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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
"Celebrity' portrait shoots at hotels: An informal poll...
Jon Blacker, Photographer
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Toronto | ON | Canada | Posted: 7:34 PM on 05.12.10 |
->> Background:
I've been working on a long term portrait project for the past year which has found me shooting at various times in studios, offices, subject's homes and hotels and am curious about the experiences of others as it relates to securing a shooting space at a hotel.
There have been a couple of rare occasions when I've shot in either my own guest room (when I'm on the road) or that of the subject (when they are), but more frequently when shooting at a hotel I have been given a vacant conference room to set up a make-shift studio (seamless & some lights) to shoot in.
I have always presented my inquiry for an available space as a media request and have made it clear to the hotel what we're doing & how long I'll need a space, and my request has always been accommodated rather graciously. Typically I've been in & out of the space in under two hours.
The Poll:
When making a portrait at a hotel where you've needed to set up a studio, has the hotel required you to pay for a shooting space? |
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Thomas E. Witte, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Cincinnati | OH | USA | Posted: 8:21 PM on 05.12.10 |
->> I've never been charged, but that comes with a caveat. When I travel to a location I exclusively stay at Marriott's which I've been a platinum/gold/silver level member for the past decade, so that -might- have something to due with my luck. I don't know. They've gone as far as shutting down the concierge lounge for me before (off peak of course).
However, I've had luck at local hotels (where I'm not a paid guest) when someone comes in from out of town. The trick is to go to the concierge before going to the front desk. If you think about it, the desk clerks are all about collecting your credit info for billing and making sure you're charged $64 for that 8 ounce bottle of water in your room. Concierges on the other hand are all about getting things done and pleasing people so you automatically raise your chances of getting it free of charge by going to them. It never hurts to slip them a $20 or $50 either if you have a tall order. |
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Michael Fischer, Photographer
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Spencer | Ia | USA | Posted: 10:53 PM on 05.12.10 |
| ->> Thomas gives good advice. A concierge can be your best friend, and, as Thomas points out, a $20 or $50 doesn't hurt either. One other thing: Look like you belong. This isn't the time to dress in torn jeans and a sweatshirt in need of a wash. Speak softly and make good eye contact. A smile doesn't hurt. Finally, "Hi my name is Michael Fischer and I need YOUR help" usually is a way I start the conversation. |
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Robert Hanashiro, Photographer
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Los Angeles | CA | | Posted: 11:35 PM on 05.12.10 |
->> In my limited experience...
If it's a junket no.
If it's not a junket usually. |
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Jay Drowns, Photographer
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Seattle | WA | USA | Posted: 2:41 AM on 05.13.10 |
->> My experience has varied. A few hotels have asked payment of up to $1000 for a couple of hours in a banquet room (we found an alternate location). Others are happy to help with no charge. Once an assistant manager help so much it was like having a second assistant.
Ditto on the advice from Thomas and Michael. I would go further and say this is where being a member of the hotel rewards program comes in handy. Most hotels will bend over backwards to help members of their reward programs.
I have received a lot of help from my favorite hotel chain. Even when I was not staying at that particular hotel where the shoot was located. I have received access to conference rooms and free internet as well as a bottle of water now and then. |
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Jon Blacker, Photographer
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Toronto | ON | Canada | Posted: 10:02 AM on 05.13.10 |
->> For the most part, my own experiences have been similar to those already posted. This week the advance telephone conversation for a musician shoot I'm doing tomorrow evening went something like this; "Yes, Mr. Blacker we have an ideal space for you. The rate is $1500, discounted for you from $3000. Will you require food & beverage service as well?" Alternate arrangements have been made.
In direct contrast, on another occasion I received a call from the management of a different band at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. They were calling to let me know that my subject had a couple of hours available that afternoon and wondered if that was convenient for me. I quickly loaded up my gear and called his hotel (another upscale hotel frequented by the entertainment industry in Toronto) from the road to let them know I was on my way to photograph one of their guests and asked if they had a space I could use. "Absolutely. Ask for me when you arrive and we'll find you something.
"Something" ended up being a huge ballroom. I set up, called my subject down, did the shoot, sent the subject on his way & packed up in well under two hours. As I was leaving, the hotel actually thanked me for coming & offered that if I needed to shoot there again, to just ask and they'd make any arrangements. Total cost: $20 for valet parking.
The nature of my particular beast far more often than not requires advance arrangements with the subject as I'm usually fortunate to get 10 minutes (certainly not a unique condition), so I need to be set up will in advnce allowing them to simply walk on-walk off. While seeking the aid of the consierge to secure a space when I arrive is usually cutting it far too close for comfort in the event they can't find something, it never hurts to have as many allies as possible. I have most often worked with the marketing people of the hotel to secure a shootng space rather than the front desk/reservations folks.
Interestingly, I've only ever been asked to pay for a shooting space at hotels in my home town. I've never been asked when I've been on the road. |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 10:10 AM on 05.13.10 |
->> I think it can also depend on your subject.
Call the hotel and say "I'm photographing Jim Smith of Wackenhut Technologies" and they may make you pay.
Call and say "I'm photographing Tom Cruise" and the hotel will give you whatever you want.
But then that could be reversed because they think if you are shooting Cruise then you're from a big magazine and have the money to pay for anything. :-) |
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Robert Caplin, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 10:40 AM on 05.13.10 |
->> In my experience I've never paid a hotel when shooting portraits.....even though most of my celebrity portraiture was shot in hotel rooms during press junkets. I can almost guarantee, though, that the production company who put on the junkets have most certainly paid to rent out the rooms for the press to set up their studios.
There's no such thing as a free lunch....someone's always paying. It would be poor business if the hotel just let anyone use their space for free.... |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 11:03 AM on 05.13.10 |
->> In most cases the photographer or the subject is a guest at the hotel some someone is paying them for something. They are not just loaning out space.
I think many hotels will give you some space they are not using that day for a short time for free.
Even if the subject is not a celebrity, the folks at Marriott don't want to get the CEO of IBM mad at them for asking them to pay $2K for a room for a portrait and then IBM moves all of its corporate business to Hilton.
If the space is not going to be unused and you are not going to trash it, and there is a paying guest involved it's not that big of a deal for the hotel to unlock the door to a conference room for an hour. Now, if it means they have to put off setting up for a banquet or something, then yes, they should ask to be compensated for the inconvenience. |
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Joshua Prezant, Photographer
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North Miami Beach | FL | USA | Posted: 11:34 AM on 05.13.10 |
->> In my experience I have found that most hotels ( and I am dealing with the ones in South Beach and Miami) are more then happy to lend out a room or the hotel for a 1 hour long or less shoot for a legitimate publication with a legitimate celebrity for just a credit line in the publication. You usually need to go through the PR person for that hotel. Having a celebrity or high profile person pictures at their hotel in a legit publication makes the hotel look good. It is good PR.
In terms of CEOs and other business type people... I have found that the fancier the hotel the more accommodating they are for their guests. If the subject is staying at the hotel or attending a conference it usually is not a problem to have them give you an area to shoot in.
With all this being said there are a few things that you need to keep in mind.
1. YOU SHOULD HAVE LIABILITY INSURANCE. Carry this with you and show to the hotel. This way they know that if you break something or hurt someone on their property they are covered by your insurance. At least a 1mil/2mil policy.
2. Have details about the publication you are working for. Have the circulation and core audience info to tell the PR person. You have to sell to them why the credit in the publication will help them. It helps them say yes when they see that some publication that they never heard of caters to lets say high rollers in the Northeast. They will be happy that their brand is getting featured to those folks. Now, if it is for some little obscure publication that reaches, lets say, teenage skateboarders in Utah, you will have a harder time selling that.
3.Get to know the PR folks at the hotels and hotspots in your area. If they know who you are and your work they are more likely to trust you and want to accommodate you.
4. Like what was mentioned before....ALWAYS BE PROFESSIONAL. MAke sure that whatever you move you put back. Make sure that you are super respectful of the guest at the hotel. |
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Steven E. Frischling, Photographer
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->> My work has not been with celebrities, but very high end CEOs. It has been hit or miss.
I have taken over a part of a lobby at the W Hotel in Manhattan with a CEO without asking and no one blinked (if there was a problem his large multi national corporation, that had paid for 125 rooms and all the conference rooms for 3 days should have been enough to get them to go away).
At the Fairmont in New Orleans I needed to set up a shot for multiple top executives from Sony and Cisco and their Manager gave me the pool deck and a security guard for six hours when I simply asked for an empty banquet room.
W Hotel in Atlanta recently charged me a $50 house keeping fee for a multi-room suite for 3hrs. I needed the room for 45 min, but $50 for house keeping seemed reasonable.
Shooting a musician at the Hotel George V in Paris (Four Seasons) I was initially rebuffed, although the musician was staying there ... however when the Manager learned the musician was married to an Louis Vuitton executive somehow the hotel was opened up to me to shoot wherever I chose.
Nearly every Hilton I have asked has wanted a significant fee for the use of a room, even when the exec I was shooting was staying there ... unless a junket was involved. |
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Thomas E. Witte, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Cincinnati | OH | USA | Posted: 2:50 PM on 05.13.10 |
->> On a press tour? Heck yea someone else is footing the bill because you aren't talking about one space for a few hours, you're talking about several spaces for several hours. If you're just a one man band, and you're already paying $100-$300 a night to stay there yourself, then it's not as big of a "comp" issue. Having status again doesn't hurt and apparently my experiences compared to some of the others shared here show it may tilt the scales a little in your favor.
Tying this all together, one trick I used back when I was a pup, was to actually just book a suite. That way i only had to move my stuff once and I could take my time setting up. When I was a night or two short from hitting Plat one year, I did this simply to get another room towards status and didn't even stay at the hotel.
There are two pitfalls with that though. First, the ceilings are usually low (unwanted bounce lighting) unless you're at a Cat 7 and using the penthouse, which, well, is cost prohibitive in and of itself. The second, it's best to not have already slept the night at the place or unpacked anything because it just looks sketchy when they walk in to the set but you have room service leftovers and ruffled sheets. I've since stopped using suites after I figured out a dialogue formula to get something more ample. |
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Jon Blacker, Photographer
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Toronto | ON | Canada | Posted: 10:22 AM on 05.14.10 |
->> Overall...agreed. When I'm home, the subjects of my shoots for this project are musicians coming through Toronto on tour rather than actors on an press junket to promote a film, so my portrait sessions are one-offs in terms of the use of a room.
I've been fortunate to be afforded 15-30 minutes with them to sit for my project & in an effot to make it most convenient for them, I've always secured space in the hotel where they're staying so they only need to leave their room & walk on set.
As George notes, the subjects are paying guests, so the hotel is already being compensated to a degree & if the space not scheduled for use, I don't think it should be an issue for the hotel, in essence, to let the guest use it for a couple of hours. Like Steven, I wouldn't have any problem paying $50 or $100 for a housekeeping charge, but I do have an issue with paying $650/hr for an otherwise empty room. |
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