A picture says a thousand words and this applies to your villa’s visual representation as well. When it comes to marketing, photography plays an important role in making your villa stand out from the crowd.
A well curated collection of photos can be one of your most powerful tools to attract potential bookers, either through online booking sites or through social media. Even with the current digital trends, it’s still common to come across supposedly beautiful properties with low quality visual content.
Many hoteliers fail to understand the importance of high quality photos and how it can boost their bookings. Don’t be one of them and educate yourself on how to make better villa photography through some simple tips below:
Equipments
To capture the essence and mood of your property, it’s worth investing in top quality equipment such as professional digital camera, lens, drone, stabilizer and photo editing tools. After all, photos and videos are the main elements of your villa’s online presence. Your lead photos on online travel agent sites affect your conversion rates as much as pricing and location tag.
We love Sony’s full-frame mirrorless camera for its enhanced resolution, dynamic range, processing speed and shooting response, while DJI Mavic Pro is our preferred drone for aerial shots and videos.
Objects
They say that it takes 7 seconds to make a first impression. With the clutter of visual content flooding the online world with images, you must be smart in showcasing the best sides of your property and highlighting your unique selling points, such as iconic decorative details.
Convey the story of your villa and let your potential booker imagine themselves having the full experience of the stay through a good villa photography. Other than the usual interior, exterior and facilities pictures, aerial drone photos and videos are also the current must-have visuals in the hospitality industry to give viewers a better idea of the property’s area, location and surroundings.
Pro tip: Make sure you use a good stabilizer when shooting a video!
Angle & Orientation
A wide-angle lense is a must when it comes to villa photography as it captures the most of the architecture and interiors of the property. Sony’s compact 12-24mm lens is an excellent choice for dynamic landscape and architecture photography.
While landscape photos are the best orientation for certain platforms like online booking sites, portrait orientation is useful for social media content. As people spend most time on their phone and on socials, you’d want to take up the most space on the mobile screen by posting portrait photos.
Timing
Always maximize daylight shoots and take photos with natural light to create fresh, soft and bright feels. While daytime photos are essential, online bookers also appreciate nighttime photos.
The evening is the best time to play with artificial lighting to showcase the romantic and dramatic ambience of the villa, while the golden hour is the perfect fleeting moment to combine the beautiful late afternoon lights with the villa’s own lighting.
Last but not least, don’t forget to edit your photos with professional photo editing tools such as Adobe Lightroom CC, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Adobe After Effects CC.
Nothing visually describes a property’s story better than great photography, and a great photography should convey to viewers the unique experience they can have during their stay in your villa and convince them to book this experience right away.
