Shutter Mike Photography

This image took some work both in the camera and in Photoshop with post-processing.  I was working without a tripod – because I left it in the car – so it took several shots to get a steady properly exposed image.  I was using my 50 mm f/1.7 prime lens and getting both the lit hotel in the background and the tree int he foreground to come out right was not easy.  But a little adjusting in Photoshop using adjustment layers to get the brightness and contrast right for both the foreground and background independently seems to have done the trick.

The Arizona Biltmore does an amazing job of decorating at Christmas.  From this huge tree out front to some very detailed and large gingerbread houses in the lobby the whole hotel is decked out for Christmas.  Throw in the fact that the architecture is influenced by the Frank Lloyd Wright style and I am in photography heaven.