Capturing More Than Pixels: Unveiling the Accountability of a Photographer for Hotels

Introduction

Deciding on which photographer to commission to create your hotel photos cannot be taken lightly. There is a lot riding on the resulting hotel pictures, which will be how most guests are introduced to your hotel. Your hotel photos can either have a positive or negative impact on your revenue, as well as your hotel’s overall brand and reputation. As well as the reputation of the hotel management.

Therefore, there is not only a huge responsibility on your understanding the value of a high-end specialized hotel photographer. And on the photographer who decides to take on the hotel photoshoot.

The Two Type Of Photographer For Hotels

There are basically two type of photographer’s that take on hotel photoshoots:

Specialized Hotel & Interiors Photographers

I won’t write too much about this group of photographers, as I have covered it in other articles.

Understanding The Value of High-End Hotel Photography
How Many Interior Hotel Photos In A Day?
The Top 3 Sources For Hospitality Photography
Finding The Best Luxury Hotel Photographer

All Other Photographers For Hotels

Here are all other wedding, portrait, event, fashion, headshot, etc. photographers who like to say they also shoot hotels, architecture, and interiors.

Hotel and interiors photography is highly specialized and not only involves the technical skills and creativity. But also years of experience in understanding the best light, correct composition, and styling to create a photo which will be appealing to your prospective guests and invoke an emotional reaction.

These photographers are very good at their specialities, but hotel and interiors photography is a completely different skill set and knowledge. It would take years of experience to be proficient in both hotel and interior photography, as well as another genre of photography.

This article touches both types, but is mostly aimed towards the second group.

The Problem

Due to small marketing budgets and not fully understanding the value of commissioning a high-end professional hotel photographer, many independent hotels opt out for the cheapest option available, thinking that any photos will do the job. Hotels then hire these photographers, thinking that the resulting photos will be “good enough”.

The Outcome

What is the result of the receiving photos which are “good enough”? Hotel photography is a very important investment in your hotel and will have a direct effect on your bottom line.

Why would you trust such an important investment to a jack-of-all-trades? If a water pipe burst at your home, you would not call an electrician, but you would call an experienced plumber. Or for something minor, you do it your self. But you would never contemplate paying anyone but a plumber.

I am not advocating that you take the photos yourself, but it is a much better option than paying for an unqualified photographer. You would save money and the resulting photos would most likely be of more value to your hotel as you know the USPS of your hotel, and you care more about the results than the wedding/event/fashion photographer does.

If you search for the top 10 hotels in Phnom Penh on Tripadvisor, the result as of writing this article are:

What can we learn from this list, besides the fact that I shoot for 7 out of the 10 hotels? It is that the management of these hotels see the value in, and they are willing to invest in photography by an experienced and specialized hotel photographer.

I am not suggesting that it is solely the photography that has helped these hotels achieve these positions, however it is a contributing factor. What is even more important is that the general managers and marketing teams have the foresight and confidence to know the value these photos will return for their occupancy and brand reputation.

These general managers and marketing teams have an immense passion and drive for the success of their hotels.

While writing this article, I was thinking about how I perceived hotels that had not invested in professional photography when I was looking for a hotel.

Not only don’t the photos look warm and inviting, showing the guest rooms at their best, but you also begin to wonder about other things. “If the hotel does not care about its image portrayed in the photos, is this a reflection of the service we can expect to receive? What about the hotel maintenance? Is that put aside in the cost saving efforts? Does the management really care about the hotel?”

These are more than likely not true, but it is easy to see how quickly these doubts can enter our thought process.

It would seem that the photos used have a direct reflection on the service, cleanliness, and management of a hotel, amongst many other things.

Another interesting fact. – Many of my hotel photoshoots here in Phnom Penh are reshoots after a non-specialized photographer has irresponsibly taken on the hotel photoshoot and the resulting photos are not useable. Not only is this a waste of money, but think of the resources and man-hours that were put in on the side of the hotel, all gone to waste because a photographer offering a cheap rate to deliver something they are incapable of doing. We also need to take into consideration the lost revenue, as marketing plans have to be postponed until a reshoot is conducted by a specialized hotel and resort photographer.

The Solution

The solution is to commission the correct photographer for the hotel photoshoot. As specialized hotel photographers, this is all we do, and we have a vast experience and the creativity to not only return the best photos but also photos that twill return the most value to you.

A photographer for hotels, who is approved by hospitality brands, is indirectly kept up to date on the best photos to attract clients. These huge hospitality brands with thousands of hotels and resorts have a huge amount of data on which photos are viewed the most and attract the most bookings. We are kept up to date via all the photography guidelines for the hospitality brands we are accredited for.

Conclusion

Hire the best photographer for the job. If your budget does not align with the quotation from the specialized hotel photographer, don’t just ghost them and go for the cheapest option. Get back to them and let them know what your budget is, there is a good chance they will have some suggestions to help you out.

Bruce Vincentiis is the Founder and Photographer of TwoKeys Media.

If you have any comments about the article or need a photographer to help you create value for your hotel’s marketing efforts, please reach out to him from our contact page.