Season | Audience | For hotels
Every landscape has its season.
Good pictures make it desirable.
The question is not when the weather plays along. It is: which season is the guest you want looking for?
At a glance
- By the sea
- summerbright water, terrace, long evenings
- In the mountains
- often snowthe winter season frequently decides the year
- In a city
- hardly mattersthere it is parking and the way to the centre or the fairground
- Two seasons
- two visitsone after the other, matched to each other
- Bare trees
- can be given leavesroutine for one picture, work for a whole series
- Interiors
- any timeI bring the light
Which season is your guest expecting?
Anyone heading for the coast has summer in their head – bright water, terrace, long evenings. A beach hotel with November pictures sells against its own expectation.
In a mountain house it is often the other way round. There the winter season frequently decides the year, and a green slope does not show what people book for. In the city, season hardly matters. Other things decide there: whether there is parking, and how far it is to the centre or the fairground.
Where does the planning start?
So the first question is not about dates but about guests: which season carries your house? Who comes, and what do they come for?
The shoot day follows almost by itself from that answer. The other way round – find a free day, then photograph – produces pictures that speak to the wrong demand.
Nobody looking for summer books a house in November.
And if the house lives on two seasons?
Some houses live on both: summer breaks and ski weeks, hiking and Christmas markets. Then two kinds of pictures are needed, side by side rather than as a compromise.
It does not all have to happen at once. One season first, the other next time – as long as the two sets fit together afterwards. That is why I note light, angle and setup, so the second visit connects to the first.
What can be solved afterwards?
More than most people think. Bare trees can be given leaves, a grey sky replaced, a terrace furnished after the fact. Technically none of that is an obstacle.
The question is rather what is worth it. Rebuilding a single picture is routine. Shifting a whole series into another season is effort that at some point costs more than a second shoot day at the right time. What makes sense in each case we say beforehand, not afterwards.
When in the year, and how far ahead?
In low season rooms stand empty; in high season the picture is right – and the house is full. The workable compromise is usually the shoulder weeks, midweek.
Then there is lead time: pictures are needed before the season they show. A summer brochure goes to print in winter. In practice, summer pictures are taken the summer before.
The pictures come before the season. Or too late.
What works in any weather?
Rooms, corridor, restaurant, spa – I bring the light for those.
So we plan the day so that the interiors happen regardless. Outside follows the season you want to show.
Common questions
Answers without detours
Which season should we show?
The one your guests book in. On the coast that is usually summer, in a mountain house often winter. In a city the season hardly matters - there it is parking and the distance to the centre or the fairground.
We live on summer and winter. What then?
Then two sets of pictures, one after the other. I note setup and angles so the second visit matches the first.
Can't green simply be added afterwards?
Yes, it can. For single pictures it is routine. For a whole series it quickly becomes more work than a second shoot day – which is cheaper we work out beforehand.
Our rooms face north. Is that a problem?
No. Missing light I bring with me.
How far ahead do we need to book?
It depends what the pictures are for. For the current season, short notice is usually fine. If they are going to print, count back from the print date – and then back one more season.
Which season carries your house?
Tell me who books with you and what for – the right moment usually follows from that on its own.