Sheraton Hotel Photography
Problems and Solutions

"Picture Yourself Here"

That was the Headline for these two ads. The irony was that on the first ad in particular, the setting did not exist....read on..

Fortunately for these two ads, assigned several months apart, I was working with and Art Director who knew my work and trusted my ability to solve these problems and accomplish her goals for the ads.

The key to being able to merge, retouch, and enhance photos is that you have complete control from the outset of the project. You can be absolutely sure that you will have the image you envisioned in the final because you control the process. The ads below illustrate this theme in two different ways. These ads could not have been accomplished without my photography and imaging abilities.

Situation One:

A layout that tells the story, but in fact does not exist as a photographic venue at the hotel.

Go here to see a large final and originals.

The art director's layout was very close to the thumbnail on the left. However, although all of the elements in the image exist at the hotel, they do not exist in one place nor can they be photographed as you see them in the image. Follow the above link to see the final image and the parts that were used to create this setting.


Situation Two:

Just when you get ready to shoot, a monsoon arrives and the set is destroyed.

Go here to see a large final and originals.

When we arrived at the set early in the morning, it was a beautiful day with beautiful skies. It looked like a perfect day to photograph this kind of ad. By the time the model arrived the weather had changed and the skies became overcast and it was very windy. The wind was so bad that we literally taped the styrafoam chacmool behind the model to a 10 year old girl who was holding it all down with her weight. It could have been a disaster. The model alone was over $1000 in fees for the day. However, I reminded the AD of my retouching/imaging abilities and she affirmed she was not worried and we proceeded with the shoot as if skies were not grey, the trees not leaning away from the wind and the water was not blowing everywhere.

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