I love this image, so simple and clean, an individual chair in front of a wall created uniquely from mother-of-pearl shells. As you can imagine, this wall changes according to your angle, the ambient lighting and the reflections on the mother-of-pearl. A bit of architectural eye candy for the photographer never goes amiss.
Shangri-la Hotel, Sydney
Affectionately known as ‘the coat-hanger’, Sydney Harbour Bridge was completed in 1932. It stands 134 metres above the sea and competes with the Opera House as one of Sydney’s iconic landmarks. The ‘in’ thing to do in Sydney is to go on a three-hour adventure climb to the very top of the bridge. As you can imagine, the images from the top are truly spectacular. For safety reasons however, cameras aren’t normally allowed on the climb but I joined a press trip and was lucky enough to be able to take mine. Another room in the Shangri-La with a picture-perfect view.
In professional photographs you rarely see a restaurant image with people. If you’ve ever wondered why it’s because of the many factors that complicate the shoot: 1. It takes a lot of organising and the restaurant may have to close for the shoot. 2. It’s very expensive to fill a room with models. 3. The option of filling a room with real people rarely works as there are all kinds of considerations; dress, pose, size, colour schemes, age group, fashion. A room full of clients in a restaurant is every art director’s nightmare. If it’s ever carried out it’s normally a detail of 2 or 4 people at a table with a waiter. So here you have it, a photograph of the interior of the restaurant and not a soul in sight.
Hayman Island Resort Hotel, Great Barrier Reef
As a travel photographer Sydney delights me. Australia is a vast, delightful country and a visit to the Great Barrier Reef for any photographer is a dream. It’s the world’s largest coral reef, stretching over 2000km along the Eastern coast of Queensland. An incredible feat of Mother Nature. The reef is made up of over 2,700 individual reefs all closely linked together and thriving in the tropical Australian Coral Sea. This image was taken from a helicopter just off the Whitsunday Islands and shows Heart reef in the centre of the image.
Hayman Hotel is a private island destination. The island is exclusively dedicated to the hotel and is the most luxurious of the Whitsunday islands. The whole island is one beautiful hotel, no more and no less. It’s an amazing five star resort of pure indulgence and was voted the World’s Best Beach Resort by Forbes Magazine.
Cocktails by the pool. This image was taken on Hayman island and has since been sold as a stock photography image to guide books in the States, to the finance industry in France and to property developers on the Iberian Peninsula. Generic images that convey a “take me there” feeling, can be reproduced in diverse publications and media.
My favourite hotels in the world
As a travel photographer, hotels are a fundamental part of the journeying experience. Michelle averages 100 plus hotel nights per year and this section has been created to share a selection of her personal recommendations for hotels around the world. Whilst on assignment, a hotel provides a travel photographer with a base from which to explore the country and a secure storage space for equipment. It’s the mobile office, the refuelling zone, the meeting point and if you’re really lucky, there may even be time to indulge in the pool or the Spa. The reality of following the light and photographic deadlines however, often means this isn’t the case. A good hotel can be the primary inspiration for a photographer as they embark on their project, the place from which ideas evolve for imagery. A travel photographer’s hotel is essentially the gateway to photographically documenting a destination.