In my career as a hotel photographer, I have quite often had to work with facilities that had an urgent need to produce a new photo book.
Suppose we exclude newly opened hotels and those that have just finished renovations, which have a real urgency to show new images that could not produce otherwise. In that case, I find it a rather bizarre necessity.
A hotel should periodically renew its photo book with proper planning and avoid breaking the point of urgency.
You should always consider one factor which is decisive for the best success of the photo shoot: the time of the year when you’re going to make the shooting.
This factor cannot be an unknown, but you must manage it by planning, and planning must always consider factors that also change according to the main characteristics of the facility:
- beach, city, or mountain hotel
- presence of views or outdoor areas
The best months for seaside hotels
The best time to shoot beach hotels is from April to early June and September.
The reason is straightforward: the hotel is less crowded, the light is more transparent and brighter due to the less humid and breezy weather, and the vegetation in the outdoor areas will be in full force.
The best months for city hotels
City hotels usually have less need for necessarily perfect weather; sometimes, a cloudy sky can be ideal for photographing rooms.
In this case, the conditioning element is mainly the turnout of travelers in the city.
Hotels with a leisure clientele are usually less crowded from mid-October to mid-December, January to March, and August.
Perhaps August is the best month to photograph a city hotel, but unfortunately, it is rarely taken advantage of.
The best months for mountain hotels
Mountain hotels have a double need: they must have a photo shoot for the summer and winter months.
May, June, and July are undoubtedly the best for summer photo shoots, and February and March are for winter photo shoots.
Unlike seaside hotels, in the mountains, it is more challenging to take advantage of the period from the end of summer to the arrival of winter. While it is true that the autumn period has always appealed to true mountain lovers, in recent years, admiring the autumn foliage in mountain resorts has been a growing trend, mainly thanks to social networks.
Outdoor areas
As for outdoor areas, choosing between spring and late summer to hold the photoshoot also has pros and cons.
The pros of a spring shoot are the trees and plants in bloom.
The cons are the less lush vegetation and the risk that gardens and outdoor areas may not yet be ready for the photo shoot, as gardeners’ work ahead of the summer season is quite long.
On the other hand, the advantage of a late summer shoot is that the green areas’ vegetation will be lusher, and it is unlikely to run into invasive extraordinary maintenance work.
In contrast, finding flowering plants and trees in late summer will be challenging.
Business hotels
Hotels with a purely business clientele deserve some separate consideration.
These establishments have guest flows that often mirror those of tourist travelers. July and August are probably the best months for a photo shoot.
However, business hotels generally have low occupancy and, therefore, optimal conditions on weekends, except on days when trade shows or recreational events in the area (concerts, sporting events, etc.).
Final tips
Here, finally, are some final tips for a more successful photo shoot and to minimize unforeseen events that can happen despite careful planning:
- bad weather can complicate things and cannot be predicted well in advance; always keep an extra day in reserve to anticipate or postpone the shoot if needed
- take advantage of the hotel’s seasonal opening or closing days to photograph rooms and make sure there are no availability issues
- plan to take some emotional shots of the place (I talked about it in this article)
- don’t wait ten years before taking new photos of the hotel; it’s an investment that pays back quickly if done right
- don’t call your cousin (unless he is a professional photographer specializing in hotels)!
