Jack Hardy is a specialist hotel, resort and architectural photographer based out of London. Shooting worldwide, his work is increasingly sought after by high-end luxury brands for their signature shots. In total he has experience with over 100 5-star hotels around the world.
There’s a symbiosis when it comes to the presentation of images and the functionality of a website, hence Jack works closely with Avvio.
We caught up with him to find out more on why photos matter and the importance of getting the right imagery for your hotel website..
“Photos are the storefront windows to a hotel. They are the most effective and foundational tool for marketing a hotel because people make decisions based on imagery. Hotel websites are increasingly image led because of this. So if your images aren’t as special as you’d want them to be then it could be costing your hotel sales.
Have you ever measured the effectiveness of your imagery? Maybe it’s something you’ve never considered and if so, then now could be the perfect time to do so, with the hotel market set to rebound in 2022/23.
Images need to be exceptional in order to elevate your product above your competitors and to ensure the product is represented in the best possible way. It makes sense to have images done properly because vast sums get poured into subsequent advertising, whether it be online ads or above-the-line promotion in magazines. It would be a false economy to be committing spend to an advertising budget but using average quality images, you could potentially end up spending more to increase reach when in many cases it’s actually the images which aren’t performing as well as you would have hoped. Images that grab attention – generate sales.”
A picture tells a thousand words; hero shots are the images that showcase a space in the best possible way.
Composition is the first step to achieving great shots that show what’s on offer and after that, it’s about lighting. Our eyes see very differently to how the camera sees and so what you notice in a photo may not necessarily be what you notice with your eyes. A lot of this has to do with the light quality within the scene. A camera will reveal harsh shadows on the floor if there’s ceiling spot-lights and it won’t reflect the true colours of the interior if it’s mostly lit by the room lights. The resulting image can be an awkward blend of yellow interior light and blue daylight.
There may also not be an even spread of the light, so this is when clever techniques with lighting and post-production play a role. Just bracketing 4-5 exposures is not enough for high-end hotel photography; Not when images are this important and when consistency plays a vital role in the appearance of the hotel on both your website and on OTAs.
Jack and his team specialise in painting with light. They’ve created a process which blends natural light with the room’s lighting and then combines this with their expert light sculpting to create superior imagery. They use light to create atmospheric twilight images and to produce natural looking images with a sophisticated layer of gloss.
If you have a hotel opening or ideas to renew your hotel’s imagery, then do reach out to Jack, mention Avvio and you will receive a discount. His website is www.jackhardy.co.uk
If you’re here because you want to drive bookings, may we introduce you to allora.ai?
allora.ai is a unique and innovative AI tool, created by Avvio. It harnesses 4 years of booking data (that’s over 400m guest interactions) to understand the guest and predict patterns in future booking behaviour; it learns continually and combines a wide range of helpful features for the hotelier that allow you to not only personalise the experience from the moment a guest arrives on your website, but to also drive direct bookings, reduce cancellations and maximise revenue. Find out more here.
