Galleries > Exteriors

Exterior Hotel Photography

HOTEL: Drury Plaza Hotel

LOCATION: Chesterfield, Missouri

SUBJECT: Exterior

Those of you who have had pleasure of visiting Missouri in February know you're likely to encounter one of two weather conditions - sunny and cold, or snowy and cold. Okay, that may be overstating it a bit, but we lucked out with the weather regarding the timing of this shot. It was a bright, beautiful, but very cold day in Chesterfield. The hotel is a large, beautiful structure, and a pleasure to photograph. Had it been in the spring, summer, or fall, we would have had little reason to retouch anything. Since it was February, we had to work on it just a bit.

The grass in the foreground was a "hibernating brown" color - those in the midwest are well aware of what I'm talking about. It took a little time on the computer to bring life (and green) back into the grass.

We also had power lines on both sides of the buildings to take out - well worth the effort to rid the shot of visual clutter. There was also a stubborn red pickup truck parked in front of the Stoney River restaurant to the right. After spending a few minutes trying to locate the owner, I relied on the Photoshop skills once again to "park" that vehicle somewhere else.

One last comment on the hotel - This part of Missouri is not exactly flat, but the Drury Plaza at Chesterfield is tall enough to beckon its guests from afar. If you're driving on the nearby highway, you'll see the towering hotel up to four miles away. So if you've booked a night here - leave your GPS units in your carryon, there's no need.