Have you been searching for the best types of photography services to showcase your five-star hotel or luxury resort in all its glory? Then read on to find out why commercial photography is highly sought after in the hospitality industry and how it can capture the essence of your hotel. Learn the best types of professional photography services that can tell your story through impactful images that can market all the amenities the guests can find, the quality of your facilities, your friendly staff, and what visitors can experience by staying there.
Why Photography Services Are Important For The Hospitality Industry
It is difficult to convey the experience of staying at a hotel purely through words. Potential guests that are looking to book a hotel want to know what the atmosphere is like, how clean the rooms are, what the view looks like from the balcony, and what activities they can engage in during their stay. A couple looking to have a destination wedding needs to know how romantic their wedding ceremony will look. You need to show all your unique selling points since telling is not enough.
A professionally taken image can be powerful, and convey what it might feel like to be there. Such photographs have the potential to create an emotional response in your target audience, whether they be tourists going sightseeing, business travelers in transit, companies looking for a venue to host their corporate events, or couples interested in destination weddings.
These photos whether they go on your company website, travel brochure, or social media channels, need to be at a high standard of quality that can match your brand. If taken professionally, the pictures have the potential to project your values, tell your story, and create a lasting impression on your target audience. Hiring a professional to handle your photography project will most likely deliver the best results, improve your brand image and increase your hotel bookings.
Types Of Professional Photography Services For Hotels
There are many types of commercial photography that a hotel or resort can look into depending on what features they wish to highlight and which target audience they want to focus on. Professional photography for hotels requires skills in a wide range of disciplines from event photography to corporate photography and even product photography.
Lifestyle Photography
This type of photography aims to capture the most visually appealing and impactful moments of a guest’s stay at the hotel. Images have to convey the overall atmosphere and vibe of the place. Whether you’re highlighting the scenic backdrop and natural environment the hotel sits at, the relaxing experience of its spa, or the fun activities like water sports, these images have to set the mood.
A creative photographer may even build a narrative using models experiencing various features of the hotel. Lifestyle photography can be challenging since it requires not just a photographer with a great eye for detail, but also a team including wardrobe, hair, and makeup artists as well as models. It will most certainly require careful planning and teamwork to pull off without a hitch.
Food And Beverages Photography (Product Photography)
Food photography is a highly specialized form of commercial photography that is in many ways similar to product photography. Presentation is key and the objective is to make the dishes prepared by your chefs look as appetizing as possible. It’s not as simple as taking out your smartphone, snapping a few photos, and uploading them to Instagram.
To get the best mouthwatering images of your food and drinks, photographers need to be good at a few things. They have to know the ideal lighting depending on the type and texture of the dish, and which details to pay attention to. This has to be carefully planned as well. It’s best to pre-select which items on the menu will be photographed so that your kitchen staff is prepared to deliver their best work. Photographers also need to work quickly to take photos before the dish gets cold or starts looking unappealing.
Interior Design And Architecture Photography
Did you hire a world-famous architect to design a unique construction for your hotel? Did your interior decor win any awards? It’s no good just mentioning it on your company website. You also need stunning photos that can really impress your audience and show off the uniqueness of the architecture and decor.
Photographers need to pay attention to the details of the furnishings, making them look luxurious and inviting at the same time. To get the most out of your interior spaces like bedrooms, bathrooms, and common areas like conference halls and restaurants, you can hire a decorator or your staff to go in and prepare everything neatly before the photographers arrive.
Photographers need to know which angles are the best to cover all the interesting aspects of the architecture. Nowadays, photographers use drone photography to get a bird’s eye view of your hotel, which can highlight a unique layout or proximity to natural landmarks and popular tourist attractions nearby. To learn more about the use of drones in aerial photography and videography, read What Is Hotel Drone Videography?
Event Photography
It may not be possible for you to share photos from corporate events like seminars or conferences but there could be other special occasions like a new year party, concerts, conventions, or festivities like Christmas. Hiring professional photographers to cover these events is the ideal way of capturing the energy and excitement of your guests.
Event photography is a chance to market your world-class facilities and the flexibility of your staff and management to accommodate various types of events. The scale of the banquet halls, how they can be partitioned or decorated, the quality of the audio/video equipment, and options for indoor or outdoor spaces can be highlighted. Food and beverage options for events can also be displayed.
Wedding Photography
Wedding photography is a form of event photography although more specialized. Not every couple may wish to share their wedding photos on your corporate website, but you could always stage a mock wedding and get the images anyway! This is in some ways similar to lifestyle photography with the use of models and a crew to make it happen.
You could do this by collaborating with vendors like wedding florists, stylists, and pastry chefs that you have experience dealing with before. Prepare your banquet hall or outdoor space that you wish to promote, dress the models in wedding clothes, and use extras to fill in the space for friends and family. Now your wedding photographer can take the photos. You could even share them with your vendor partners afterward.
Don’t forget to schedule this shoot at sunset with a gorgeous backdrop to make the images look romantic and magical. And finally, weddings nowadays aren’t just about the reception itself. There are pre-shoots that can show off other parts of your hotel. Examples are bedrooms where the bride and groom get dressed. If your hotel has picturesque outdoor spots, these can be used for group photos with the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
Portrait Photography
You can also use portrait photography to show off the diversity of your staff, their attention to detail, and their professionalism. For potential guests, it creates a human connection with the staff before they even arrive at your hotel. And for your team members, it helps boost their morale. These photos don’t have to be very formal either. They can provide a behind-the-scenes look at your kitchen staff, concierges, housekeepers, and waiters and the work that they do.
Looking For Professional Photographers?
Commercial photography requires technical knowledge as well as creative flair. To get professional photos that highlight your hotel’s key selling points with a strong sense of branding, you will need professional photographers. And since hospitality photography requires a mix of various disciplines, you will need a company that has expertise in all forms of commercial photography including lifestyle photography, event photography, product photography, and corporate photography. You may need portrait photographers as well.
Looking for professional photographers that can handle it all and complete your photography project? Check out Sujo 22, the professional photography services partner for you, with years of experience in the hospitality industry and all the creativity your photography project demands!
FAQs
Hospitality photography is about capturing images that showcase a hotel’s best features including its interior spaces like bedrooms, spas, and dining areas, the amenities, furnishings, unique architecture, facilities, activities, the professionalism of the staff, and the natural beauty of its surroundings.
Lifestyle, food and beverages, interior design, architecture, aerial, portrait, and event photography are the most effective types of professional photography services used by hotels for marketing.
