Do the images used on your web site and in your printed materials reflect the quality and the ambiance of your inn? Do they convey all of the charm and cozy warmth a guest may come to enjoy? Do they feature the special amenities for honeymoon and anniversary guests, or retreat gatherings? In short, does the quality of the images provide a compelling reason for someone to book their first visit to your inn?

Here are a few essentials to look for when evaluating the quality of an image, whether used in print or on the web.

• Perspective and Viewing Angle provide the subtle, but critical, basis for the viewer’s first impression. In a bedroom, is the view principally that of the bed? Or does it include enough of the ambiance of the room for the viewer to want to spend a night—or longer. Most rooms are better photographed with the bed not viewed as the principal element!

• Good Composition is the key to images that tell a story. Composition includes elements of lighting, positioning of the principal elements, and how the setting is accessorized.

• Balanced Lighting adds a “natural” feel to the setting: The important deep shadows maintain detail rather than appear as a black mass. Light coming through windows is balanced with the room light so the exterior detail is clear, (important for those mountain views!) rather than the windows and their treatments appearing as a mass of white. The next time you look at an image that is meant to invite new guests to an inn, apply these guides and then determine how effectively they encourage newcomers.

How We Created the Above Picture

Composition Challenge: To find a viewpoint that showed the character of the room, while showcasing the bed’s beautiful headboard and maintaining the appeal of a sunlit room.

Our Solution: Bedrooms are the most challenging due to their limited size. Predominately large beds often overshadow and even obscure other furniture in the room, especially if the camera’s viewpoint is shooting over the bed surface itself.

We made four Polaroids at different angles before choosing this perspective. We then adjusted the height of the camera up another foot to diminish the amount of carpet in the foreground. Since the majority of rooms are designed to be lived in rather than photographed, a certain amount of subtle rearrangement (compositional adjustment) was called for.

To unclutter the bedside trunk, an electric clock radio and tissue box were removed and replaced with two books. A chair from the opposite wall was moved to the left of the bed to add interest and balance to that space. The duck is a doorstop we moved from beside the door to soften the angles between the trunk and the bed. The trunk was moved 6” further from the bed to create more balance and separation. The table you see on the far left is near its original position against the wall, but was moved into the room a bit to stay in the camera’s view. We borrowed a pillow from the settee behind the camera and added it to the bed.

To maintain the character of this sunlit room, we filled in the foreground by using two studio strobe lights to balance the natural light level coming through the window.

Yes, these subtle rearrangements are not exactly how the guest may see the room, but they do not stray so far that the guest will think they walked into a different room! The time taken to stylize the room helped create the pleasing image you see here.