LUCEO photographer Kendrick Brinson and I touched down in Jamaica on a piercingly sunny day in a balmy 84 degrees. Our shoot the next day took us to the quiet town of Lucea where we had a commissioned shoot at a five-star resort the following day. As dusk turned into night I asked my inseparable partner in life and love to marry me in a pool under a faux Greek colonnade. Fortunately Ms. Brinson (and yes, remaining Brinson) said yes or the rest of the trip may have been a bit awkward.
The next few days took us from a wonderful shoot with a great client to an adventure through the streets of downtown and uptown Montego Bay to a rooftop bar accessible via the back door of a small convenience store and up a narrow dark cinder-block stairwell which overlooked the bustling half-mile street market. With our minds on visual overload we narrowly avoided conflict when held up at knife-point, escaping unscathed and with cameras still in tow fortunately. The very next morning we hopped in the hatch-back of our slightly sketchy new friend’s brother (or cousin, or friend, depending on what time of day he mentioned it) to head up through the mountains and down a bumpy dirt road to a marijuana plantation. After a sweltering hike up a small mountainside to take it all in the breeze on the ride home felt cooler. After we arrived back at our humble motel room that afternoon we decided perhaps it was time to act like regular tourists and spend the remaining day on the beach with a cool drink in hand – we figured we had earned it.
kfinn
May 11th, 2011, 12:38 pm #
I’d call this a successful trip! congratulations!
kathleen
May 11th, 2011, 12:52 pm #
what an amazing life y’all share — so much beauty and love and grit and adventure, all told through your photos. looks like another excellent trip! best wishes to y’all, and thanks as always for sharing with your readers.
Stephen M. Barrett
May 11th, 2011, 4:52 pm #
First of all my congratulations on the question and of course the answer. What in the world took so long?
This is an incredible group of images, beautiful. Please tell me how you got the farmers to allow you to shoot. You got some kuhana’s kid, I love it. SMB
ps WELL DONE!
Nick Strite
May 12th, 2011, 2:19 am #
Congratulations and great work!
David Walter Banks
May 12th, 2011, 10:40 am #
Thanks all – I appreciate the comments. And Stephen, the farmer’s were surprisingly open, but we pulled up in a sketchy hatchback driven by someone he knew which I’m sure helped.
David Walter Banks
May 12th, 2011, 10:40 am #
Thanks all – I appreciate the comments. And Stephen, the farmer was surprisingly open, but we pulled up in a sketchy hatchback driven by someone he knew which I’m sure helped.
Laura Spradling
May 12th, 2011, 12:01 pm #
Congratulations!!
The photos you took are amazing. You are really talented. Philip and I are very much looking forward to our trip to Jamaica next month to get married and stay for our honeymoon.
Cause for concern…you were held up at knife point?! How can we avoid that?!
PS…this is Jennifer’s sister not just some random person…family in a round-a-bout kind of way!!
Andy Gregor
May 12th, 2011, 2:20 pm #
Never a dull moment! I wish you and Kendrick all the best for the future, and your pictures certainly show interesting times.