Before the shoot | For hotels | Practice
It does not need to be perfect.
It needs to be ready.
A shoot day in a hotel rarely fails because of the light. It fails because the room we need is still occupied, because nobody has the key to the suite, or because the contractors arrive at eleven. What follows takes a house half an hour to sort out – and saves hours on the day.
At a glance
- Rooms
- free and cleanedbefore I arrive, not around midday
- Where they are
- best on one floorevery change of floor costs setup time
- Out of the picture
- cables, remote, waste bintwo minutes a room, half an hour across twelve
- Restaurant, bar, spa
- a stretch without guestsearly morning or afternoon between shifts
- Who helps
- someone who may decidenot there all day, but reachable
- Keys
- settled beforehandwho unlocks, and where the tripod may stand
How many rooms, and for how long?
A room takes time. Setting it up, placing the light, arranging details, photographing – and putting it back for the next guest. How many rooms we get through in a day depends on the house; what matters is that they are free and cleaned before I arrive, not freed up at midday.
Ideally the rooms sit next to each other or on one floor. Every change of storey costs setup time.
What does not belong in the picture?
Remote controls, charging cables, waste bins, room service cards, shower gel bottles with someone else's logo, the stand with the WiFi password. None of it is a problem – it just costs two minutes each time, and across twelve rooms that is half an hour.
Beds freshly made, creases smoothed, pillows plumped. Towels folded rather than rolled, unless rolling is your style. Whatever belongs to your house stays – it should look like your room, not a show room.
Whatever is lying in the room is lying in the picture.
When are restaurant, bar and spa empty?
These spaces need a window with nobody in them. Often that is early morning or the afternoon between shifts. Tell me when your house has those gaps and I will build the day around them.
Laid tables read differently from empty ones. If you want to show a particular table culture, it should be prepared – that is the house's job, not the camera's.
Who decides on the day?
Questions come up on the day that nobody can foresee. May the chair be moved? Is the third-floor suite really free? Bar with glasses or without?
So the house needs one person who is allowed to decide and who is reachable. Not present all day – but available. Without them, everyone waits.
Not there all day. But reachable.
Who unlocks the doors?
Who unlocks the rooms? Who has access to the spa outside opening hours? Where may the tripod stand and where not? It sounds trivial and it is the most common reason for lost time.
And outside?
The exterior depends on weather and light, not on the occupancy plan. It may therefore happen on a different day from the rooms – or on the same day, but at a time the house does not choose. Parking spaces clear where possible, bins out of sight, parasols either all open or all closed.
Common questions
Answers without detours
How many rooms can we do in a day?
It depends on the house – size, layout, and how much is prepared. Tell me your room count and what should be shown, and I will tell you what is realistic.
Should rooms be empty or look lived in?
Freshly made, as if the guest were about to walk in. No suitcase, no used towels – but no sterile show room either.
Can we keep working during the shoot?
Not in the rooms; in the public areas usually yes. Restaurant and bar need a quiet window, the rest of the house carries on.
What if a room turns out to be occupied?
Then we take another one. That is why it helps to have more rooms ready than needed – a buffer of two or three is usually enough.
Should staff appear in the pictures?
Gladly, if they want to – they give the house a face. Willingness is the precondition, and that is something the house sorts out, ideally before the day.
Let's talk about your schedule
Tell me how many rooms you want to show and when your house has room to breathe – I will plan around it.