One of the most complex and exciting works of hospitality photographers is photographing a hotel and resort.
Photographing hotels require experience and knowledge to capture the guest experience in seconds.
Table of Contents
Understanding the Job of a Hotel Photographer
It’s all about understanding the purpose of “images that sell”.
To capture beautiful, but the right type of images that sell the experience to the guest wherever they may find them.
At the end of the day, we are competing for the customer’s attention and driving them toward deciding between all the options that are available to them.
Planning is Key to Success
Preparing for the photoshoot of your hotel is key to its success, Consulting with an experienced hospitality photographer is crucial for the perfect execution of the project.
We need to pay attention to the time and how to capture the space based on the hotel’s needs.
Creating a timeline for scouting and individual time for each shoot (exterior and interior) and allowing extra time to mobilize through the property would be necessary for a flawless photo shoot.
Hotel Photography Basic Photo / Shoot List
It’s important to create a shoot list of all hotel rooms, suites, amenities (lobby, pool, gym), public areas, business, entertainment, and retail space.
We should have in mind the right amount of photos needed and it depends on what the space has to offer, here are some average counts.
- Exterior Day Time: 1-2
- Exterior Night/Dusk Time: 1-2
- Outdoor Amenities: 4-5
- Lobby: 1-2
- Business, Entertainment, and Retail: 1-3 per space
- Rooms – 2-4 per room
- Suites – 3-5 per room
- Food and Beverage: 2-3 Per space
- Lifestyle: 5-10 per season
Impact on Revenue:
Before we talk about general costs, it’s important to know the impact on your revenue.
Brands and Boutique Hotels pay a lot of money for their visuals and they know why!
The competition is in every corner, guests have a few seconds to choose from dozens of options at different prices, companies, locations, and even short-term vacation rentals. photography is crucial to be considered by your potential guests.
We all know the hotel rooms are just the tip of the iceberg. Guests are spending on food, beverage, gambling, retail, spa, and much more.
They share their experience on the internet and send recommendations to friends.
Interesting fact, guests would choose the more expensive hotel if they are more appealing to them within their budget.
Hotel Photography Price
It highly depends on the scope of the project and the level of commercial images you need. You also need to take into consideration your professional experience, knowledge, and resume saving you time, effort, money, and disturbance.
An average day would cost around €3,000/$3,200 to €7,000/$7,300 depending on the photo licensing and size and complexity of the project.
Some prefer to work based on Per image structure and this ranges between €700/$800 to €1,200/$1,300 depending on the number of images and licensing as well.
Most resorts would use the photos for 5 years, the investment is worth it big time.
What impacts the prices so significantly? The short answer is a license, one case would be when you want the photos for your property to be used for up to 3 years and another option would be to have a “buy-out” when you have no limitation of time and 3rd party vendors can use the photos as well.
So how much time does it take to photograph a hotel?
While it depends on so many elements and factors. Especially based on the hotel operation and logistics.
General Estimate:
Exterior: 1-5/day time image. and 1 dusk/night img. can take an average of a full working day
Rooms: 2-3 img. per room would take an average of 2 hours while large suites 3-4 can take an average of 3-4 hours.
Amenities: 2-3 img. of the hotel pools, convention, or other amenities can take an average of 2 to 4 hours depending on the size and sun direction or if additional lighting is needed.
Small Property: can take 2-5 days depending on the number of room types and amenities
Large and Luxury: a luxury hotel that requires more traveling within the resort and more upscale and large spaces should take between 1-3 weeks depending on operations and logistics.
Investing is worth it
The time frame for Hospitality image usage is typically 4-6 years.
Your goal is to generate revenue and increase your booking rate with the right type of photos that sells.
Don’t do this because you have to, Your images hold huge benefits.
Like brand awareness, reputation, customer acquisition, and letting your guests fantasize about their upcoming vacation or business trip.
People are not excited just because of a “room” they want the experience, all of us have 4 walls a ceiling, and a window, it is about the whole process and the expectations, even if we only need a place to sleep.
So make sure you invest in the right type of professional who can create the right type of photos.
