Before And After – Massaging The Pixels For Hotel Photography

As I produce hotel photography for our clients around the country, we encounter both existing properties and new construction. The newer properties are always preferable to photograph, as they have yet to show much wear and tear that quickly comes once guests occupy the rooms. That said, you’d think the new builds would have little added Photoshop work needed. While that’s often the truth, we do encounter situations where pixel massaging is needed.Presented before you is a good example of such a case. Our good friends at Vision Hospitality constructed a beautiful, cutting-edge Fairfield Inn and Suites – complete with a rooftop bar and a beautiful restaurant. It’s located in The Gulch area of Nashville, and the city has yet to remove the power lines located directly in front of the property. We had to capture a solid exterior photo of the property, and short of chopping down the power lines, our only recourse was to fix it in post-production.

This was done with a process I like to refer to as “micro-pixel massaging”. If you look closely, you’ll see a great number of elements (poles, cables, support wires) all coming from varying angles. These objects are intersecting with architectural elements on the building itself – windows, doors, roof and lines of the building itself.

Retouching on the computer at 100% view would be next to impossible. In order to make each and every unwanted element disappear, I worked on the image in the 1600-3200% range. When all was said and done, it took slightly over two hours to accomplish the task – well worth the time and effort.

The hotel is truly unique for a Fairfield property, a great hotel for a great neighborhood. Let’s face it – quality properties deserve quality hotel photography!

Safe Journeys,
Brett