The beauty of the Oregon Coast captured in photographs taken by George Vetter is about to be shared with visitors to the Hallmark Inns in Cannon Beach and Newport.

As the inns complete a major remodeling project, Vetters photographs will be hung on the walls in all 261 rooms.

Hallmark Inn is tackling its first major remodel in several years. Featuring new tubs, tile, fixtures, carpets and beds, the hotels rooms will be completely upgraded.

We started in February and hoped to have it done by mid-June, said Kirby Blankenship, vice president and director of operations at Hallmarks Cannon Beach location. Its drywall to floorboards.

Typically we would do a few rooms at a time, not the whole hotel, Blankenship said.

When it came to finding artwork to display in the Hallmarks rooms, Blankenship and Hallmarks owners wanted to find artists whose work best represented the Oregon Coast.

We wanted local photo art, Blankenship said. Id known George for a long time, and he immediately came to mind.

Vetter, the owner of FotoArt at Village Center, has spent the past 25 years capturing the people and scenery of Cannon Beach. He is always busily snapping shots of everything that makes the town beautiful: sunsets, moonrises, parades, town events and everyday people.

Through Vetters lenses, everything from driftwood to sand comes to life.

When the remodel is complete, visitors to Cannon Beach and Newport will get a chance to see the world through Vetters eye when they check into the Hallmark Inn at either location.

The Hallmark Inn at Cannon Beach has 103 rooms in the main building, while Newport has 158.

About three or four of Georges photos will be in every room, Blankenship said. Weve also discussed perhaps adding some of his pieces in the lower lobby, along with his business card. I imagine theyll be quite popular.

Vetter is excited to be a part of the Hallmark Inns plans.

Its great exposure, he said. I expect it will draw guests of the Hallmark down to the gallery who may have otherwise not stopped in.

The process of selecting just the right pictures for the remodels began a while ago.

Management at the Hallmark approached me about two years ago when they first started planning the remodels, Vetter said. They thought the recession may have eased, but it hadnt, so they waited another year.

Eventually, Hallmark planners met with Vetter at his gallery and began sifting through photos that would illustrate each propertys surroundings.

They originally picked about 900 photos, Vetter said. They were able to sift it to a variety they liked.

In all, eight original photographs will be used in the project, with a picture of Haystack Rock and one of Yaquina Bay Bridge exclusive to the Cannon Beach and Newport properties, respectively.

The number of pictures needed to supply the order was beyond what Vetter normally could print, so that job was farmed out to B & B Printing in Portland, a family-owned print shop with nearly 100 years of experience.

Getting so many prints out is a complex, expensive process, Vetter said.

The machine B & B Printing uses for a job like Vetters is called an off-press machine. It features eight 7-foot-high tower printers. Vetter estimated it is about the length of his gallery front to back.

They create a separate metal plate for each color of each picture, which is very intricate and expensive, Vetter said. But the machine can print out about 1,800 pictures a minute.

One of its greatest assets is its ability to capture highly sharpened details.

I was told it is more sensitive than the human eye, Vetter said.

With the remodels progressing, both parties are happy with the partnership.

We had the option of using art designed specifically for hotel remodels, Blankenship said. Georges work gives us something fresher and local.

Its bigger than anything Ive done, Vetter said. Its nice to have new people familiar with my work.