Waiting for the sunrise.

tucson-sunrise / via iphone

As I was working on some post production in my hotel room tonight I noticed the flicker of the city lights in Tucson.  It was too hard to pass up as a shot.  Enjoy

Tucson at Night

After being able to sleep in my bed for one night after coming back from Mexico City it’s off again. This weekend I’ll beahooting the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.

DFW-TUS / via iphone

Had a great morning shoot over at the ABC (American British Cowdray) Cancer Center designed by HKS Architects here in Mexico City.  While setting up the Pediatric Chemotherapy shot i popped outside on the balcony to take a shot looking out on the city.  Mexico city is so full of life and energy and the density of the place is unreal.  Enjoy the shots.

ABC Cancer Center

Sunrise over Mexico City

Back on the road again. Heading back down to Mexico to photograph a cancer center in Mexico City. Should be a great shoot as I am joined by several HKS colleagues. Look for more posts this week as well as some updated shots from the Punta Mita shoot last week.

DFW-MEX / via iphone

Like all good things, they eventually have to come to an end.  Today I left Punta Mita to head back to Dallas.  It was a sad day as I thought about all of the great people I had met along the way:

Fidel Castro (I can’t make this stuff up) my personal butler for the suite ( I can’t make that up either)

Joel the food and beverage manager at the resort who was so kind to lend his staff to me to setup shots such as the banquet hall or last night’s dinner on the beach

Mariana who studied hospitality management in Holland and now lives in Puerto Vallarta away from her family and 17 year old cat

Alejandra who was an import from the four seasons in costa rica who loves being with Starwood now and back in her home country

This is a small slice of memorable people I left behind today.  All of which embraced me, my ideas, and my wacky request.  They treated me like family and for that I thank them.  In the next few days I’ll post some of the shots from the shoot as I now spend the countless hours in post production creating perfection.  Until then enjoy the shot from the plane as we made our way back to Dallas.

PVR - DFW / via iphone

It’s difficult sometimes explaining to someone why you should pay in excess of $500 a night for a hotel room, and I understand that.  I’ve been lucky to shoot allot of amazing resorts over the years and I can answer it all by saying this, it’s the service.  Sure the locations are amazing, they usually have stunning beaches, incredible pools with ridiculous cabanas (which I shot today), beautiful mountain vistas, or even poolside s’mores when it’s 20 degrees outside (the Four Seasons Jackson Hole I shot this winter) all of which are nice.  But honestly when I came back in from my sunset shot tonight I was reminded what differentiates some resorts from others.  As usual I leave my hotel room a mess because I’m usually too tired and when I wake up a 4am to head out and shoot, putting things back in their place is not a top priority.  When I came back to the room I noticed that when housekeeping came in to do my turn down they took my clothes which were all over the place and folded them for me and left them on the chair I had so careless thrown them on after drenching them during my afternoon shoot.  It’s not that having someone fold your clothes is worth a $1000 a night or even $200 a night, it’s what it symbolizes. It’s the commitment to make your stay a nice as humanly possible and to take away all your worries and stresses and also to feel like family when in fact you are a stranger.   I know it’s a random post but I get asked allot about really high end resorts and is it worth it.  Even though i’d like to say the pictures on their website (which I am often behind) should draw you to these amazing places, but I really do sometimes feel visually inadequate when portraying what the experience is like at these resorts.  So I would encourage everyone to take advantage of the amazing deals that are to be had at these luxury resorts during these trying economic times and treat yourself to something truly amazing, because it really is worth every penny.

Punta Mita / via iphone

Wrapped up another amazing day of shooting at the St Regis Resort in Punta Mita.  Spent the better part of the afternoon setting up for the money shot in the Presidential Suite/Villa.  3 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths (not counting the 3 outdoor showers!) Full Kitchen, Living Room, huge patio, and to top it off an infinity pool overlooking the beach.  It’s pretty ridiculous to say the least.  Haven’t had a chance to do any post production on the shot but as you can see it’s pretty spectacular.  Enjoy

Thought I would share a couple of shots from last nights shoot here at the St Regis Resort in Punta Mita.  Truly an amazing place.  I’ll try to post some more shots tonight after the day’s shoot.  Enjoy

Just arrived.  Simply stunning.  Can’t wait to share proper photos that weren’t taken on the iphone.

Punta Mita / via iphone