Commercial Photography for California’s Coastal Hotels
Your clients aren't booking a room; they're booking an experience.
Communicating the lifestyle your hotel offers is crucial in today's media landscape. Gone are the days of booking hotels simply off of a friend's recommendation – with the world at their fingertips, today's travelers will do their research before they book.
How will they perceive you?
Enter the content library.
Content, content, content. You've undoubtedly heard it at marketing seminars you've been to, that nagging demand for you to shoot more photos, post on this social network and on that one, ask influencers for photos – on and on and on – all in the name of running a successful hotel content strategy.
Running my own business, I know the weight those extraneous tasks pose, and having worked with dozens of business owners, directors, and managers, I know you don't have time for them.
That's why I came up with my content library service offering. Here's how it works:
1. Concept Phase.
I partner with your hotel’s marketing director, manager, or another appropriate project lead to identify what kind of guests your hotel caters to, and what brings those types of guests to your hotel and to your town.
We then create a shot list of hotel amenities and local landmarks, vistas, and experiences to photograph for your content library. Growing up in a mountainous coastal town and now living in Los Angeles, I know how to get vantage points that appeal to the beach dwellers, urbanites, and mountain explorers.
2. The Photo Shoot.
Guided by the shot list we’ve created, my assistant and I photograph your shot list at the times of day that will give us the best light for your photos.
A typical shoot day will start outdoors before sunrise, move inside your hotel for the late morning and afternoon, and head back outdoors for the late afternoon and sunset. We’ll end right after dusk with some “blue hour” photos of your subject of choosing, be that your hotel or a local vista.
For two or three day projects, we restart this process the following day!
3. Post-Production & Transfer.
I sort the images down to the top picks – about 300 per day of shooting – and edit them carefully for exposure, contrast, color temperature, and blemishes.
The images are then exported at a high resolution for your social media channels and an ultra-high resolution for your website and print needs, uploaded into my client portal, and sent your way via an easy-to-access and cloud-secured Google Drive download link.
4. Unlimited Image Usage.
The sky is the limit with how you can use your new content library. Update your website’s banner images, schedule posts to your Instagram feed, engage with your Facebook following with a daily image, update the photos on your hotel’s Yelp page – the possibilities are endless!
Glowing Reviews
“Mark is absolutely great to work with from initiation to delivery of assets. He's easy to communicate with, incredibly hard-working, sets clear expectations, asks great questions, does thorough research, painstakingly reviews every detail, and creates compelling storylines. All of this – along with a great eye and a unique creative vision – enable Mark to capture and package photos that other photographers might not get.”
“Mark gave us a great deal for the amount of images he gave us. That really helped seal the deal with my boss and ensure we could move forward with the project.”
“I loved the range of images Mark gave us and the different sizes and orientations of each one. I also love the images Mark captured that were outside of my own vision, but still in line with what we needed.”
“Mark is a total pro with a great eye. Not only is his work exceptional, he's wonderful to work with and has my highest recommendation.”
“The shooting was so much fun and I feel like Mark did a great job listening to our needs.”
“Mark is an absolute pleasure to work with. I can't say enough about him, his talent and his meticulous level of detail. I would highly recommend him and look forward to working with him again.”
Client Insights
How long after the shoot did you start using your content library?
Immediately.
What scenes/collections of images within your content library have you found most useful?
ALL OF IT! I have some of my favorites that I use more than others, but I have cycled through almost every image type.
What are the main scenarios in which you find yourself using images developed during our shoot?
Social media, web, printed materials.
Is your new content library helping you save time and increase productivity, and if so, how?
YES! I don't have to run out and take a pic for social media. And I have such a range of images that I can work from now for printed materials, so I always have something to work with.
In what ways does having a content library increase your competitive advantage over businesses similar to yours?
Most hotels in the area are working with images of terrible quality for their social media. I think we have the upper hand with our images.
What are some differences you’ve seen in social media engagement since starting to use your content library?
More likes, more followers, more engagement.
What feedback have you received from others about the images you’ve posted from your content library?
Everyone says they love our images!
Would you recommend other businesses in the hospitality and tourism space investing in a content library? Why?
Yes! It is invaluable to have professional level photography in a marketer’s tool belt!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can we use models in our shoots?
I highly encourage incorporating models into your hotel’s content library shoot, both for the photos of your hotel’s amenities and for images of your town’s local attractions. I can arrange professional talent for your shoot if your budget allows for the extra cost, or am happy to work with any volunteer talent you provide for the shoot, be it friends of the hotel or hotel employees. The more the merrier, as long as you initiate contact with your volunteer models and have them sign my model release form, which I’ll send you ahead of time before the shoot.
2. Can you photograph local businesses that we partner with?
Yes! There’s an incredible amount of value in cross-promotional marketing and any shooting you coordinate with a partner company to document their products or services is within the scope of my content library shoot. Whether it’s a sailing company offering sunset cruises, a vineyard with a top-notch wine-tasting experience, or the local favorite for a morning cup of coffee, I simply ask you speak with their management/ownership to request permission for me to shoot their products or services, and then initiate an email thread with an authorized representative at their company and myself so we can coordinate shoot logistics.
3. Are there any places you can’t shoot?
Some areas in more populated city areas require acquiring location permits for shooting models. I’m happy to obtain location permits for these areas provided the budget is available to cover the permit fees – most often these permits run somewhere around $250 dollars, in addition to my $100 processing fee per permit.
4. Can you provide aerial/drone photography?
Yes! I’m an FAA Part 107 Certified Pilot and can provide aerial imagery of both your hotel and your city. I highly recommend that all my clients invest in aerial photography because of the high engagement rates the imagery receives. If your hotel is close to an airport, I’ll need to look into what type of airspace surrounds your hotel and whether I need to receive additional clearance from that airport’s ATC to operate in their airspace. Occasionally cities also have their own drone-specific local ordinances, but in those scenarios permits can typically be acquired at the permitting rates mentioned above.
5. What type of image licensing will we receive for the images you shoot for us?
Images will be licensed on a non-exclusive, unlimited basis for both print and digital media (paid and organic), in any region, in perpetuity. This is an incredibly flexible license – it means you can do virtually anything with the images except for selling or re-licensing them to a third party.
6. What is your turnaround time for the images?
The standard turnaround time for post-production is 4-6 weeks, but arrangements can be made for quicker turnaround times if needed.
The Investment
I understand – marketing budgets can be tight, even for hotels that have been around for decades. That’s why I have a value-driven, tiered pricing structure for different shoot lengths based on what my clients’ needs and available budgets are. Need a quick shoot for a website refresh? Let’s chat about a half-day project. Want to knock out several years of content for your social channels while getting the best bang for your buck? A three day shoot is the shoot for you.
| Description | Total Cost |
|---|---|
| Half-Day Shoot | $2250 |
| One Day Shoot | $3250 |
| Two Day Shoot | $2750/Day |
| Three Day Shoot | $2400/Day |
Note: Shoot costs do not reflect travel expenses, crew costs, and meal per diems.
Next Steps
1. Follow-Up Call.
We'll schedule a time for a phone call to answer any questions you may have and go through my discovery process, which is a chance for me to ask some questions about your hotel, your clientele, your hotel’s business goals, and your main uses for images. This discussion will help shape the shot list we create together.
2. Final Document Approval.
Based on this phone call and any subsequent follow-up email exchanges, I’ll send a final scope of work document and contract for review and signing by an authorized company representative and an invoice for the project deposit (50% of total project value).
3. Project Start!
Once the signed contract and project deposit are received, we'll officially kick off the project. Your final scope of work and project timeline in your contract will outline the remainder of the steps in the production process.
