New sign new photos for the San Mateo Inn in Albuquerque
I really appreciate returning clients, and Yvette, owner of the San Mateo Inn, is one of the ones I appreciate the most. I returned to the San Mateo Inn for a fifth photo shoot! She got a new sign for the inn plus did even more remodeling of some of the rooms, so it was time for updated photos. Just like I did on a previous shoot, I got a daylight and nighttime exterior shot of the hotel with its great looking new sign. No lighting this time though during the night shot! It is always great working with and talking to Yvette. Thank you Yvette for continuing to choose me as your hotel photographer! Check out the new photos on the San Mateo Inn website.
Show your business is Covid-19 Safe with professional photography in Albuquerque New Mexico
WIth many businesses opening back up during the Covid-19 pandemic, proper social distancing practices need to be implemented, and here at Jason Collin Photography I want to help Albuquerque businesses show their customers/clients/patients they are being safe. On my fourth shoot for San Mateo Inn, the owners wanted me to highlight their new curbside check-in process to show a safer way of staying at the hotel during Covid-19. I was really glad to make these photos for one of my best clients, to help them show how they are valuing the safety of their guests by offering curbside check-in. Going forward into the summer of 2020, this is one of my main focuses, to help businesses in Albuquerque promote their new Covid-19 safe business practices with professional photography they can use on social media and on their websites to show that they are in fact back open, and being safe with Covid-19.
Lightning in Commercial Hotel Photography Albuquerque
Almost one month to the day I returned to the San Mateo Inn for more commercial exterior photography, this time at night! My first shoot was all during the day with clear blue skies overhead. For this second shoot right after sunset, the clouds were rolling in and a storm was approaching. I was working as fast as I could with my new Sony a7R IV mirrorless camera. In fact this was the very first shoot I used it for! I could hear the thunder and see the lightning, and in a happy accident, during one long exposure photo of the front of the hotel, I caught a sharp bolt of lightning! I got the remaining photos I needed of the pool and front sign, and was back home safe and dry before the actual rain started. Thank you to the owner, Yvette, for braving the storm with me and watching my back as we were very close to the road to get some of these shots.
Thanks to a great referral from networking friend Coralee (she sells commercial real estate), I had the opportunity to photograph the San Mateo Inn which is under new management and in the process of improving its branding and marketing, the first step was getting professional commercial photographs of the interior and exterior of the hotel. It is my custom whenever possible to start with the exteriors, because you never know when the weather may change, so if it is good, then shoot the exteriors first! After that I made my way inside to photograph the lobby and guest areas.
I had the pleasure and creative challenge of photographing the beautiful Inn of the Anasazi in historic downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. Each room, each space was full of architectural features, design touches, and soft light. The challenge was capturing that existing atmosphere with the right additional off camera lighting to show off the room or space such that is shows well in a photo, but maintains the tranquil and warm feel I had standing there. From the library, to the wine cellar, to the lobby, all throughout this inn I kept finding more and more incredible rooms to photograph using the flambient technique. Thank you very much to the staff of the Inn of the Anasazi for making this long shoot go very smoothly!
Photographing the same subject matter in different seasons or just a significant amount of time later is a very good personal photography project to do. It is rare to have that kind of opportunity with a commercial photography shoot, but that is just what happened when former clients TownePlace Suites Marriott Clearwater called and asked me to come make a new photograph of their outdoor swimming pool. They had updated the furniture and needed a new photograph to highlight the changes to the pool area.
For me it is interesting to see the differences in angles I chose in 2011 and 2012. The tighter shot of the pool in 2012 was no doubt influenced by the client wanting to see the new furniture in the shot better.
Here is an insider photo tip for shooting pools: do not get the entire pool in the shot, thereby leaving the exact size of the pool unknown to the viewer.
The Courtyard Marriott Hotel in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida: top in late afternoon, bottom at night after a rainstormThe client wanted both daytime and nighttime exterior shots of their hotel. I shot the daytime one first. Several days later I went to photograph the hotel at night, having to wait out a sudden rainstorm that sprang up as I was making the 5-minute drive from my home to the hotel! The daytime image is a 7-exposure HDR image and the bottom is just a single long exposure.
I did not make a shot from the same spot necessarily on purpose, but I am glad I did as it was a chance to see how a specific subject appears in a photograph in two totally different lighting situations. So this photography tip is more like a photography project:
Photograph the same subject during the day and then at night
As you can see a hotel in a city makes for a pretty good day & night subject. Anything that has cars passing in front of it or on it will allow for making a light traillong exposurenight shot.
Be sure and include a link to your day and night shot in the comments below.
