For more than 100 years, Hotel Breakers—a historic beachfront resort located in Sandusky, Ohio, just steps away from the iconic Cedar Point amusement park—has been the go-to destination for roller coaster enthusiasts and Lake Erie vacationers alike. The hotel has undergone many impressive changes since it was first built in 1905, but its latest $30 million renovation takes the cake for the largest, most expensive makeover that the hotel has ever had. The 100-year-old hotel now boasts 511 guest rooms at a little over 600,000 sq. ft.; upgrades include an exterior renovation that encompasses all four hotel buildings, building additions and interior renovations in the lobby, gift shop, training center and more.
Scott Pease, an architectural photographer based in Aurora, OH, just over an hour away from Cedar Point, was recently commissioned to photograph the hotel’s new look. Scott was hired based on similar work he’s done in the past, and a great recommendation from another client. For him, it was an ideal assignment.
This was a perfect fit for me in regards to the nature of the original facility and the renovation work that was done to the Hotel Breakers. Large multi-space hotels with high ceilings and lots of windows to deal with are what I do best. Selecting the best times of day to shoot specific shots was the key to all the shots. Only a few were capable of being shot any time during the day or night.
Scott’s biggest challenge was determining the best times to shoot specific photos given the parameters. He was given one day to get all the shots needed, and had to be careful not to bother the patrons. The solution? One long, well-thought-out day of making images.
Pretty typical requests given the situation but at the height of the season how do you avoid the patrons? Well, we started with a walk through of the hotel where I took a number of test shots to determine appropriate angles for all the views. Once the final angles had been selected it was pretty simple to go back and capture these images. The time of day for each shot was determined by where the sun would rise and set and at what times, hence the early morning start time. I arrived at the park at 4:30 a.m. and shot all day. I left the park at 10 p.m.
Scott ended up with 40 final images—none of which used any extreme lighting, only a small handheld flash to accent specific areas in each scene. The photographs have received high marks by the architects and the builder, and everyone was happy that Scott was able to churn out that many photos in one day. In the future, one of the photos will be the cover for Properties Magazine, and the clients will use the images for award submissions and website galleries.
To see more of Scott’s work, visit peasephotography.com.