One of my favorite projects to date was photographing an island about nine miles west of Key West. The 26-acre property featured a Sheffield Steel main house, a guest house used by the property manager, and a grounded houseboat. This was before drones were available, so I headed to the Key West Airport and caught a quick flight over, snapping photos along the way. After a walkthrough, the helicopter pilot flew back, leaving me behind to get to work.
After a few hours shooting the property, the manager met me at the dock for a 20-minute boat ride back to the port of Key West.
Ballast Key had a cameo in the Bond film License to Kill and was a favorite escape for the man many called “Mr. Key West.” Over the years, he hosted guests like Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, the Bee Gees, Gloria Estefan, and the occasional Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Mellon, or Duke.
Eventually, he donated the island to The Nature Conservancy, which transferred ownership to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service while retaining management of the resource.
