infinity pool, overlooking the ocean.

Cancun

I know, I know.

Cancun, Riviera Maya. Riviera Maya, Cancun. What can I say? It's a very busy place. Tourist arrivals and new resort building keep going up and up.

This was brand new - Excellence in Playa Mujeres, north of Cancun and the hotel zone, directly facing it's namesake, Isla Mujeres.

Before all of this development started, I was in Isla Mujeres. No ferries in those days, just fishermen who would take you over for a few pesos. There was only one hotel and a lot of smuggling of electronics it seemed. Late at night I watched fishing boats swinging their booms and big nets over the dock to unload the day's catch . . . . . . large boxes labeled Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic etc. The Honda motorcycles weren't in boxes!

I switched to Sony many years ago because of their lovely Zeiss lenses, but this was the first time I had used an E mount mirrorless for a job. While they produce lovely files, I miss a bright, optical viewfinder. Electronic viewfinders just aren't up to snuff. Especially for work in bright sun and this old man's eyes. Having to hold a camera away from my body in order to see anything just has the wrong feeling about it.

Riviera Maya

I decided to add a few entries in order to catch up - while I'm in the mood and have the time.

Just north of Playa Del Carmen and next to Mayakoba is Blue Diamond, formerly the Mandarin Oriental, the last time I was there in 2008.

Lush and dense landscaping contrast the smooth and sparse exteriors of the Casitas dotted around the grounds. Mine had a stream behind and I watched from my patio as the Cormorants fished for food every day.

Mi Casa

Mea Culpa

 

I've been remiss in adding new work to this site for a long time. Way too long.

 

So, I'll try to make it up with the lovely Four Seasons in Scottsdale, shown below. The Sonoran desert in July isn't anybody's first choice and this is the second time I've shot in Scottsdale in the middle of summer. Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, wrote Noel Coward. While I'm guilty of the second, he could have also added photographers shooting resorts in the off season. Only makes sense folks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classic Adobe architectural styling in the middle of the Sonoran desert about 40 minutes out of town and around the corner to Troon North golf course, which has stunning topography and landscaping. I keep promising myself to shoot there but never have.

 

On the way back, I actually had the joy of getting goosed by a TSA agent at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. Something about my groin area in the body scan they said as I was sent over for the full experience of having a man in uniform rub his hands all over me. He was very efficient and polite though and I only giggled a couple of times. Noel Coward would have appreciated the irony.

Goodbye Harmon Hotel

MGM have finally been allowed to demolish the Foster + Partners designed, Harmon Hotel at City Center, Las Vegas.

 

The subject of endless and expensive lawsuits after the structure was found to have construction defects, it will soon be a goner. The builder wanted to "fix it" and MGM would have none of it. Foster has been silent.

 

It will be dismantled, floor by floor, rather than imploded. So, if you're staying at the nearby Aria, Vdara or the Cosmo, be prepared for endless noise and disruption. For "The city that never sleeps", it will be another reason to be awake all night that's got nothing to do with the Cosmo's nightclub or pool scene. Sigh.

 

It's a pity. I rather like it, yet it has sat vacant and never used for some years now while the lawyers went at it. Something had to happen and finally a judge said it could.

 

 

 

 





From the mouth of flickr

"with so many people taking photographs there’s really no such thing as professional photographers anymore."

Courtesy of Marissa Mayer, Grand Poobah of Yahoo - that's a Gilbert and Sullivan term, look it up.

Well, blow me down. She's either such a visionary that this is beyond my comprehension, or she's so  arrogant that this doesn't even qualify as stupid.

If this had come from the lads at Google, I might be pissed but it would give me pause. But to come from "also ran" Yahoo, it strikes me as a bit rich.

I can only presume that as a new mother, Ms Mayer is undergoing a metamorphisis and is in the process of becoming an Oracle - nothing to do with Larry Ellison, but a Greek one.

Breakfast companions of the day

My breakfast plate about ten seconds after I got up and started to walk away.

We're in the Riviera Maya where the locals call these little guys, "qwate", that's the phonetic spelling. I looked them up and couldn't find anything. They look like a cross between a Raccoon and a Lemur and they're highly skilled at begging.


Guess I'll have to get a bigger plate tomorrow.

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo San Lucas last month. High up on the cliffs leaning over the bridge which connected the "upper" resort to the "lower" resort down at the beach. Not bad for a guy with vertigo.

I pulled out the old trusty Mamiya 645 for this one and decided on a Phase One P25 back. While I also have the larger, P45+, I thought that  22 megapixels was enough for this.

The first time I worked in Cabo was about 25 years ago and there were about 5 or 6 hotels. A lot has changed since then. According to the local map there are 50 resorts along the shore from Lands End to the airport. That's a lot of beds.

This was the first time I've ever been dinged for having too many cameras and I had to donate $80 to the Mexican government for ]import duties. Not bad, I guess and Customs were polite and apologetic. Everyone's got a job to do, no hard feelings from me.

In between allowing time for security, the flight time and the time difference, I had been travelling for 12 hours by the time I went to get my rental car. A less than speedy hour later I was on my way, in the middle of the night, down the dark highway that snaked through the desert into San Jose. I could hardly keep my eyes open I was so tired and was relieved to see a lighted toll booth ahead to break the monotony.

When I pulled up to the attendant and rolled down the window I could see and smell smoke coming from the rear of the car. "Is your parking break on?" he asked. Oops. Thirty pesos toll and take the first right to Cabo, along the shore road.

Now it was all fast moving traffic as I wizzed by endless franchises and new buildings into Cabo. It was amazing how peppier the car was with the parking break off. [wince]. Once in the old section of town I, of course, took a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the cliffs. I was staring at the Pacific and wanted to be on the bay side facing the Sea of Cortez. From my high vantage point I could see where I wanted to go, right by the Navy Docks at the marina. But I was facing the wrong way at a one way street. To hell with it and I took a chance, hoping I wouldn't meet anyone on the narrow road or see the Police. I was already practising my "I'm just a lost tourist, I'm sorry" speech when the road ended and there I was at the marina. I turned right and I was at Lands End, the very bottom of Baja California.

I pulled into the hotel and finding I was the first to arrive I gratefully was ushered to my room quickly and flopped. I woke at 3 a.m., fully dressed, laying in bed with all of the room lights on and my iPhone clutched in my hand.

The balcony doors were wide open and the cool desert breeze was wafting the curtains backwards and forwards. Sunrise was in three hours and I needed to be ready. Ugh!

Getty Images

For all those who think that you can make a living in Stock Photography these days. Read it and weep.



Getty Images has sent you this notification.
The following payment has been remitted:

Payment Number:	64719
Payment Date:	25-MAR-2013
Payment Currency:	USD
Payment Amount:	0.92

Invoice Number	Invoice Date	Discount Taken	Amount Paid
NS:877450	31-JAN-2013		0.92

Sign of the Times

As a frustrated, and currently inactive writer, I often lament the passing of long-form journalism and use it as my excuse for inactivity.

Then, out of the blue, the "Old Grey Lady" publishes an astonishing piece online that not only revives the form, but redefines it for modern times by including video and stills, in addition to brilliant writing. Could this be the future? I sure hope so.

The piece is about an avalanche - I won't say more because you should read and view it for yourself.

http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-creek

I can't say I read this piece because it is more than that, it is to be experienced. Experience it I did and felt my pulse quicken in awe and with glee.

To paraphrase Dirty Harry, " go ahead, make your day."

You're kidding, right?

Today I received a voice mail from a well known supplier of marketing services to the photo industry.

They have a special promotion on right now "and I'd like to tell you about it". I know of this promotion because I have received two emails about it already. Actually, it didn't sound half bad and I was actually contemplating using this service at such an affordable price. Even at full price I was thinking about them because I just hate doing this.

I know, I know, it has to be done because even the best photographer in the world needs to more than just spread the word through their work. Having someone do it for me removes the cringe factor I would feel inside when doing this "necessary" task. It's not that I look down on this activity, but it's just not me.

Hence the notion of someone doing it for me.

Then I received this voice mail. The people who want to undertake my marketing have Courtney the Valley Girl doing their marketing.

Enough said.

Appointment Notice

I'd be remiss if I didn't introduce the newest member of the team. This is Frances, First Assistant extraordinaire.

Frances is adept with many camera systems, lighting techniques and is a Photoshop wiz. Her production capabilities are not short of logistical genius.

Now, if only she could stop yawning and stay awake long enough to make coffee and answer the phone.

Riviera Maya Resort

Back in the saddle again just south of Cancun. After numerous jobs in the desert this year it feels good to be back in such familiar surroundings.

I'm trying out the Cambo Technical camera with a Phase One back for this and after a bit of fiddling I'm getting the hang of it. This was with a Schneider 35 XL lens and it's lovely.Such rich rendering from the Phase back and the Schneider.

The cruise ship passing by on the horizon was just a lucky beak for this shot, taken from the roof of an adjacent building.

The original processing was in Capture One for the heavy lifting and then with adjustments from Lightroom, and then finally in Photoshop. A lot of work, but worth it I think.

The Cambo forces a very different way of working which I found a bit tedious at first, but you get used to the slow and methodical pace after a while.The results are sure worth it.

The lull before the storm

Three days of weather just like this before Hurricane Isaac came visiting. Then, three days of howling winds, flying debris and monsoon-like rain, and watching more Law & Order reruns than are good for you. Who knew the Weather Girl on Peruvian TV wore a bikini? I do now.

Tofino, B.C.

Far from the desert in this post. Tofino is truly "end of the road", in spirit, as well as physically as far west as you can drive across Canada before falling off into the Pacific and presumably ending up in Japan. At least that's the punch line of a joke by the local surfers. Home to great surf, commercial Salmon fishers, black bear, cougar and a variety of deadbeats and aging hippies who call this place home. I feel right at home with my peers here. This is our third job here in about as many years and the attraction hasn't worn off. Reminds me of Monterey in Steinbeck's day, or at least as I imagine it. We had to cram a lot in during our time here because we arrived two days late after I fell sick thanks to some contaminated chicken at a fast food place in Victoria, the closest international airport, a 6 hour drive away. I spent two days in a local hotel thinking I was going to die, but that was okay, because I really wanted to!Anyway, e coli notwithstanding, everything went well, the weather was as as great as the people and the only Black Bear I saw was as I zoomed by doing about 70. Because of its hippie-haven past and surfer mecca present, Tofino is very Eco friendly and with the plushest resorts to be found on all of Vancouver Island, you can graduate to Eco chic for a mere several hundred dollars a night. Although this little town almost shuts down over the winter, the resorts claim that there is no off season. Winter time with its brutal rain and wind becomes Storm Watching Season and as the heavy weather coming down from the Bering Sea pummels the coast. I'm sure it's spectacular to watch - from the comfort of your ocean view room complete with fireplace, lots of glass and piped-in Sarah McLachlan. The last comment is true, I quite enjoyed it.

Rodeo Drive

I'm normally not one for social commentary, I'll leave that to much more talented people like Sebastio Salgado. I couldn't resist this though. In behind the designer stores on Rodeo Drive is an alley for deliveries and such. This is where the little people deliver merchandise, pick up garbage - all out of site of the shoppers and tourists. This is also where the glue sniffers and the winos go, but we Photoshopped them out - respect their privacy and all - as we also blurred the plates on the cars and the name on the van. Happy shopping.