When Branding Meets Architecture
My wonderful clients at Media Objectives trusted me with documenting their vision for the Shashi Hotel in Palo Alto, California. The hotel’s design prioritized a seamless experience intended to anticipate guest needs. That mission was integrated into the brand’s aesthetic, right down to their tagline: “And,” which became a running motif throughout the hotel’s black and white tones framed with warm lighting and wood textures.
The hotel considers itself an urban resort catering to refined, well-traveled individuals with frequent trips to the surrounding hubs of tech and education.
My job was a bit different this time around. In addition to my usual offering of architectural photography, I was also asked to capture an abundance of details and textures. This shoot became more of a branding and product photography shoot with elements of architectural photography sprinkled in. The key to success was forged in emulating the formulas of many of our favorite films: Wide establishing shots to establish a sense of place and orient the audience and detailed close-ups to stir emotions and personal connection.
I was thrilled with the opportunity to expand my creative output and more than pleased with the results which I am happy to share below.
One of my Favorite shots of the entire project. If you know me, you know I love including humans to add a sense of life and scale to the architecture, and I love lighting them in a manner that is consistent with the ambient and practical lights in a space.
In a product shoot: Details matter. The brand’s heavy emphasis on black made it a particular challenge to showcase details. This required a bit of specular lighting to carve out logos and text and create some contrast and separation.
Signage was of particular importance to my client as they designed all of the custom made wrap around signs and labels in the building. Closeup shots are great, but we also needed to show them within the context of their environment.
