The Art Issue Cover

As some of you may be aware, I relocated to Maine from Arizona just about a decade ago. Ever since I moved here I have fallen in love with the state for many reasons. Of course there are the obvious reasons like its natural beauty and the fact that there is always a new dining option to explore. But one of the other reasons I love this state is its thriving art scene. I have been fortunate to photograph many talented artists that excel at what they do such as Robert Indiana, John Bisbee and Alan Magee to name a few. When I got the call for this assignment I was excited to learn that this time we would be photographing Donna Mcniel who is the former director of the Maine Arts Commission and a long time arts advocate.

To learn more about Donna we invite you to have a look at the Art Issue of Maine Home + Design on newsstands throughout April.

Press Hotel Book

Last year we had the fortune of collaborating with The Press Hotel located in Portland, Maine. We created images that showcased the architecture and amazing interior design. The Press Hotel is  located in the former Press Herald building. It has a beautiful art gallery and installations created by local artists Matt Hutton and Erin Hutton  that pay homage to the buildings history.

As a thank you to our clients at The Press we decided to create a custom book that included several of the images we created throughout the project. We did all the layout and printing in-house and collaborated with Scott Mullenberg from Mullenberg Designs in creating the book. One of the things that caught my eye from the hotel was its custom wallpaper. We decided to incorporate it into the book cover and we must say we are very pleased with the results.

The book was a hit with our clients who decided to have us create a few more copies to be shared with some of the investors. In this post we would like to share with you some images and a small video showcasing the final book. Hope you like it as much as we do. If you ever visit Maine I would recommend you stop by and have a look at The Press and have some of the delicious food at Union the restaurant located within the hotel.

 

Hospitality - Press Hotel

In the last year there have been several hotels opening their doors in downtown Portland. It is amazing to see so many new options available to travelers. I would like to think that this is a testament to how great our little city is. Fortunately for us, we have collaborated with many of these new hotels creating images for editorial and advertising purposes. A few months ago we had the pleasure of photographing one of the rooms of the up-and-coming Press Hotel.

We are now able to share with you the images we created and will have some more to share in the future as we gear up to create more images this week. I can't wait to see the finished hotel open its doors. Located in the former Press Herald building, the hotel incorporates the building's history into its beautiful interior design, showcasing artwork from some of Maine's most respected and talented artists such as Angela Adams and John Bisbee.  So if you have visitors from out of town, make sure to point them in the direction of The Press Hotel, accepting reservations sometime this spring.

American Craft Magazine - Lissa Hunter

I just received my copy of the April/May Issue of American Craft Magazine and was excited to see the images we produced while photographing Artist Lissa Hunter. We had a great time photographing Lissa who is such a multifaceted artist. She works in a multitude of media and having a look at her Portland studio provides a timeline of her evolution as an artist. In her studio you can see paintings, works covered in encaustic wax, ceramic, paper, charcoal and coiled baskets. Some of her work showcases a delicate mixture in a single piece of many of the skills and media she has worked with throughout her artistic career.

If you are not familiar with Lissa's work, I would encourage you to visit her website and have a look at the wonderful work she produces. Meeting people like Lissa is just one of the reasons why I love my job as much as I do. Hope you enjoy the images.

Old Port Magazine - Spring Cover

With temperatures as frigid as they have been I am sure we are all looking forward to spring. I know I cant wait to start creating more images outdoors and engage in activities that allow me to enjoy the sunshine. Looking forward to that, I wanted to share with you today the latest cover I shot for Old Port Magazine. Hope you enjoy it and makes you daydream a little about what you will do once you can go outside without having to wear layer upon layer of clothing.

What is it you are looking forward to do the most when spring finally arrives?

Old Port Magazine - Winter Cover

Since its launch this year, we have had the pleasure of collaborating with Old Port Magazine in creating their cover images. From the beginning we have created images that wrap around from front to back cover which makes the creative process that much more interesting to us since we have to make sure everything will layout as expected. It provides the opportunity to work on two canvases in one if you will. Even-though we are photographing both covers in a single frame we have to make sure that the front and back cover work well almost as independent images. So much fun!

This is the full frame image.

I had a great time shooting and would like to thank Jen DeRose Managing Editor of Old Port Magazine for art directing the shoot. I was also happy that we were able to include Central Provisions one of my new favorite restaurants in the cover image and Vignola on the back cover, not to mention one of my favorite streets in the Old Port.

You can find a copy of Old Port Magazine in newsstands now.

Old Port Magazine Premiere Issue

If you are familiar with my work, you know that I have been a regular contributor to Maine Home & Design Magazine and also have contributed to Maine Magazine. Well, the creative team over at the Maine Media Collective, publishers of these two fine publications have done it again. This time with the launch of Old Port Magazine, a publication dedicated to showcase all the amazing things Portland, Maine has to offer.

Old Port Magazines editors trusted me with the task of creating an image for the cover of the premiere issue. The image for the cover had to be shot in a horizontal orientation so the image could wrap around from front to back cover, something that I found particularly exciting.  I was also asked to contribute in creating images for a hotel feature. The focus would be on some of the best hotels Portland has to offer, including three hotels that are scheduled to open their doors soon.

Aside from some of the great locations we also enjoyed photographing four of the hotel developers. We shot the image on location in South Portland with the Old Port in the background and couldn't have been happier with the results.

To commemorate the launch of the premiere issue of Old Port Magazine we will be giving away a 27x17 inch print printed on metallic paper. To be entered in the drawing all you have to do is "like" the Irvin Serrano Photography Facebook page. The drawing will be on Friday June 13th. So head over to our page and you may see this image hanging on your wall.

We look forward to creating more content for this magazine and continue collaborating with the great team behind it. Special thanks to Art Director Heidi Kirn who put so much of her creative talents to work in not only designing the cover but conceptualizing the direction of the visual content over several phone calls.

Here is the cover.

This is the full frame image which includes what would be the front and back cover.

The opening spread for the hotel feature.

Portrait of hotel developers.

The Hilton Garden Inn, Portland, ME.

The bar at the Westin has some of the best views overlooking Portland,ME.

A detail from the new Hyatt Hotel.