Creating a Shot List for Hotel and Resort Photography
I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post that one of the most important tools for any commercial photoshoot is a shot list. Specifically when it comes to hotel photoshoots, I like to do a pre-production hotel tour around the property to get an idea of what the space looks like in person. The tour can also be useful to the client because they start to have ideas as they explore the space with a photographer.
A shot list is necessary to make sure that things run smoothly on production day. It can also be useful to explore the property at a time when the client knows the hotel won’t be busy, one of my five tips when it comes to hotel photography.
While each client is different and might have specific requests, here are some general ideas of what you might want to include in a shot list:
Hotel Location
Number of Photos
Description of Each Location
Model/Lifestyle Photos
Hotel Location
This might be an obvious point, but you’ll want to mark each location that the photographer is going to take pictures of. Creating a list of rooms (hotel lobby, deluxe suite, ADA bathrooms, meeting/event spaces, etc.) will help the photographer move from one room to the next. Certain rooms and locations might photograph better at certain times of the day - a scheduled list keeps everything organized.
Additionally, you might have to go back and forth if some rooms might not be ready. During my photoshoot with the Kins Hotel, the client would prepare certain rooms that required props and multiple staging setups. While each setup was coming together, I would photograph other rooms and the exterior in the meantime.
Number of Photos
Simply put, you’ll want to include how many photos were agreed upon when signing the contract with the photographer. More specifically, break down how many photos you want for each room and include priority shots that you know you’ll want included.
Once I try to get all of the priority shots, I also try to capture additional angles outside of what’s on the shot list so that clients have a variety of images to choose from.
Description of Each Location
The description is usually best formed after the pre-production hotel tour. These are the important client notes for the photographer to keep into consideration.
Are there certain angles that you need for a specific room?
Do you want to have the curtains of the windows opened or closed?
Are there props, details or brand materials that you want featured?
