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.
My third commercial photography shoot at the San Mateo Inn in Albuquerque, New Mexico was just for interiors shots of the updated rooms. The first shoot I had with owner Yvette was a comprehensive interior exterior shoot, and the second was a night time shoot where I captured lightning! No weather issues of course with these interior photos, just looking for the best angles to showcase the variety of rooms the hotel has to offer. I really appreciate everyone at the San Mateo Inn continuing to choose me as their go to photographer for all the great changes they are making to their hotel. It is pet friendly too!
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!
I thought this ceiling was very interesting looking in a Tampa hotel - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRThis image is from a wedding I photographed a few years ago in a hotel in Tampa. I was at the reception area early to shoot the table settings, wedding cake, etc. Upon entering the ballroom I was immediately taken with the ceiling. To me it looked like a UFO floating right on top of everything. In editing I added some effects to heighten the alien look to the ceiling and room in general of this HDR image. What does it look like to you?
The newly renovated bistro & cafe area of Courtyard Marriott in downtown St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRLast week I went back to the Courtyard Marriott in downtown St. PetersburgFlorida to finish making commercial photographs of the newly updated interior of the hotel. In 2011 I photographed both the exterior and interior of the hotel, followed later by a wedding model shoot. Courtyard have been very good clients and I am always glad to return their and work with Ryan and Kathy.
A quiet spot in the new Courtyard Marriott bistro St. Petersburg commercial photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1.3 secThe newly updated bistro/cafe area looks great and photographed well. I used a combination of HDR and single exposure images. For the photo above with only a single major light source coming from behind camera, I felt HDR was not needed and achieved the results I wanted with a single long exposure.
Dining spaces with TVs at newly renovated Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Florida commercial photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 5-exposure HDRTo pull detail out in the corners of these eating areas that had an open window in each, I did use 5-exposures to make the HDR image image above. Overall I made less HDR images than I did when I first photographed the hotel two years ago as I am always trying to improve my shooting techniques and choose the best style for each particular shot.
TownePlace Suites by Marriott St. Petersburg Clearwater outdoor pool - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-bracket HDR mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with Nikon MC-30 cable release
Continuing my partnership with area Marriott hotels (see Historic Courtyard), last week I photographed the exterior & interior of TownePlace Suites St. Petersburg Clearwater. This hotel is designed for long term stays with the rooms featuring kitchens and additional living and work spaces within the suites. To my surprise, this hotel is also pet friendly, so your dog or cat can stay with you!
Lobby area features of TownePlace Suites - snacks & front desk are HDR; gym is single exposureI really liked the "In a Pinch" snack shelves for some reason, maybe because of the clever name or the fact that you can just grab a back of chips right from the lobby. It was the hotel management's decision to photograph the front desk with no people. The photograph mine will replace did include people. What do you think, should a hotel lobby/front desk shot include people in it or not?
Features of suite rooms at TownePlace - kitchen, bedroom, living room are HDR; bathroom is single exposure with speedlight in the tub!Photographing rooms is very hard. You might think making a sunsetportrait on the beach is harder, but to me, photographing a hotel room is because the lighting is more of a challenge indoors. I use a combination of HDR and off camera flash techniques to produce the best results given the rooms windows and ambient light.
