How Hotels and Resorts Can Prepare for a Photography Shoot
A hotel photoshoot goes much more smoothly when the plan is clear before the camera comes out. For most hotels and resorts, the goal is not just to create a few nice images. It is to build a useful image library that works across your website, OTAs, Google listing, social media, sales decks, press, and seasonal campaigns.
I’ve photographed hospitality and tourism work for clients and project partners including Surrey Hotel & Motel Association, Gordon Ramsay Burger Vancouver, Destination Vancouver, Discover Surrey, and a range of hotels, restaurants, tourism operators, and guest-facing spaces across British Columbia. The best results usually come from a mix of clean preparation, a realistic shot list, and a little flexibility on the day.
Start with the images guests actually need to see.
For most hotels, that means clear coverage of each room type, bathrooms, lobby, exterior, entrance, dining, amenities, meeting spaces, and any features that help justify the booking decision. If a view, balcony, tub, pool, restaurant, spa, gym, or location is part of the value, it should probably be photographed.
Think beyond one hero shot. A useful hotel image library should include wide room images, tighter details, vertical crops for social, horizontal website banners, clean OTA-ready images, and a few more atmospheric images that help the property feel warm and memorable.
Before the shoot, build a simple shot list by category:
Exterior and arrival
Lobby and public spaces
Guest rooms by room type
Bathrooms
Restaurant, bar, and food
Amenities
Meeting or event spaces
Views and location context
Details and atmosphere
Lifestyle images, if planned
Room preparation matters more than people think. Fresh linens, clean mirrors, polished chrome, tidy curtains, hidden cords, uncluttered surfaces, and matching light bulbs can make a huge difference. Small issues that are easy to ignore in person often become obvious in photos.
For guest rooms, I usually recommend keeping things simple. Remove loose papers, plastic signage, extra remotes, visible cables, garbage bins, and anything that feels temporary. Let the room feel clean, calm, and ready for a guest.
Food and beverage should be planned like its own mini shoot. Confirm the hero dishes, cocktails, glassware, table settings, and timing ahead of time. It helps to have one person from the restaurant or hotel team responsible for plating, resets, and approvals.
Lifestyle photography can be a worthwhile add-on if the property wants to show more than empty spaces. This might include a couple arriving, someone enjoying coffee by the window, a bartender making a drink, guests using the spa or pool, or people exploring the surrounding area. Done well, lifestyle imagery can make a hotel feel more human and less like a listing.
Video can also be useful, especially for hotels and resorts that want content for websites, social media, reels, paid ads, or launch campaigns. It does not need to be complicated. Even a short edit showing arrival, rooms, amenities, food, and atmosphere can give people a better feeling for the property.
Aerial photography can help when the setting matters. For waterfront resorts, mountain lodges, properties with large grounds, or hotels near major attractions, drone images can show scale and location in a way ground-level images cannot.
On the day, it helps to have one person from the hotel available to approve key images, unlock spaces, coordinate housekeeping, and make quick decisions. The fewer delays, the more time there is to create strong images.
The final gallery should feel polished but believable. Rooms should look bright and inviting, views should feel natural, and retouching should clean up distractions without making the property feel fake.
While I’m based in Vancouver and most of my hotel, resort, and tourism shoots take place across Western Canada, I’m available for travel when the project is a good fit.
Related work
You can view more of my hotel and hospitality photography, architectural photography, commercial photography portfolio, and tourism photography portfolio.
Planning a hotel or resort photoshoot?
If you are updating your hotel, resort, restaurant, or hospitality image library, I’d be glad to hear more about the project.
Please include the property name, shoot goals, ideal dates, number of final images, key spaces, usage needs, and whether you are interested in lifestyle photography, video, aerial coverage, or food and beverage content.
