hotel

Tampa Hotel UFO ceiling HDR photography

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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?

Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Bistro Renovation Commercial Photography Florida

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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. Petersburg Florida 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.  

Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Suite Commercial Photography

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A suite in Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Florida - commercial photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRMy former neighbor Ryan of the Courtyard Marriott (he is the sales manager) contacted me this week about making some more commercial photographs of the hotel as it is just about finished with its renovations.  To start with, they wanted to send out a new advertisement and needed just a couple photos of a suite room.  So after we discussed the future photography to be done of the hotel, I went up to the 7th floor with my Nikon and tripod.  As I have mentioned before, photographing a room is rather challenging and not at all as simple as one might think.

Office space in a sweet at Courtyard Marriott St. Petersburg Florida - commercial photography - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRThe real goal of this small shoot was for the image below, a small panorama of the room showing all its features wall to wall from the flatscreen TV to the bed.  It is not made up of the two shots below of course, but from the same point just shooting one frame to the left and then panning about two thirds of a frame to the right.  I then used the Photomerge automation in Photoshop to stitch the two photos together.

Suite hotel room at Courtyard Marriott in St. Petersburg Florida - 2 HDR images stitched together in Photoshop using PhotomergeI look forward to photographing the renovated historic lobby and other areas of the hotel in September.