20 Frames on the Space Coast with Lomochrome Turquoise

In the Spring of 2023, I traveled for work to Coco Beach, Florida, which is situated on some barrier islands. It’s not really a fun trip (though I do love my co-workers) since it’s an early-morning, all-day, wait-and-see-what-gets-delayed kind of trip. Typically I arrive late Sunday night, then attend a 2-3 day meeting at Patrick Space Force Base and get back home asap. I’ve taken film cameras with me on these work trips in the past and gotten some interesting shots but usually my schedule doesn’t have much free time.

This time around I arrived a day early and went to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex near Cape Canaveral, northwest of all the working launchpads. Port Canaveral is a working port just south of the launchpad complex and is a popular embarkation spot for cruise ships going to the Caribbean. As you continue south on the only north-south road, you’ll quickly find yourself in Coco Beach, known for being the home of the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame and the Ron Jon Surf Shop. Oddly enough, Coco Beach is also home to The Wizard of Oz Museum which displays a collection of over 2000 originals props and artifacts from the movie. I’ve never been in there, myself, but I’ll make time on one of these trips.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is an interesting place. The drive from Coco Beach takes one over the Banana River and through a swampy lagoon-ward part of the island, past a series of commercial lanchpads. The familiar space shuttle boosters and orange tank are visible a ways before you arrive at the parking lot. There are two buildings that house the majority of the indoor exhibits. The larger one sits underneath the signature shuttle boosters and fuel tank and is built around an actual space shuttle suspended between the 1st and 2nd floors. It is quite spectacular! Unfortunately it was too dark for my camera inside. The exhibits are crammed into every available space around the shuttle and are a bit chaotic, but very cool. And most everything, of course, is kid-friendly.

I brought a Minolta AF-C and loaded it with Lomochrome Turquoise. This AF-C has been around the world with me and is always dependable. It’s got the classic 80s clamshell design for protection, a sharp 35mm f2.8 lens and it’s auto-everything (except for the manual advance/rewind function, which I prefer). It is a contemporary of the Olympus XA series and shares the separate flash unit design, though I don’t use it much. I might do a review of this fine camera as I don’t see one on 35mmc, but at the same time I don’t want to put it on anyone’s radar. Maybe I’ll buy a few more and THEN review it.

Anyway, to the pictures. The Lomo Turquoise turned out to be a great choice as these color-swapped emulsions love sunlight and just tend to go black in the shadows. Midday sun makes for some pretty stark shadows so you’ll see that here. Regardless, I really enjoyed how these came out. I hope you will too.

Thanks for reading. Cheers!

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