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How to use photos to attract autumn and winter bookings

How to use photos to attract autumn and winter bookings

Autumn is just around the corner, which makes it high time to optimise your space for the upcoming seasons. Checked and added your availability? Great! Now it's time to optimise and add your autumn and winter photos.

Many hosts consider autumn and winter low season, but this isn’t necessarily true. We know from experience that many people search for a cosy autumn or winter getaway several times a season. Your campspace might be just what they’re looking for!

Not only is winter camping gaining in popularity, the #vanlife trend is seeing more and more people across Europe outfitting campervans to go on adventures with. This means that guests booking in autumn and winter are likely to have all the equipment they need to defy the cold and enjoy their time outdoors.

The number one way to get more bookings in autumn and winter is to change your listing’s photos to convey a seasonal atmosphere. The good news is, you don’t need to be a professional photographer to capture the magic of changing seasons! You just need to follow the right tips, which we’ve compiled below.

Taking your own photos

We’ll break down some of our basic rules of thumb for shooting great photos for your listing and social media. These might just get you as excited about photography as we are!

What you’ll need

  • A digital camera. If you don’t have one, you can use a phone with a good quality camera.
  • Props and decor that speak to an autumnal, cosy, gezellig or hygge atmosphere! Think colourful leaves, blankets, coffee pots, books. When photographing outside, stick to props that would naturally reside in that location.
  • Willing volunteers to use as models. Wintry or autumnal clothing is key!
  • Decent weather

Four pieces of photography advice for Campspace hosts

Use these tips to stage and frame your photos in a way that truly captures the cosiness of your space.

1. Enlist the help of a model or props

Autumn leaves are an easy way to spice up your autumnal photos. Throw them in the air or spread them out around your tent. This will add a pop of colour and a playfulness to the photo.

You can also ask your friends or family to model for you. Do you have a pet? Let it be the star of the photo! You can also use props like camping gear to create cosy looking scenery. You might have some lights or candles laying around - use them to create mood lighting.

Photo by scout Diana
Photo by scout Diana

2. Be strategic about natural light

Autumn and winter are actually the ideal seasons for photography. The sun isn’t too bright, which prevents photos from looking too harsh. Ideally, you should take photos on a sunny day during mornings and evenings. These times of the day will give you the most friendly warm lighting.

3. Declutter to give each photo a central focus

This one is quite obvious, but needs to be mentioned anyways. Make sure that you’re photographing a clean and relatively tidy space. You’ll want it to look inviting, especially when you take photos of an accommodation on site. Add close-ups of specific details that make your space special.

4. Find the best angles

Try to experiment with different angles. Photos taken from a lower angle or higher angle are often more interesting. Try placing a tree or plant in the corner for extra depth and effect.

Photo by scout Diana
Photo by scout Charlotte
Photo by scout Charlotte

Campspace’s photo requirements

There are also some technical requirements we’d ask you to follow before uploading these photos.

1. Don’t edit photos on your phone

It’s very important that you don’t edit photos on your phone. This compromises the quality and size of the image file. If you’ve received photos through a messaging app like Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger, this has also altered the size and quality.

If needed, you can edit and retouch your photos on your computer, using a programme like Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop, but we’re happy to do this for you in-house at Campspace!

2. Don’t alter your images with filters

This means: no adding of filters, resizing or anything of the sort! We won’t be able to use any photos that have been altered on your mobile phone or that are too low in quality.

Sharing your photos with us

Last but not least, we have to receive the incredible shots you took of your space. This is how to prep your files and send them to us:

1. Naming your files

In order for us to always link a photo back to the photographer and your campspace, it’s important to name your files the right way. (Re)name your photos in the following manner:

Name _ social handle _ space ID code _ number (counting of photos)

To give you an example, here’s how I save my own photos for Campspace:

Don’t worry, you don’t have to name these one by one. There are easy ways to bulk name all your photos.

  • On Windows, you can batch rename images by selecting (shift+click or ctrl+click to select your files, or press ctrl+a to select all files in your current folder) and pressing right click ‘Rename’. Your file names will get numbered automatically.
  • On a Mac, it works in a similar way: select the files (command+A to select all, or command+click to select specific ones) and then press Control. In the shortcut menu that will pop up it will give you the chance to click ‘Rename’. Choose ‘Format’, fill in the instructed name in the ‘Custom format’. The number at the end will be done automatically.

2. Finding your space ID

You can always find the space ID on your listing, otherwise known as your space page. It’s the number in the grey square, right below the ‘about this campspace’ text.

3. Sending your photos to us via WeTransfer

Share your photos with us through WeTransfer to photos@campspace.com

Campspace’s scout programme

Finally, this wouldn’t be an article about the power of good imagery without a mention of Campspace’s scout programme! We want to encourage our hosts to take photos at opportune moments, when their campspaces are looking their best, but it never hurts to call on one of our hundreds of willing volunteers to arrange a photoshoot as well.

You might have already welcomed a scout in summer or spring, but there’s no reason to not apply for a second visit in autumn or winter. This will give you the diversity of images you need to attract guests year round!

Our scout programme is designed to help those of you that don’t necessarily have the right photography experience or equipment to get good looking photos of your space. Make sure your space page has the best photos by asking for a scout visit in your host menu. A scout visit can increase your bookings up to 300%! There are many more reasons to opt for a scout visit, which you can read about in our top 5 reasons to apply for a scout visit.

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