I met Brian Boram, principal of
RMBVivid Seattle, in Worley, ID at the
Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort to shoot images of their $85M expansion project to be used for their advertising and promotion of the grand opening. We were about a month out from the opening date of the project. The construction was not complete, so we had to be a bit creative how we shot this exterior.
Mithun of Seattle designed the project. It was a stunning design, modern yet incorporating elements that reflected the tribe's culture and history. My challenge was to shoot an overall exterior showing the new wing and minimize the unfinished landscape and construction. We spent several hours scouting the project considering different angles. The image had to wrap around the cover of their brochure (19x10").
A scouting photo of the building as it looked the evening before.
The weather report was not favorable. I had three nights to get the shot. The best evening had passed, according to
NOAA Weather. The first shot shows the exterior with the lighting as we scouted it the night before. Fortunately my Sprinter van was packed with lights for the shoot.
I scheduled the shoot call time for 4:30am. It was wet, and it was muddy. Our wellies and hardhats were on. To get the look I wanted, my crew placed lights surrounding the hotel. Brian was inside adjusting the lights and curtains. The crew positioned the lighting and strung power to them. We had two cameras positioned for the exposures. Light started coming up at about 5:15. We spent 30-40 minutes exposing as the morning light increased. There was heavy cloud cover and rain was threatening. Golf umbrellas came out to protect cameras from light rain that had begun. After the exterior was shot, we broke for some breakfast and watched the rain move in. The odds were slim to get the shot before the rain, but the payoff was big. Now open,
CDACasino website features the images taken on that shoot.
The exterior image used for the brochure cover.
©2011 John Granen
