What you should look out for in hotel photos
As you and we know: "A picture is worth a thousand words." Each and every one of us has left a hotel website or canceled the booking process because the pictures did not emotionally pick us up and/or appeal to us.
That's why we have summarized our most important findings from over two decades of hotel photography in this blog post.
1 - Invest time in the search for a professional hotel photographer
Professional photographers are characterized by their ability to adapt to the customer's wishes. Piquant Production creates individual image concepts to accurately reflect the appearance and values of your hotel.
If you are a professional hotel photographer yourself, you can skip this point. Otherwise, we recommend that you look for a professional hotel photographer.
Are there times when you can do it yourself? No. If you want to build up a consistent image and stand out from the general flood of images, you should call in a professional. For your hotel marketing materials or hotel website, you need the support of a professional hotel photographer. They will get to work in an organized and effective manner. This will save you a lot of time and money.
2 - Good planning is crucial
The success of a hotel photo shoot depends very much on the preparation. You should pay attention to the following points:
Do you have a clear image concept in mind? How do you want your images to look and feel?
Are the different motifs clear? Which hotel areas do you need new photos of?
What kind of hotel photos do you need? With models or without? Micro and detail shots vs. drone shots?
At Piquant Production, we prepare the hotel photo shoots together with our hotel clients and make sure that everything is already clarified and prepared before the big day. When choosing a professional hotel photographer, you should also make sure that the planning and preparation of the shoot is part of the offer and receives the necessary attention during the collaboration.
3 - Prepare your hotel AND your team for the hotel photo shoot
Have you found the right hotel photographer and planned the hotel photo shoot together? Then it's time to involve your hotel team and prepare accordingly. Because how many hotel photos are taken in one day depends very much on your internal preparation.
All too often, time is spent preparing the motifs on the day of the hotel photo shoot. Think about the following when taking photos of your hotel room, for example:
Is the bed linen perfectly ironed?
Are the windows clean?
Do the curtains hang straight or do they need to be smoothed again?
Are fresh flowers and other pre-arranged props (such as decorative materials and utensils) already available?
Our recommendation to you: Use the day of the hotel photo shoot to take photos, plan in advance and prepare all areas down to the smallest detail. Because yes, hotel photos can and will be edited after the shoot. But too much retouching and the use of too many filters looks fake and reduces the quality of your hotel photography.
We photograph your hotel
Do you need professional hotel photos that bring out your uniqueness and tell an authentic story? Then contact us, because at Piquant Production you get everything from a single source: from planning the shoot to production and editing.
4 - Check the results on the day of the shoot
In many hotels, a hotel photo shoot is carried out no more than once a year. This means that the resulting hotel photos will be with you for a long time.
Therefore, take the time to be present on the day of the hotel photo shoot and check the hotel photos on an ongoing basis. This way, you can contribute your own ideas and give direct feedback if something does not match the image of your hotel.
At Piquant Production, it is important to us to have a hotel manager at our side during a professional hotel photo shoot. This is the only way we can work together to ensure that our hotel clients are more than satisfied with the results.
5 - Suitable hotel image editing and image formats for your hotel
Even if the photographer is responsible for editing the hotel photos, you should clarify the guidelines and image formats in advance and ensure that the editing is included in the offer.
Image editing: Do you already have existing hotel photos to which the new hotel photography should be adapted? Or do you have hotel photography examples that you like (e.g. color scheme) that the hotel photographer should follow?
Image formats: For which media and tools do you plan to use the hotel images? Have the professional hotel photographer prepare the photo material accordingly. This way, you will already have the new hotel images in the right format for the right channels.
Our top recommendation for you
Finally, our top Piquant Production recommendation: check in advance whether moving images can also be produced as part of the hotel photo shoot.
We are thinking of short videos and reels, which are an important part of high-quality social media content on social media, for example.
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