Back in the summer of 2003, Crystal Cruises hired me to shoot their newest ship Serenity as it sailed from Lisbon to Sorrento. Since I was already in Belgium for the summer, I flew to the ship on Virgin Express for an amazingly cost-effective 199 euros round trip. It turned out to be one of my most memorable shoots to date.
Of the 80 final images delivered to the client, one of the nicest has to be the balcony of the Crystal Penthouse, an $18,000/week private residence located midship on the 11th deck (a 24-hour butler is free with purchase).
We had already shot the typical residential angles: foyer, bed, bath and dining, but when I took a walk out on the teak balcony (or veranda as they say in the cruise business), I just had to shoot it. And since the Mediterranean was especially calm that evening, we decided on a long-exposure dusk shot.
Shooting film back then, we loaded my favorite Fuji Reala negative and did multiple 10-second exposures as the soft blue ambient light went dark.
My camera, the legendary Hasselblad 903SWC (pictured left), was my all-time favorite until I sold it to help pay for my digital equipment not too long after this balcony shot was taken.I could probably go on and on about how much I loved this camera...still miss it dearly...it was my best friend, etc...but that would make me a scary photo geek so I will spare you, dear blog reader.
The shot went largely un-discovered in the Crystal Image Library until just a few months ago when they added it to their current print campaign as seen in Virtuoso Life magazine's gatefold above.
Better late than never.
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