the montecito inn collection.

blast. i have neglected my lil blog for almost a week. ah. who i have a become? my deepest apologies blog. i am inclined to justify my absence with some dramatic tale of how i have been traveling the world or a proclamation of my busyness. and while i have been quite busy and have been traveling the world of Los Angeles, there is still no excuse, no reason, no cause to neglect a friendship i have become so fond of. only thing i can say is that i am lame, and i am sorry. forgive me bloggy-mc-bloggerton.

now, that we are all-good, i shall proceed...

in the past few weeks, i have been hard at work on several different projects in the midst of editing photos, planning upcoming shoots, and scheming other business endeavours. namely, of said projects, is my montecito inn fine art photography project. now i have hinted at this project a time or two here on the blog, and of course, have told many of my friends tales from the epic saga. but now, i get to fill you all in. this my be utterly boring to you, or perhaps insightful and amusing. you tell me. ha.

the short version. after image-creating, editing and perfecting, photo-proofing, frame-designing, and art-installing i am proud to present to you the montecito inn collection. inspired by the simplicity, subtlety and beauty of santa barbara landscapes and seascapes, the collection offers a calming presence in the newly opened tower suite and luxury apartment. with hues and tones that compliment the imported carpets, fabrics, and furniture, the images softly whisper the essence of the natural santa barbara many of us are so fond of.

Flash Required to view this area.

the tower suite.

the apartment.



replica j. shipley signature fine art prints and frames, are available for purchase at a special price for a limited time only. please e-mail me at info@jshipleyphotography.com for more information about availability and pricing. also, visit the fine art site for my complete fine art portfolio.

now, for the rest of the story. several months ago, i was commissioned by the montecito inn to create a collection of photographs that would serve as artwork for the newly renovated luxury apartment and tower suite. after my first meeting with general manager, danny copus, i was excited about this opportunity to a) work with danny and b) push my proverbial creative envelope. the project was particularly challenging because it required that i endeavor to create images that were of native santa barbara subject matter, were contemporary in composition and feel, and were relaxed and muted in color and hue. all the while, they had to be artistic, creative, sophisticated, and as we so often put it, sexy. on top of all that, the photos were going to be quite large and to be floated in a chic & modern custom hardwood frame. so basically, danny asked me to do something i had never done before. and for some reason unknown to me, he trusted me completely. i was intimated by the scope of the project and asked myself "what the hell have you gotten yourself into jeffrey? are you out of your mind?" i was terrified that i would fail miserably and that i would have to relinquish the project to some veteran photographer. but i gave myself a pep-talk. "you got this, jship! no prob!"

i acquiesced to his request, walked away from our meeting, and immediately called my dad. "dad, umm, so. listen. i just agreed to do this crazy, insane, out of this world project for the montecito inn. ahh. 14 custom photographs to be installed into the new luxury units. how cool is that?!! now what?" of course, he calmed my spastic self and helped strategize and scheme my approach.

so first things first, i figured i should, you know, take some photos and then start worrying about how to print, mount, frame and install them. "okay. ready go. think, jeffrey. think. conceptualize. uh...they have to be cool. epic really. and they have to be calming. luxurious. warm. inviting...umm, santa barbara. but not cheezy postcard photos. and they can't be too busy because they are going to be quite large. hmm. simple. clean. modern. greens. yellows. purples. but muted hues, jeffrey. soft. blurry. they have to match the space and look as if they were actually created for that space. and they need to whisper santa barbara but not scream it. gee that's easy. not. epic failure due anytime here. how are you actually going to create photos that do all of that? where do you even start, jeffrey? abort! no, no. that's none-sense. just go. shoot."

alas, i grabbed my camera and headed out to my favorite santa barbara locations. i didn't really know what i was going to photograph exactly, or whether or not these images could work. but i did have a hunch. so i decided to start at the butterfly preserve. here is a expert for the blog post i made about that experience back in february.

"wednesday, february 18th was a day of green for me. and some brown too. in other words, i spent the afternoon frolicking through the foliage and muddied landscape of the butterfly refuge. it is my new favorite place. the butterflies fly. a mass exodus of sorts. and then perch themselves high above the soil clinging softly to the branches of eucalyptus. tis a fascinating process. i very much enjoy the butterfly. so cute. so delicate. so incredibly, well, incredible. so i watched them flutter about their merry way and of course snapped a few shutters of the butters. love em.

then, i wandered about the refuge. through the groves. across the meadow. down the cliffs. my eyes wide. my voice quieted. my ears in-tune. my camera in hand. i wandered and i noticed. have you ever just stopped and tripped out looking at and thinking about the simple intricacies of a flower? or per chance, marveled at how the soil texturizes when it dries or wets? have you ever watched a lil bur-dah (said like bambi, anyone?) frolic about the fields of grass? do it. it is mind blowing. and relaxing, i tell you. i felt much like a small boy again. you know, tapping into that knack for adventure and discovery. for exploration. mmm. and then you pair that with a creative spirit and you are bound to come up with something cool. worked for me anyway. ;)"

the next day, i showed danny the images. he loved them. i was on the right track. actually 5 of the 14 images ended up being from that first experimental shoot. hmm. several shoots later, we had hundreds of potential images that we then narrowed down to 40 finalists. eventually, we weeded out 26 of them to finally come up with the 14 pieces for the montecito inn collection! done and done.

now, onto producing the actual goods. we decided to go with a photographic print mounted on a substrate for an awesome exposed, simple and clean look. we then wanted to float that image inside of a modern square frames in order to create a sweet shadow line. i, of course, employed the best of the best to create these custom frames. none other than my own dad! when you're looking for high-end, perfection, pure beauty and luxury, s. h. shipley construction is the go-to place. some how he took my crazy ideas and drawings and turned them into utter awesomeness (just like he did for my show). all the while consulting, advising me along the way. he used a beautiful rift sawn oak that was then finished to perfection with a deep, espresso stain. mmm. very nice! and to make it all even better, he hand delivered the frames and helped me install each and every piece. this calls for a quick vignette:

imagine this scene. a gigantic six foot by nine foot photo mounted on a flimsy substrate merely wrapped in cardboard. me. my dad. danny in his slacks & tie. three bellmen from the Inn. a rickety ladder. a make-shift sled like stretcher. a rope. now imagine getting that up a twelve-foot drop and over a tiled roof to get it on the patio. only to then mount the gargantuan thang to the wall while maintain that quarter-inch gap and not prematurely sticking it to the highly adhesive sticky-stuff. haha. somehow we managed not the completely trash the thing. and danny didn't fall off the roof. and i didn't have a nervous breakdown. whew. an accomplishment to be sure.

so after wrestling that beast up there, having to reorder prints because of shipping damage, and cope with the old, antique walls of the inn, we finally managed to complete the project. for me this was a huge relief and of course for my poor dad. but it was even more so for danny after working this renovation project for over a year. done and done.

for information about the montecito inn or for booking, visit their site here.