Mar

Have Camera, Will Travel – A Room with a View: by Andrea Gonzales

When booking a hotel for your next destination, don’t forget to consider the view. If you choose wisely, your hotel room or common areas of the building may provide a unique vantage point for photos of the city you are visiting.

I have always wanted to see the 4th of July fireworks in Washington, DC. I did not, however, want to sit outside all day on the national mall with 80,000 of my closest friends in sweltering July heat. Fortunately, my husband had traveled to DC and stayed at this particular hotel. He knew that some of the rooms had a clear view of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial and I knew that meant we could see the fireworks. We requested (and were given) a room with a view of the monuments and were able to enjoy a quiet evening of fireworks in air conditioned comfort. If I had not known about this particular hotel, I also could have Googled “best hotels to view the 4th of July fireworks” or “hotel with view of Washington Monument.

On a recent trip to Miami I selected a hotel on Biscayne Bay and requested an east-facing room so that I could shoot the sunrise. I knew from Google Maps that an east-facing room at this hotel would have a beautiful view of the bay and Miami Beach and I wasn’t disappointed. The only other way to get this particular view is to know someone who lives in one of the many condominiums along the bay.

This reminds me…always pack your tripod! For the fireworks pictures I had to be quite creative. I moved a nightstand in front of the window, placed the trashcan upside down on top and a book on top of that. My camera sat on the book. It would have been so much easier (and more stable) had I brought my tripod, as I did for the sunrise shot in Miami.

Try to leave yourself plenty of time for set-up. For the fireworks shots it took me a good 30 minutes to come up with the makeshift “tripod” and find the right settings for the photos. I was relieved when I got everything done and had time to go grab a drink before the fireworks began. Also, I am NOT a morning person. So for the Miami sunrise photo I set up my camera on the tripod the night before and framed the shot (and took a couple of night skyline photos) so that when I got up in the morning all I had to do was adjust the settings and take the photo.

One last note about hotel room photography. Take a moment to take a few shots of the inside of your room before you mess it all up with your gear and luggage. I grabbed this shot as soon as I checked in and uploaded it to a microstock site on a whim in December 2010. Its been downloaded three times already…but more on that another time.

Andrea Gonzales Gabriel Leigh Studios was established in 2009 as a photography studio specializing in travel and commercial stock photography.

Andrea Gonzales has been in love with photography and travel for as long as she can remember. After several years of hard work she was able to leave the daily 9-5 grind in July 2010 and now travels as often as possible.

Company: Gabriel Leigh Studios
Website: http://www.gabrielleighstudios.com
Twitter: @GLeighStudios
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gabriel-Leigh-Studios/113471438698423