"I hear music in your photos..."
Jul 22, 2003
It has been almost a month now since I first walked past the front door of
the hotel. Each time until two weeks ago, I had always found myself
wondering what it was like inside and if I’d be able to take a panorama of
the lobby perhaps, if only for my portfolio. I have come to assume that most
of the nicer hotels have already retained the services of someone like
myself, but on this assumption I would be dead *%$)#*$. ( I have trouble
with that five letter word which begins with “w”) One day two weeks ago, I
decided that I would try my luck and see if I could “sneek” a panorama if
you will. I walked into the lobby with my camera bag and tripod discreetly
tucked under my arm and only my small digital camera in hand. “Excuse me,
could I please take a photo of the lobby” I asked the young girl at the
reception desk. Perhaps not knowing if I was a guest or local, she probably
saw now harm in such a request. Little did she know that in 5 minutes I’d
have my flash and tripod attached to the same camera and I’d be standing in
the center of the stunning lobby with a carpeted staircase leading up to
probably the nicest ballroom in all of Hungary. Directly overhead where
windows which were allowing the sunlight to enter the same lobby in which I
stood.
I surprisingly found myself being so nervous that my hands were shaking as I
attempted to take each of the 14 pictures that would comprise the panorama.
Nervous only in that I wanted this panorama so badly that I was afraid I
would be asked to stop what I was doing as soon as someone from the staff
spotted me. I was able to finish the panorama and the excitement of doing so
lead me to open my laptop to see if it had turned out or if I’d need to
re-shoot it. I hoped not. As I began the process of stitching the images
together in my computer, two well dressed men sitting in the lobby nearby
asked what I was doing. I told them that I was taking a panoramic image and
when they asked if it was my job, I replied that it was only my hobby. For
to say it was my job, if they were connected with the hotel, might of led to
my being asked to leave the hotel, so “hobby” seemed harmless enough.
Anyway, after being told that they were Hungarian realtors, I decided to
share the panorama process with them in hopes that they may be interested in
having some panoramas done for them.
It was when I was finished sharing the process with them and was beginning
to shut down my computer that they asked me if I could stay for a moment or
two. Upon asking why, I was told they’d be meeting with the CFO of the hotel
and perhaps he would be interested in seeing them. Acting as if time was of
the essence, I told them that perhaps I could stay for a bit longer. Within
moments, two very distinguished men approached the three of us and there I
stood, with sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt, surrounded by four men of
varying ages, all dressed in suits. Needless to say, the men were two very
important men in this very elegant hotel. One of the two men from the hotel,
whose name I would learn to be Stephen Kerkow, requested of me that I shoot
the ballroom upstairs as well as a suite so he could show his superiors.
Once again, acting as if time was of the essence, I told him I had about
half an hour and would see what I could do. Well, that is the beginning of
this story you might say, for here I sit in the café of the same hotel two
weeks later having shot more images/panoramas than I could have ever
imagined. Ironically, many of the staff has only come to see what the suites
upstairs look like through the images of the same they see on my laptop.
It was two days after that initial shoot that I was doing some panoramas for
a nice folk-art store on Vaci Utca. when upon checking my email on the
office computer, there was a request from Mr. Kerkow to call him at the
Grand Hotel Royal. The man in charge of the web site was visiting from Malta
Italy and was interested in meeting me and discussing my process of taking
panoramas. Needless to say, I told him I’d be there within the hour and
within the hour I was. I had to call my girlfriend and tell her that I would
not be able to meet her and her cousin at noon at the station where her
cousin was to drive us to Kecskemet where we would spend the weekend. I told
her I’d catch a train later that day and we could meet that evening. Perhaps
realizing the opportunity that was presenting itself, she told me it would
not be a problem. Her grandmother had passed away the previous week and she
needed to go to her hometown of Kesckemet for the funeral that weekend.
Shortly after arriving at the Grand Royal Hotel, I was greeted by a Mr.
Frankie Spiteri and his associate Vanessa Coleiro who is the manager of
marketing for Corinthia Hotels International. Frankie I would come to
understand is in charge of the company’s web services and thus the reason
for meeting him. They were both from Malta Italy and were only in Budapest
for a very short time. Needless to say, as quickly as my world seems to be
spinning these days, our conversation turned very technical. It was very
refreshing for me to talk to someone about such things as aperture and speed
settings, adjustments of hues and saturations, and image manipulations but
for Vanessa, it was all Greek to her and she excused herself leaving Frankie
and I alone. Our discussion transitioned from that of photography to that of
web design and programming. Next thing I knew, we were in front of a
computer and Frankie was giving me a tour of the company web site and I was
interjecting an occasional comment or suggestion. I really couldn’t believe
what I was seeing in front of me. This Corinthia Group was big, REALLY BIG!
At one point, our conversation turned to that of my travels and I decided to
show him my Europe web site. Within the gallery, I took him to some shots a
past sailing trip on the North Sea with my friends Auke and Teatske Ann of
Holland. He seemed so excited at seeing my photos as not only is he and avid
sailor, but he had visited many of the same places I was showing him and it
was bringing back many memories for him he said. I should mention that
Frankie is a man in close proximity to my age of 39. Anyway, we wrapped up
our meeting with an understanding that I would take some panoramas of the
hotel of the next few days and post them on the internet for him to present
to his superiors in Malta. If things went well he said, I could possibly be
visiting him in Malta for a “shoot” there!
Well, for the sake of time, here I sit two weeks later in the hotel’s café
and I am being considered by Corinthia Hotels International for a position
to do panoramas for many of their 5-Star hotels all over Europe. I must
admit I have my eye on two in particular, those being Malta and St.
Petersburg Russia. I have taken a plethora of panoramas for their review and
have posted them on the internet for those who care to see them, you may do
so at
www.tmhdesign.com/corinthia
One little fly-in-the-ointment is that Frankie is familiar with a technology
for panoramas which allows complete vertical and horizontal scrolling,
unlike mine which has limited vertical viewing. I told him I would attempt
to figure out how it was done and see if I could produce the same for him.
(on the panorama page, check out the atrium and ballroom to see my first
attempts) Over the past few days, I have been in touch with James Riggs of
www.panoguide.comas
well as the creators of the panorama software he put me in touch with. I’m
confident that having been given one more week before a final decision, I
will master this technology/process.
In closing this journal entry, it is my desire to share just a few other
tidbits with you regarding my life here in Budapest. Often times, events in
my life seem to be happening faster than the world is spinning. (that’s
about 1,000 mph by the way….) I have settled in here and to be very honest,
it has come to feel like home for me. Having met my girlfriend has made all
the difference in the world to me. I could not have scripted meeting a
better woman than she. I could write volumes about her, and perhaps one day
I will, but for now I will limit her exposure within my journal. I choose to
do so perhaps out of respect for her privacy, but also so as not to make her
appear as “just another entry” in this long list of stories about my
travels. As I told her last night when we were falling asleep, she has
become my world and my home in not necessarily the San Francisco Bay area,
nor Cleveland or Budapest for that matter, but by her side…
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