McMenamins
Hotel, travel, and lifestyle campaign for McMenamins
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
This lifestyle, hotel, and restaurant and bar photography project for McMenamins took place over the span of several months and many adventures. This family-owned chain of brewpub-historic hotel-music venues is absolutely full of whimsy and subsequently has a cult following here in the Pacific Northwest.
The partnership was coordinated and arranged through Maxwell PR + Engagement, and I was given a very expansive creative license. Rather than photograph each destination from head to toe, the goal was to be as authentic as possible, choose my own adventure, and document from the heart. I was given a passport, a itinerary was arranged, and the story-telling commenced. That said, one of the most interesting challenges of this project was that I was my own subject, meaning a lot of carefully composed self portraits were taken throughout. Some of which feature my boyfriend and travel partner.
The combination of photography and self-portraiture, copy writing, and travel made my partnership with McMenamins truly unique and creative exercise.
About McMenamins
McMenamins is a family-owned chain of brewpubs, breweries, music venues, historic hotels, and theater pubs in Oregon and Washington. Many of their locations are in rehabilitated historical properties; at least nine are on the National Register of Historic Places
INSIDE THE PROJECT
A LOOK INSIDE HOW THE PROJECT WAS STYLED AND PHOTOGRAPHED
ELK’S TEMPLE
McMenamins latest establishment at the time in the heart of Tacoma, WA. Elks Temple was originally built in 1916 and sat vacant for several years until McMenamins reopened it as a seven story hotel/restaurant/bar/concert venue masterpiece this April. With this adventure came such a deep level of appreciation for McMenamins and the way they pour so much love and honor into old, historic places.
KALAMA HARBOR LODGE
Continuing on with the tour, we found ourselves finishing the evening at Kalama Harbor Lodge. Situated on the Port of Kalama, it has to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing locations you could possibly enjoy a beer or wine flight. And don’t get me started on its lovely headboards.
McMENAMINS CRYSTAL HOTEL and BALLROOM
This was not my first time at Crystal Hotel by any means. In fact, it was where I stayed the first time I visited Portland in 2014. This was, however, the most exciting time. Not only did my passport take me on a full tour, but it just so happened to be Pride Weekend and McMenamins was hosting their own block party in celebration.
Like all McMenamins establishments, Crystal Hotel has many stories to tell through its incredibly rich and colorful history. In addition to highlighting its many pasts, I wanted to also put emphasis on its LGBTQ+ roots in honor of Pride Weekend.
McMENAMINS SIX ARMS
McMenamins first came onto my radar in 2011 when I met my friend Lee. To this day, he is the bar manager of Capitol Hill’s Six Arms Pub, and a slammin’ mixologist at that. Each season, he writes a menu of (mostly) punny craft cocktails. Each has received rave reviews, some even from the owners of McMenamins themselves.
The holiday menu, year after year, is my absolute favorite of his. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about Lee’s secret eggnog recipe all year long. And if the eggnog doesn’t get you, “Sithmas Tree” certainly will (especially when Lee garnishes it to look like Baby Yoda!) So when December rolled around, I offered to highlight Six Arms for not only its bright and cozy environment, but the atmosphere and quirkiness behind it.
Unicorn & Narwhal Bar
Seattle bar photography for Capitol Hill bar Unicorn and Narwhal
ABOUT THE PROJECT
This was a full Seattle bar photography project for Capitol Hill's beloved carnival-themed bar Unicorn & Narwhal. This all-inclusive project had everything from food and drink menu to environment to lifestyle photography. Thanks to excellent coordination with the bartenders and kitchen staff, it was able to take place over the course of just one full day!
There are many nooks, crannies and quirks that make Unicorn & Narwhal special from their taxidermy to their famous, bejeweled ATM. The client wanted me to capture a little bit of everything for use on the web, in social media and in the press.
About Unicorn & Narwhal
Unicorn & Narwhal are two carnival themed bars located on Capitol Hill, Seattle. Each packs its own vibe into one location offering whimsical food & drink options. Also featuring an arcade, claw machine, & photo booth. Weekly events include Mimosas Cabaret, Gayme Night, live shows, karaoke, trivia and more.
INSIDE THE PROJECT
A look inside how the project was styled and photographed
THE ENVIRONMENT
It's like real estate photography, but not really. I wanted to get ultra-wide photographs of the environment in order to make it look spacious and share the atmosphere all in one fell swoop. In a world where Instagram is king, atmosphere is such an integral part of why people tend to visit new places. Showing you have an attractive space through stunning imagery is quite a convincing reason for someone to visit themselves.
THE COCKTAIL MENU
I just love the drink menu at Unicorn. They offer this wide variety of colorful cocktails with goofy carnival names (e.g. "Unicorn Jizz). Since this is a bar after all, and the vessels and garnishes themselves are pretty standard, I wanted to make sure I put emphasis on the environment in each frame. And for the sake of social media use, I switched it up on the backgrounds, angles and lighting so the client had a bit of of variety to choose from.
THE FOOD MENU
Seriously. The entire food menu. Food styling and photography has been a passion of mine for about a decade. It has been such a blast to finally bring this passion into my business model. Like their cocktails, the Unicorn food menu has a ton of crazy names. Having the opportunity to put a face to the name on every single menu item was a series of endless surprises. I've always wondered what "Unicorn Balls" looked like...
DETAILS
There are so many nooks, quirks and crannies that make Unicorn and Narwhal both so special. In our initial consultation, I suggested the client give me a list of all their favorite parts of the bar that they wanted photographed. This makes for great social media material because each one has its own, individual story to tell.
LIFESTYLE
Sharing images of an empty bar on social media isn't the most enticing to your followers. So what better way to exhibit how truly lively it gets is than to bring some lifestyle photography into the mix? Often times with bars and restaurants, I will recommend the client asks employees or friend’s of the business to model. This will ultimately cut time and costs that would otherwise go toward casting calls and paying out models. For reference, a professional model via an agency can cost up to $400/hr. I tend to pay out non-professional models roughly $50/hr. On the bright side, lifestyle shoots for restaurants and bars like Unicorn generally only require roughly 1-2 hours of a model's time.
