Jeff Caven Resort Hotel Photography

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2011-05-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

The Stories continue...

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Creative Freedom!

2010-08-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

I worked photographing food with Roy Breiman when he was Chef at the Salish lodge and Spa. We have worked on a couple of food photography projects together. I was impressed with Roy's creative spirit with an imaginative dish named Hot Rocks. It has remained in my mind for years so I was keen to work with him on his new labor of love the Copperleaf Restaurant. Keeping with our creative synergy we kept it loose using a mixture of hot lights (photogenic minispots), strobes (Canon 580EX flash heads with the pocketwizard Flex TTI and TT5 remote system that uses the cameras TTL metering, amazing.) and the best of all lighting, the sun. To make it exciting with had a time limit to give it that game show feel. We started out with the Heirloom tomatoes tight and with the dining room location a mixture of hot lights, strobe and ambient light. A shaft of light came in through the windows onto the table so we used a mixture of daylight and the strobe to break the contrast slightly with the incredible Kodiak Island Halibut. Last we photographed the Scallops on location by the pond and used only direct sunlight. A very refreshing shoot as we had no rules and let our creativity flow. I was very impressed with Chef Mark Bodinet's recipes. Chef Mark's artwork with the pea vines on the scallops is representative of the sophistication of his creations. I samples the tomatoes and scallops, both extremely fresh with a signature depth of flavors with a distinctive beginning, middle and finish much like a fine wine. The Cedarbrook is an amazing Oasis of Hospitlity near the Seatac airport. Check out more cuisine images on the ResortHotelPhotographer website

This one is Personal

2010-07-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

What a great project this is. It's like coming home regarding all the great entities and people involved in the creation. First of all it was built for Angel Fire Resort who I have been involved with professionally and personally since the 80's, a cool jewel of a Resort in the Northern New Mexico. It was designed by LDG Architects in Taos, New Mexico. LDG is a dynamic team who were sustainable before sustainable was main stream. One of my favorite things is that it was built by Dov Sunbow Construction. I've known Dov since he was knee high to a Bullfrog and to hear all the Bosses in the project rain down accolades on the quality of his work has made my heart soar like an Eagle. Our websites Architectural-Interior-Photographer.com and ResortHotelPhotographer.com both will have a project pages relating to this project for more information and in depth facts and details of the project. For a direct link to the project page click here. A beautiful project created by excellent people!

Sustainable Hospitality

2010-05-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Reclaimed storm water El Monte Sagrado Living Resort

I recycle. I even did it when I lived in New Mexico and had to take it to the recycling center, five miles, uphill, both ways. It took some effort. I also remember I had single pane windows. Ouch. After this week at the Living Future conference here in Seattle I am now a believer and realize how lame my understanding was. I photographed the "What makes it Green" juried competition for the American Institute of Architects chapter here in Seattle. This was a tough jury. They asked hard questions. I was impressed with the answers they received. I'm glad they weren't asking me those questions. My loft has single pane windows but I do have very well insulating curtains. I've raised my consciousness. Attending the opening night at the "Living Futures" conference increased my awareness. While the keynote speaker James Howard Kunstler gave his doomsday speech about the environmental apocalypse that is only 36 months away. His points were valid. I think his job is analogous to that of the Baptist Minister, "If you don't change your sinning ways, you are going to burn in hell". His pessimism aside, his speech made me think. After attending both events I immediately edited the RHP website to recognize the efforts my clients make to be sustainable. I realize that being green isn't going to be just wishful thinking. As we see with areas of the public sector, Sustainability, not just a good idea, it's the Law! Unlike dear James Howard, I am optimistic about the future. I am excited about communicating sustainability through imagery. It's now a core of the Resort Hotel business model. I think it's getting better, I now just have to walk across the street with my recyclables. Cheers!

Pro Bono Pro Bono Photography

2010-04-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

I just came back from New Mexico where the highlight was donating some professional time shooting the fabulous "Snowball" which is the primary fundraiser for the New Mexico Adaptive Ski Program. What impressed me most about the evening was the Adaptive Ski program Athletes. While we may go skiing and complain about ski boots or that the conditions are a little icy. The adaptive athletes, like our friend dancing in the above photograph, embrace this sport with more passion than anyone else I know, and I know some passionate skiers. They inspire me to pursue my passion for this business with the same vigor they pursue their learning and competition on the ski slopes so I can spend more time on Pro Bono Photography. It was a splendid evening and the director of the Adaptive Ski Program Katya Franzgen deserves a huge "Muchas Gracias" for a job well done on the Snowball. What a fun night!

As Resort Hotel rolls on to world domination in the world of Hospitality photography we will be giving away as much Pro Bono Photography as is possible. Check out : http://resorthotelphotographer.com/giving-back As contribution is the key to a successful life and adds a kind of perspective that can be gained by nothing else. This is an area of our business we are committing to thrive. This gentleman in the 2nd photo competing in the high jump inspires me every time I look at the image. He was very challenged in regards to his throat and just being able to breath. I watched him try this height over and over again until we all cried out "stop, stop". His perseverance was impressive. I shot this image years ago when I lived in New Mexico. The New Mexico Chapter of ASMP created a fund raiser for Special Olympics of New Mexico where our chapter used disposable cameras and photographed the athletes and sold the prints at auction and donated the proceeds to Special Olympics of New Mexico. If the picture seems less than sharp, remember the camera I was using was was made of cardboard! Stay tuned and leave comments so we know you are out there.

Cheers!

Jeff

NATIONAL CHAMPION MIXOLOGIST!

2010-03-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

" And in this corner, out of Las Cruces, New Mexico, 5'10 , 190 pounds Daniel Gonzales!" and the crowd goes wild. Battling a field of 32 competitors at the 2010 Shake it up, the "battle of the mixologists" held this March in Las Vegas Nevada, Daniel stomped the competition. Wowing the judges with his combination of bartending skills, his special recipe the "Spicy Secreto" and his creativity making a unique drink spontaneously, he was awarded first place at this world series of Bartending. Now you might think it's great to have these accolades and so does his wife Jenise, she thinks the title is great but she likes the $10,000 in cash and prizes was even better.

Daniel is an example of the best part of my job, the personal relationships. I feel that I am part of the Heritage Hotels and Resorts Family. They have an array of unique hotels that celebrate the culture and art of New Mexico and Arizona. A team of individuals willing to go the extra mile. each hotel has a committed, professional and personable staff. Check out more images of their properties on my website. Make sure to stop by the Secreto bar at the Hotel St Francis in Santa Fe and have the national champion make his award winning concoction for you. Cheers!

Happy Birthday Saint Bernard!

2010-02-22T16:41:00.001-08:00

Here I am writhing in Agony. The Green Eyed Monster has taken control of my being. I was to wax nostalgic about all my experiences at the Hotel Saint Bernard and tell you how great my friend Jean Mayer is. Why you may ask is jealousy the essence of my thoughts? It's that little El Nino guy. My friend Jean was skiing 2 feet of stupendously light powder as were all his students that have come to his Hotel in Taos Ski Valley New Mexico. It's everything a ski hotel should be. Food that is out of this world. You can spit and hit the lift from front door. The staff is like one huge family some who have worked there for 30 years. It's Classic, Comfortable and Cool filled with warm wood, shiny brass and skiing accoutrements and photography from the last 50 years. All those guests, staff and friends are all back slapping and smiling, sucking down Hot Toddy's, describing how deep it was, going over there heads. Arrrgghh. I'm writhing here! OK OK I'll just be happy for my friends, how's that?

I've been thinking about the Hotel Saint Bernard today because I spent the day writing all sorts of Keyword infested content for their page on http://resorthotelphotographer.com/hotel-saint-bernard. One of the challenges when you come up with a good idea is you have to follow through on it even when it's not in your comfort zone. Writing is not yet in my comfort zone but it soon will be. Sink or Swim baby. The Good Idea is the ResortHotelPhotographer.com website. It's project based photography that allows us to create more content. It has a page for each of the projects where we give ideas for potential editorial clients and access to license imagery of the project.

This is the Hotel Saint Bernard's 50th birthday and I love that place. Jean Mayer the proprietor is a hero to me. He truly embodies the Spirit of Skiing and shares his passion with his guests, his staff, friends and all the instructors that teach at the Taos Ski Valley Ski school where he is the technical director. While so many instructors discuss only technique Jean is developing his students Spirit of Skiing. It's about energy, fun and excitement not merely driving your hands forward. To him it's about the dance not just edging. Staying at the Hotel Saint Bernard should be on everyone's great things to do before I die list. It's genuine. Check out the link to the images. Have fun in all that powder my New Mexico friends and Happy Birthday World's Greatest Ski Hotel.

In Blog I must

2010-02-16T10:21:00.000-08:00

Jack London said " you can't wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club." I think daily about all the great things happening with ResortHotelPhotographer.com. When this changes or I finish this then I will then blog about it and send out the website to market. The site is very close to being at the point of sending out to the expensive lists that I buy of high powered Art Directors and Editorial contacts. My webmaster James Woods and I believe we have a gallery that will provide us with a stock portal for the all the creative images we produce that not only shows the images beautifully but more importantly imports all the ITPC data that allows for searching of the images while staying on our site. Plus it's open source! I have interviewed Hotel owners, Architects and Builders to get interesting content to put on the text and keyword rich pages. The pages will have the all important incoming links to the project partners. I think daily about the creative projects like next years Advertising that we are shooting this coming month for Sturtevants Snowsports. What I have been waiting for is the inspiration to create the perfect, creative, witty, dynamic, entertaining blog. I have been waiting for inspiration to create the pages of content that are key to the success and searchability of the site. As I am reading the Sea Wolf by Jack London and came across his quote today. I am not longer waiting for inspiration instead I'm picking up my club.

Cheers!

Jeff

Makes me wish I was Rich!

2009-12-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

Whew! While I never really think websites are "done". This one is at a point where it's good enough to put out into cyberspace. While I don't envy people with Porches or Cool Condos these parcels of land on San Juan Island make me wish I'd started working for Bill Gates in the 80"s http://lawsonridgehomesites.com/ are 14 Ten Acre Parcels of Unique Beauty and Grace they are the paramount example of San Juan Island View Property. They are in fact one of a kind locations in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I can talk on and on about them but as a picture is worth a thousand words click on the link and you have 37,000 words and if a picture is worth a thousand words, what's a video worth?? One thing I will mention is Lawson Ridge will be a shining star in Green living. All the homes will be integrated into the environment and each parcel was carefully thought out by Richard Lawson as to it's placement for privacy and Stunning Views. Check out the site, look at the videos and give us some feedback. Please make sure to forward the link to your friends @ Microsoft.

Cheers,

Jeff

Gem in the Desert

2009-06-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

The Hotel Artesia project has been an interesting, exciting and educational project. The best part has been the personal relationships I have developed and old friends I've had a chance to work with again. The last blog was about the room art we developed and now I had a chance to create imagery for the marketing of hotel. This is one of the coolest hotels from a point of Architectural design I have photographed. Richard Yates of Zydeco was the original Architect who developed the concept of a modern day Art Deco property. Richard's use of color and shape is both refreshing and creative. It's a brilliant building. Architect Aaron Bohrer of Archi-Scape in Santa Fe worked with Richard's design and put it into the practical application that is alive and open in Artesia New Mexico. Reid and Associates of Albuquerque are the general contractors who made the plans a reality. You can check out the images of the hotel on the ResortHotelPhotographer.com site. This is the first project utilizing the RHP business model of shooting more than the budget will allow and using the images to help create a network of incoming links for the project partners. As saavy web aficianados we know the the verifiable incoming link is one of the most important tools in increased Search Engine Optimization. Well that and I can sell more pictures to pay for the extra work and expenses. Richard Hefler President of Zydeco and I were discussing utilizing the social networking options that were available to increase exposure and SEO for the hotel. While he is not willing to "get with it" on Facebook, his wife is and I was able to peruse her cool website and have a new friend in the travel world that relates to my photography business, Check is out!

Cheers,

Jeff

Dream Job

2009-05-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

Since I have bestowed upon myself " King of the Hotel Room Photographers" I have something very cool that may verge upon Narcissistic. I will have the opportunity to photograph Hotel Rooms that have "my" Art on the Walls. The Hotel Artesia, http://hotelartesia.com/ a very cool Art Deco Hotel that is scheduled to open in June 2009. Zydeco Real Estate Management group in Santa Fe, http://zydeco66.com/ is the brains behind the operation. We will be discussing this project in upcoming blog posts as it is the flagship project for new photography business model that is http://resorthotelphotographer.com/

I was given the assignment of creating images for the Room Art that were more than the same photos of a Yucca or something equally as boring that you see in most hotel rooms. Because the Hotel Artesia is a unique project in a small town where everyone works. We weren't creating images for the couple from Modesto like most resort hotel properties. We created images for people who have blue collars and roll up their sleeves. We photographed from "Cain't see to Cain't see" images of workers on oil wells, the Navajo Refinery, the local agriculture, abstracts of the tools of the trades and the beloved Bulldogs, the high school football team. Check out all the images at http://resorthotelgalleries.com

Another Dream job associated with the Hotel is being an interior designer who gets to work with the cutting edge developers that are building the Hotel. Rahli Designs of Santa Fe has created amazing headboards, desks, dressers and coffee table that give this Hospitality Haven a unique and sophisticated feel. We have only just begun to blog about this cool project. Talk to you soon!

Cheers,

Jeff

It's Working!

2009-05-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

The Website is working. I just received a call from a Company that has Treetop Hotels in Tazania http://elewana.com/ We have just begun negotiations and while the deadlines may preclude us from getting to work together this go around, it's showing me we are getting the message of http://resorthotelphotographer.com/ around the world.

We are launching the new website (actually very similar to the old website) on a Drupal Content Management System. This will allow me to post images with text and links as they become available. This will also allow dissemination of the information and imagery throughout the world of my fabulous clients who have spent money with me. I will also increase their SEO.

In regard to SEO we have been doing our homework. We are #1 in Google's and Yahoo's world under the keywords " Hotel Photographer" and "Resort Photographer". I know that these are desirable keywords as my competitors spend their hard earned dollars to buy Google Adwords, and the guys from Tanzania found me. I am currently writing new copy for the site with a blend of keywords combined with content. As a photographer you would hope they look at the photos and don't spend a lot of time reading. As incoming links are important to SEO and through using my SEO tools, I discovered my friend Kri Mayer who has a great business in Paris driving tourists around speaking to them in a variety of tongues, has linked to me and it's registered, thereby increasing my SEO. So here's to you Kri! http://americandriverinparis.com/

Here's my son Jackson working with me on a shoot we did for our client http://sturtevants.com/
I think I want that job!

Cheers!

Jeff

Art of the Resort....com

2009-04-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hello Hotelians ( def: noun: someone who has stayed in a hotel)

I did some research on the Q Bar Artist. His name is Yuri Zatarain. His mediums are clay, wood and iron. He created these amazing characters for the Q Bar. He was born in Quadalajara of Russian Heritage. The ceramic work in the Q Bar creates a personality to the space. Amazing! This would bring us to ArtoftheResort.com but I have to get back to work. Talk with you soon.

Cheers,

Jeff

http://hhandr.com/albuquerque_dining.php#qbar

http://www.yurizatarain.com/

Cool Q-Bar

2009-04-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hi ResortHotelPhotographer Fans,

There is so much to talk about. I've been discussing the concepts of the business with what could be described as movers and shakers of the industry. An excellent client and good friend or should that be good client and excellent friend as she drives a hard bargain. Pam Bazant-Jung is El Presidente of Heritage hotels and resort in Albuquerque. All important link here http://hhandr.com We shot the very cool and avant garde Q-bar on the recent trip to New Mexico. I shot the original shot of the bar that is on the http://www.resorthotelphotographer.com/ site. ( Is this just shameless incoming linking?)
This is a new part of the bar called the gallery. I am ashamed I don't know the Artist name, but I will as we want him to check out the images to consider liscensing them to use on his website with links to me and Heritage Hotels for ripping Optimization. I love his Art, I do believe he is from Mexcio and I will find out tomorrow and we will continue this discussion then.

Cheers,

Jeff

Resort Hotel Photographer.com, A new dawn in Resort Hotel Photography!

2009-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Do you like the grandiose title? The website is up and functioning. If your here, you've most likely looked at it. It's a new concept in resort, hotel photography and websites. It is an ever developing and changing website, as they all should be. It's primary function is to be brilliantly creative in capturing the essence of my clients fabulous properties that and "feed my kids".

My Kids:

Well Billy Kidd's not my kid but that's my son Jackson with him. Jocelyn is an amazing and accomplished Middle Eastern Dancer.

Now the second function is to give away as much photography as I can afford to. Check out http://resorthotelphotographer.com/giving_back.html . Shooting pro bono for non profits is a blast. No pressure, everyone cooperates and even the Art directors are nice when they are being picky. As Winston Churchill said " we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

The website is about the Resort and Hotel industry. I have been shooting resorts and hotels for 20 years. I hear the same challenges over and over. I see photography under utilized, I see organizations using default images because "that's all we had". As Grandmother is now on line making the hotel decisions, you better have a good image of your pool. Online booking were up 17% in 2007. What will they be in 2010? This is a developing website, I want it to be a place for the industry will look at strategies to make fresh images more affordable. We will be talking about how to integrate your website into your marketing strategy, veracity of images, Search Engine optimization in website development and new styles in interactive media. All these and more! As a teaser, the next post will be about a successful shoot we did for the Salish Lodge and Spa here in Washington. http://www.salishlodge.com/ The " Honey from Heaven shoot" Now THAT was a fun one. Great hotel with great people. Gotta go, please check out the site and send feedback, requests and comments.

All the best!

Jeff