Galleries > Exteriors

Exterior Hotel Photography

HOTEL: Drury Plaza Hotel at the Arch

LOCATION: St. Louis, Missouri

SUBJECT: Hotel Exterior

It was a quiet night in St. Louis, a little too quiet. We were looking to shoot an exterior of the Drury Plaza Hotel at dusk, complete with cars driving through the frame at the busy downtown location. The problem was, the cars decided not to show. It was an eerily quiet evening for no particular reason, so in order for our image to work, we needed to "create" traffic.

This was achieved by capturing individual motorists as they drove past the building. After twelve separate exposures, we had enough to blend together to create the shot you see here. Normally, we could get the traffic glow in a single image or two, but you do what has to be done.

This was a great old building, just blocks from the St. Louis Arch, pictured left. It was a bit of a challenge to incorporate the arch into the shot, but this angle suited the purpose nicely. We also lucked out a bit on the weather, as a large thunderstorm with sheets of rain passed by not an hour prior to our shoot time.

The Drury Plaza Hotel at the Arch is a unique property, encompassing an old historic building, seen in the middle foreground. They also have a new addition to the building that can be seen on the right hand side of the frame, attached to the older building. It stands out as favorite for both tourists and business travelers visiting St. Louis.