How can you find a good hospitality photographer? First and foremost, please check the photographer’s website, even if he was very well-referred by a friend or colleague. Many people still think that a photographer can shoot anything, and this is so very wrong. Like all other professions, there are photographers who specialize in different matters. So, check this photographer’s website to confirm that well over 80% of this work has to do with hotels, resorts, or at least interior photography. Photographers that have a bit of everything on their website are not specialized and should be avoided.
Make sure their images have horizontals and verticals lines straight. It is a common mistake from amateur photographers not to know that a column should be straight and that horizontals should be, well, horizontal. Not to one side as often seen on social media and on websites.
Also make sure that, when contacted, he knows about the hospitality industry. Hotel photographers should know how to set up a proper table and how to make a bed according to industry standards, just to name 2 matters. Look for photos where the curtains are open and that you can see the view, for example, from a hotel room. Photographers that have all curtains closed on their photos usually don’t know how to light a space and close windows so as not to worry about this.
If your property belongs to a well-known hotel chain, make sure you and the photographer know the photo guidelines. I have redone hotel photoshoots just because photos were not approved by the brand and were not even allowed into the system.
Price. Is the photographer is too cheap, move on. Professional hotel photographers are well established and know their price points. An average rate should be written in the brand's photo guidelines site as well so you should know the basic ballpark of what to expect.
Hospitality photographers have assistants so expect to have at least 2 or 3 rooms just for crew. F&B rooms should be offered by the hotel.
Don’t ask about his/her equipment. It does not matter if a Nikon, Canon, Sony, or Hasselblad camera is used. How the lighting is set up for each space is what is most important. Just make sure you are ok with the kind of imagery on that photographer’s website and that high res images are to be delivered in the end. Tif or 300 dpi jpg’s are most common.
A plus, like in my case, is to know if the photographer has studied or worked in a hotel. Not as a photographer, but as an employee. You don’t even imagen how many problems I have quickly solved just because I have worked in hotels. Having actually studied hotel management is of course my most unique advantage.
Hope you enjoy these sample images.
Thiago
