A combination of winter plus COVID isolation got to me in early January, and I decided it was time to plan a trip. This year’s vacation would be different. It would be in the United States given that the restrictions on foreign travel added too many obstacles to an already burdensome process. I also had a certificate for two nights at The Confidante, Miami Beach, Florida, which I won with my gold medal in the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) competition last year. So we decided to tick an item off the bucket list and drive from Miami to Key West. I booked the tickets to Miami, booked the seaplane to the Dry Tortugas, and selected our hotel in Key West. In the back of my head, I am always thinking about what cameras to bring and what film I intended to shoot. With all the pastels of the buildings in the Art Deco district in Miami and the greens of the palms and faded colors of the ocean-worn buildings, I settled on Fuji Pro 400H. I put a good quantity of film, both 35mm and 120 in my shopping cart, waiting to pull the trigger after sleeping on it. The next day, Fuji announced the immediate discontinuation of 400H. I quickly tried to place orders, which were ultimately cancelled, and prices shot up on eBay. Fortunately, The Find Lab came through with the 120 I needed for this project, and I was ready to take this final trip to bid farewell to one of my favorite films.
Our film is back from the lab and if you follow me on Instagram, you’ve begun to see the images. We spent two nights in Miami Beach at The Confidante, then drove down to the Keys, spending three nights at Casa Marina Key West. I took the Canon 1v with the Canon 14mm f/2.8 II, the Canon 24mm f/1.4 II, the Canon 50mm f/1.2, and the Canon 135mm f/2. I also brought the Mamiya 6 with the 50mm f/4 lens, and the Olympus XA-4. My only disappointment is that I inadvertently slid the ISO switch on the XA-4 and horribly underexposed the roll in that camera, ruining those shots but learning a valuable lesson. I’m really happy with the rest of the shots, so follow along with our posts from Miami Beach to Key West: Miami Beach, Miami’s Historic Art Deco District, The Confidante Miami Beach, and our photo tour of Key West!
