Photography Part 1 - Creating a Shot List

Welcome to the first part of a series regarding everything you need to know about photography from Zachary Ruben Photography & Video from start to finish! As content is created, links to the other articles will be added below:

1. Creating a shot list
2. Choosing your photographer
3. Creating a schedule
4. Preparation
5. The Photo shoot!
6. Editing
7. Uploading

This article will cover the first step: Creating a shot list! While this article will be using a hotel as an example, this applies to any industry. What do you want and need captured for your business?

How Many Shoots Do We Need?

The first step is determining how many shoots I need to get everything completed? In my experience with hotels, it is best to capture EVERYTHING to its fullest extent on the first go-round. Why? It costs time and money for everyone when you do piecemeal shoots.

Think about buying in bulk when you're at Costco vs the grocery store. If I know I'm going to eat a breakfast bar daily that comes in a pack of 30, I should buy in bulk to capture cost savings rather than buying the smaller packages at the grocery store which add up significantly over time.

The same concept applies with photography. A photographer may give you more of a discount to extend a shoot longer with more photos to capture than having to come multiple times. When I travel back to the same location, I have to spend money on flights, rental cars, gas, food, and more. If I don't have to make a return trip, you get savings!

Of course there are instances where you may need to travel multiple times to a location. A great example is a ski resort. You may want to capture the resort in the peak of summer with greenery all around. However, you definitely want to capture how the resort looks in the middle of winter with all of the snow on the ground.

Other times, there may be pieces of the building that may not be ready for multiple months (or years), but you want to showcase an updated asset immediately. This would be a reason to go ahead and get the shoot completed now.

OTA (Online Travel Agency) and Brand Guidelines

There are certain guidelines you need to follow to ensure you get the maximum amount of exposure for your asset. Below are some rules that you should follow to achieve 100% content score:

• OTAs require at least 25 images
• Expedia requires at least 1 image of each amenity (e.g: laundry room, 24 hour market, patio, bbq grill, etc)
• OTAs require a bathroom image to be assigned per room type
• OTAs require at least 4 images of a guest room (3 for the room itself and 1 for the bathroom)
• Hilton requires a different FIRST image in the room type gallery for each room
• Marriott requires sofa beds to be photographed for ERS (Enhanced Reservation Solutions) if it's not available in every room
• All brands require ADA Bathroom images (e.g: roll-in shower, ADA Shower/tub combo) to differentiate their ADA rooms from their standard rooms
• While optional, IHG and Hilton break out their ADA room types separately from their standard rooms. If there is a SIGNIFICANT difference in your ADA rooms (e.g: larger, different bed type, bed lower to the ground, amenities lower to the ground, etc), then you should capture these rooms
• While optional, Cvent allows you to upload an image per each meeting room and configuration. You may want to capture a different setup for each meeting room

Building the Shot List

Now that we've determined how many visits a photographer may need to make to your location and the different rules you may need to take into account, let's start building the shot list.

Public Space

Public space is generally defined as what the guest sees when they walk in the door at your hotel. Examples include:

• Exterior (day and/or night)
• Lobby
• Front Desk
• Seating Areas
• Patio

At a minimum, I always recommend at least one Lobby and Front Desk image. Usually, I photography 2 images in the lobby.

Dining

For dining, keep in mind every location that you serve food and the different meal periods of the day. Examples include:

• 24 Hour Market
• Complimentary breakfast buffet bar and seating area
• Restaurant Bar and seating area
• Starbucks/coffee locations
• Food

For a Courtyard Bistro concept, I always recommend shooting during breakfast and changing to a dinner concept.

If your hotel has a buffet, it's always great to capture, so guests know what to expect upon arrival.

Amenities

When it comes to your amenities, you should capture at least one image of every amenity. Examples of amenities include:

• Patio/Firepit (definitely capture at night!)
• BBQ Grill
• Basketball/Sports Court or Putting Green
• Laundry rooms
• Indoor/Outdoor Pool
• Hot Tub
• Fitness Center
• Charging stations
• Shuttles

For the fitness center, depending on the configuration, you may need multiple shots to capture the room effectively.

Meeting Rooms

If your hotel has a meeting room or 20, you should always capture at least 1 image in each room. I always advocate to photograph different setups in rooms with airwalls as well, so prospective meeting planners can understand what can be accomplished in each of these rooms. Examples of meeting space include:

• Meeting room
• Boardroom
• Pre-function space
• Wedding setups
• Outdoor spaces dressed up for events

Guest Rooms

This is where the bulk of your shoot should be because this is where your guests are going to stay 90% of the time they're in your hotel. They want to know every angle of every room they're staying in. Personally, I shoot multiple angles, so guests can see forwards and backwards in these rooms. Below are examples of what you may need to capture:

• Bedrooms
• Overall shot of the room
• Sofa beds
• Dining Rooms
• Living Rooms
• Conference tables (if meeting suite)
• Bathrooms
• ADA versions of these rooms
• ADA Bathrooms

Each guest room needs at least 4 images, and I advocate for suites to have at least 5.

There is no need to capture something multiple times if the setup is the same from room to room. For example, if most rooms have a shower with a sink in the bathroom, you can utilize that same shot for other rooms. However, I've come across different configurations of bathrooms depending on if it's a suite or standard room. It's up to you and the photographer to discuss if it makes sense to shoot these areas.

Lifestyle

This is one of those bonus items if your budget allows. Lifestyle images are more necessary for independent or soft-branded hotels with a story to tell. This is not something that I would advocate for a select service hotel unless there's an amenity that is not typical for your brand.

Example Shot List

Phew! That's a lot of things to take into consideration. When I build a shot list for a prospective client, it looks something like the below assuming 4 guest room types for a select service hotel:

1. Exterior Day (1 image)
2. Exterior Night (1 image)
3. Front Desk (1 image)
4. Lobby (1 image)
5. Breakfast Buffet (1 image)
6. Breakfast Seating Area (1-2 Images)
7. Pool (1 image)
8. Hot Tub (1 image)
9. Fitness center (1-3 images)
10. Business Center (1 image)
11. Laundry (1 image)
12. Outdoor Patio Day (1 image)
13. Firepit at night (1 image)
14. BBQ Grill (1 image)
15. Guest Room 1 (4 images inclusive of a shower bathroom)
16. Guest Room 2 (3 images inclusive of a shower/tub combo bathroom. I'll reuse 1 image from the first guest room that can be used for the second guest room)
17. Guest Suite with sofa bed 1 (4 images including the sofa bed but excluding the bathroom because I can reuse from one of the other rooms)
18. Guest Suite with sofa bed 2 (4 images including the sofa bed but excluding the bathroom because I can reuse from one of the other rooms)
19. ADA Shower/Tub Combo (1 image)
20. ADA Roll-In Shower (1 image)

For this example hotel, I would be recommending a shoot between 31 and 36 images. Now you know what you need to get quoted with your photographer!

Stay tuned for the next installment when I cover choosing your photographer (hopefully Zachary Ruben Photography & Video )!

#Photography #Preparation #Savings #Travel #Marriott #Hilton #IHG #Hyatt #Tips