Part 2 – Working with Photographers

Once you have completed this lesson, you will have a fuller understanding of the essentials of working with photographers and imagery for your tourism business.

Time to complete: 1 hour

Take Control of your Imagery – Spotlight Session (1h)

Fabienne Wintle and Liz Ward accompanied professional photographer Nathan White (Nathan White Images) during this one-hour spotlight training session. In this video, Nathan discusses how you can take control of your business’ imagery by improving your understanding of how images can be used across online channels, how to choose the most suitable photographer for your needs and budget, and tips for taking your own high-quality photographs.

The topics discussed were:

• What to look for when choosing a photographer
• Considerations when working with photographers
• Image requirements for online platforms
• DIY photography tips and tricks

Session video

Presentation materials

Simplified session notes

Choosing a photographer

Getting started

• If you’re looking to engage a local professional photographer a good place to start is to fina and follow local photographers on Instagram. Search your local destination hashtags and trace them back to local professional photography accounts. Once you have found some, look at the style of images they are posting to determine whether they are a good match for your business.
• Look at their website. Find their online portfolio and look for their style, specialty and the kind of equipment they use. Their website can also be a good indicator of their level of professionalism and commitment to producing high-quality work. Keep in mind that you can’t always judge a photographer by the quality of their website, but you can get an indication of how long they’ve been in business and of how highly they value the importance of a quality online presentation.
• Look for consistency in their work – especially with Google Street view. You want to make sure that they’re not all over the place doing landscapes, portraits, architecture, etc. You’re looking for someone who is working well doing the specific type of photography that you want.

Google Street View

If you’re looking for a Google Steet View (GSV) photographer keep in mind that the bar to become a trusted GSV photographer is very low, photographers only need to upload 50 photos to become accredited. You often see GSV images that are captured when you’re searching online for businesses. You may see images taken by photographers (professional or amateur) using entry-level 360-degree consumer cameras which will have stitching errors, over-exposure or blurriness. Many of these consumer cameras will have difficulty producing high-quality images of areas with high contrast (bright light and dark shadows) or interiors. So you need to check the quality and consistency in the work of the photographers offering GSV images.

To check the quality of a photographer’s GSV work you can:

• Look for examples on their website
• Ask them for examples of their work currently ‘live’ on Google Maps. Once they have provided you with a link to GSV images they have produced you can click on the photographer’s profile to see all other active work that they have created elsewhere

Who loads the images? The operator can load 360 images themselves or the photographer can do it for them, this should be discussed with your photographer according to your preferences. Keep in mind that image ownership can be transferred in the future via Google, however, this can sometimes be a slow process.

Other things to check

• Check the customer reviews on a photographer’s Google My Business and Facebook listings
• Consider their location – working with a local photographer is usually preferential because often they can get to you at short notice if their schedule is free. There’s nothing wrong with working with someone who is not local as some photographers travel quite regularly and they’ll schedule jobs in the one area to reduce client costs for travel
• Get more bang for your buck! Maximise your time with that photographer by asking them to shoot outside and interior street view shots, architectural shots, staff headshots (if they are capable of doing all styles)

Homework before you commission a photographer

Target market

Know your target market and make sure you required images that speak to those ideal guests.

Models

Models and talent are very important. You can work with friends and family or volunteers if you wish but you need to make sure the models are representative of your target markets and are also comfortable and professional in front of the camera. There are big differences in the outcomes between volunteers and paid talent (although of course, not everyone can afford talent).
Your photographer should be able to offer you advice on how to find talent. They will likely have names and contact details for models they have worked with in the past or modelling agencies. You should check whether they have models who represent your target market.
You can also put a shout out to your Facebook followers to save money.

Licensing and copyright

Unless otherwise stated, the photographer will own the copyright of the images they are taking. When they provide you with the photographs you will have a licence to use the images. You can think of a licence kind of like Netlfix – you are renting the images from the photographer. In some cases you might have a licence that lasts forever for any use, alternatively, there may be restrictions in terms of time and usage (eg. online, print, or third party agreement so you can pass on to other organisations such as STOs). Photographers who are experienced will usually provide you with a licence agreement outlining conditions of use. Nathan provides his licence agreement twice: upfront and again with his invoice.

• Your requirements- placement and end product (point 3 above)
  5. Usage period (point 3 above)

Editing

Is editing included in the quote from your photographer? Photos do not come straight out of the camera in JPEG format and always need some level of editing. This is sometimes included in the quote and sometimes offered as an addition.

Number of images

It is important to discuss how many photos are included in the price. Some photographers may provide their client with all photos from a shoot and allow the business to determine what they will use, and others provide a set number of photo’s based on what they believe will be best. Often all photos come with the photographer’s watermark, the client then selects which ones they want and the watermark is removed from them.

Resolution and size

It is a good idea to seek recommendations on image resolution and sizes according to how you intend to use the photos (e.g. print or web).

Resolution (pixel dimensions) and file size examples:

• Website: 2500 pixels wide / 800 kb (give good resolution on large monitor eg 27-inch monitor)
• Social: 1500 px / 800 kb – 1 mb
• ATDW: Min 2048 x 1536 pix / 1 mb
• Street View: min 8000 x 4000 pixels
• STO/RTO/LTO: Highest available resolution

DIY Tips and Tricks

The camera

There is nothing wrong with using your smartphone as they take a very good photograph. Whatever camera you have at the time, think about will it do the job you need it to do (eg. if you have a smartphone no older than 2 years, use it).

Lighting and time of day

Early morning and afternoon/sunsets (the golden hours) are great for outdoor shots.

If you’re photographing your building interiors, you need to identify the optimal time of day for lighting. Usually, the middle of the day is best for allowing ambient light from outside which will brighten the interior and you don’t have panels of light streaming through the windows. It is best to choose a time during the day that is appropriate for what you are demonstrating so that you are accurately portraying your service to your audience and they get a real impression of what they will get if they book.

Talent release forms

Regardless of whether you are organising talent or if your photographer is, a talent release form is a great idea. The talent fills it out to indemnify you against a potential future claim that they didn’t authorise you to use their image in future purposes (eg. advertising), a verbal agreement is not as robust in this situation. Talent release form templates are usually easy to find online.

Angles

Angles are especially important to consider when shooting buildings. You need to be front-on and the camera needs to be level (not facing up or down or you’ll end up with crooked lines), try to keep everything straight and keep your camera level, a tripod can be useful in this situation.

When shooting people avoid dappled light (such as you might find under a tree). If you want your subject to be in the sun make sure you face them away from light or side-on so that they don’t squint. Shade offers nice even lighting for your image, try to place subjects in an area with consistent shade; if there are random highlights from unevenly dispersed lighting the viewer’s eyes will be distracted from what you are trying to convey. However, having half and half lighting on your talent can be very pleasing to the eye as it adds some nice dimension to an image (i.e. sun on one side and a little bit of shade on the other).

When directing your talent, ask them to stand at a slight angle with one shoulder toward and one away from the camera, this gives a bit of added dimension to the image.

Setting the scene

Remove distractions from the scene (eg. wheelie bin or dead palm frond,) editing later is a lot more trouble than adjusting the environment or moving your camera before you take the shot. For hotels/accommodation interiors, make sure pictures on walls and remote controls etc are straight.

To avoid lens flare when shooting outside, shoot away from the sun or cover with your hand or a hat.

Lens choice

If using a DSLR make sure you have the right lens for the shot, usually a wide-angle lens is best, or a longer zoom lens when shooting people.

Burst mode

If you’re not completely comfortable with holding a camera steady, shoot in burst mode and at least one will be in focus; or shooting a fast-moving subject (most modern phones have burst mode).

Clothing and presentation

If you’re shooting multiple people together, ensure that their clothes don’t clash. Ensure that they wear non-branded clothes as your photographer will need to remove any logos or branding with editing due to copyright. Light coloured, plain clothes work best.

Mobile editing apps

• Snap Seed
• Photoshop Express
• Instagram has some handy in-built editing features