May 19, 2024

Holiday accommodation marketing in Provence

Photography, videography, drone footage and 360-degrees virtual tour

Last month, I travelled by car with nearly all of my production equipment to four holiday accommodations in Lorgues, in the Provence region of southern France. The goal was to create a strong impression for potential guests from around the world through photography, video, and an interactive virtual tour.

Holiday villas and an early eighteenth-century Bastide

In Lorgues, the client rents out three holiday villas and an authentic Bastide, each set on spacious private plots. The Bastide dates back to the early eighteenth century and is therefore a classic historic building. Surrounding the properties are numerous places to relax, including heated private swimming pools, pétanque courts, and beautiful playgrounds for younger guests.

The accommodations are located several kilometres apart, which meant that with a tight schedule I was able to create the following raw footage:

• 1,489 exterior, atmospheric, view, and interior photographs, captured both during the day and in the evening;
• 62 high-resolution aerial photographs of the properties and their surroundings;
• 50 high-resolution interactive 360-degree images;
• 625 video shots of interiors, exteriors, plants, views, and details.

The sheer volume of material already made this a challenging project.

A large-scale and demanding project: my main challenges

During the shooting days, I generated hundreds of gigabytes of raw data. Processing this required considerable time:

• For each holiday accommodation, I produced an extensive photo series (1), a video edit highlighting the key features of that property (2), a virtual tour in and around the rental accommodation (3), and a compilation film of all four properties combined with their surroundings. When selecting camera positions, I took the position of the sun into account. I wanted to use those moments with both my photo and video cameras. This meant regularly switching equipment and shot lists, which requires a lot of energy and concentration.

Tip for others: use the Sun Surveyor app to check the position of the sun in relation to a geographic location. This allows you to plan viewpoints when the sun works with—or against—you, depending on your creative intent.

• Another challenge was the limited time available. The holiday accommodations were not rented out. The season began the week after my arrival, and the week before my arrival the weather was unfortunately still poor. Everything had to happen within this window. It was a lot, but it worked. I had built a contingency day into the schedule, which fortunately I didn’t need to use. I did, however, adjust my shooting plan midway due to changing weather conditions.
• Then there’s always the weather. Sometimes you need a bit of luck. After this project had been postponed in October and November last year, we were more fortunate this time. Of course, you can’t change the weather, but I was able to adapt my shot list when one of the days turned out to be very cloudy. On that day, I focused on bedrooms and bathrooms so I could spend the following day filming outdoors. A bit of luck and flexibility go a long way.
• Finally: distance. In the Netherlands, it has happened that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with certain shots and returned later to capture additional footage. With a project like this—1,300 kilometres away—that’s far less practical. A solid shot list and disciplined execution bring peace of mind, and I was very grateful for that. In the evenings, I sometimes couldn’t remember exactly what I had or hadn’t captured earlier that day, so having detailed notes to fall back on was invaluable.

Enjoyment and passion

People often say that “turning your hobby into your job” is fantastic. I believe the next level is turning a combination of your hobbies into your work. That’s how I look back on this project. Of course, there are challenges—but when you enjoy travelling by car, love being in nature, and capturing photos and video there—from the ground, during the day and at night, and from the air with a professional drone—while remembering childhood dreams of flying a remote-controlled helicopter with a camera… you get the idea.

I truly enjoy what I do, and I love searching for beautiful things to film or photograph. Do you have ideas or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch for a next project.

At a later stage, I’ll share images of the other properties in Lorgues. For now, below is an impression of La Bastide du Pin.

Watch the film impression on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovptomd0A5w

and explore the virtual tour via Kijk Virtueel: https://kijkvirtueel.nl/ladouceprovence/