Suisse Majestic, Montreux – Valerie

I went on the search for indoor locations across Switzerland a while back, hoping to build up a list of contacts across the country to which I could return from time to time when the weather turns inclement and therefore making outdoor portrait sessions impractical. I wrote to a number of organizations and locations and one of the positive responses I received was from the Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic in Montreux. After arranging a suitable date, I arranged with my friend Valerie – who I know through online collaboration on the Swiss Peeks books and through Flickr – to meet there and join Jo and me for an afternoon of photography.

I’d primarily arranged the session to gain a further image for my One Frame Movie collection, to use the opportunity to get some nice shots of Jo, and to give Valerie – herself a very talented photographer – the opportunity to turn her own camera on Jo and myself. As it turned out, the wonderful decor and generous hospitality of the hotel marketing staff meant that we had a great deal of opportunity to shoot around the hotel. I came away with photos in a completely different style to the ones I’d expected and although this worried me before I sat down to review the results, I’m now more than pleased with the shots I got.