I found this beauty, pre-trip while doing research of cool photography spots around Miami Beach. I almost always research photo spots before traveling. Anyway, I found this guy and put him on my “Photo Wish List”. I did something at this spot that I don’t think I’ve ever done. I went back to this spot three different times in 30 hours, trying to photograph it in the best light. This first time I went, it was late in the afternoon and all I got was reflections off the glass from the sun, which I should have thought about in advance. The second time was right before sunrise the next morning, when I captured this photo. I couldn’t stay as long as I wanted (I was hoping to capture it closer to sunrise), but security ran me off. So, I thought I missed an opportunity and probably didn’t get any good photos. Therefore, I went back again later that day right before sunset, hoping to capture a good shot. I used polarizing filters, wide angle lens, zoom lens, and many other technics to minimize the glare off the glass. Turns out the best time was this shot before sunrise. At least that was the best shot I captured, I’m sure a better photographer would have captured this better all three times.

Note: Artist Damien Hirst created this with a real mammoth skeleton, gold PVD covered stainless steel, powder-coated steel, rubber and gold leaf. You don’t see many Mammoth Skeletons in many hotels….but they have one at the Faena Hotel Miami Beach.