Professional hotel photographer

“My work is part of a commercial strategy”.

My name is Janos Grapow. I am not an artist. I am a creative person with professional duties who works alongside the owner or manager of a hotel for specific commercial needs: I am a partner in the hotel sales & marketing strategy.
I relate to clients who are aware of the value of their business, who understand the importance of presenting it in an optimal way.

I have 25 years of experience in hotel photography.
My expertise in this sector has allowed me to always work exclusively as a professional photographer, which is a somewhat rare biographical career path.
I am a German citizen who was born in South Africa. I have been living in Italy since I was a child but I attended German and English schools, which means I am perfectly at ease when working in an Anglo-Saxon cultural setting. My wife for thirty years is Italian and I have two children. This has allowed me to get to know this beautiful country very well and, at the same time, to fully understand how Italy is perceived abroad.

Thanks to my extensive experience in the hotel industry, I consider myself a reliable consultant who invariably offers a high quality, up-to-date product.

My business is also well managed through the social media. Given my public image, I pay the utmost attention to whatever I publish. I consider myself a highly reliable and professional person.

How i became a hotel photographer

I started at a young age as an assistant to Robert Emmett Bright, who is an exceptional American interior photographer as well as an extremely nice person.
I went on to work for interior architects and had my photoshoots published in the most prestigious magazines in the field of interior design, including AD, Domus, Spazio Casa, Interni and Interior Design.
My desire, however, has always been to work for a company rather than in the world of design. It has always been my inclination and ambition to bring benefits to the client who entrusts me with an assignment.

My distinctive signs

Italy, where I work for hotel chains and numerous independent hotels, is my main market.
In my long experience as a professional hotel photographer I have done photo shoots for over three hundred accommodation facilities, including international clients in sixteen different countries.
I don’t mind working for extended periods of time because I love what I do. I always take the photographs myself.

What are the skills and qualities that an excellent hotel photographer should have?

A specific knowledge in hotel sales & marketing is indispensable.

It is essential that the manager or the owner of a hotel, who have a thorough knowledge of their business and the guests they are targeting, make the photographer aware of the facility’s characteristics, including both its strengths and weaknesses.

The photographer’s task is to translate this identity into photographic images. This cannot be done effectively without knowing the hotel business, being acquainted with the local culture and destination and understanding the market segment customers fall within.

From a technical point of view, the photographer must have expertise in using light, whether it be natural or artificial, as well as an excellent knowledge in photo editing. First and foremost, however, the photographer must be able to listen to the client’s needs and understand their intentions and sales & marketing strategies.

Equipment

My photographs are taken with a high resolution digital Canon. My lenses range from 12 to 400 mm. I always shoot firsthand using Manfrotto tripods and light stands, rarely freehand. I use Profoto Flashes as lighting equipment and Apple platforms software.

The post-production

All my photos, from the simplest to the most refined, are post-produced with Adobe software.
My staff take care of digital photo retouching under my constant supervision. Post-production work on some shots may be extremely complex and require the use of as many as seven different photographs.