I didn’t plan to shoot tonight. The rain hit hard around 8pm, turned the streets into one long reflection, and suddenly the idea of staying inside felt like wasting light. So the camera came out of the bag and the battery went from “save it for later” to “let’s see how far this goes.”
Brickell after a storm feels like a sci-fi set — taxi taillights stretching into red ribbons, towers blinking in the clouds, and puddles pretending to be infinity pools. You don’t have to walk far. One block can be six different frames if you’re patient enough to let the traffic cycle and the crosswalk clear.
Most of these were shot just above street level, letting the foreground stay messy on purpose: curb lines, grates, whatever trash the rain didn’t wash away. The city already knows how to look clean. The fun part is letting the chaos stay in the corners while the neon does the heavy lifting in the middle.
By the time the battery blinked red, the streets were already drying up, taking the reflections with them. That’s the entire point of nights like this — the good frames only exist for a little bit. You either go outside for them, or you scroll past someone else’s version later.
This set lives here as a reminder: if it rains and the city lights are still on, don’t overthink it. Grab the camera, keep the kit small, and go walk the block.