Home or Hotel and why not a studio?

My first choice is to shoot in your own home, always. 

I work with natural light, and that means I can chase the light around your home from room to room instead of be in confined to one hotel room. I prefer that atmosphere in my images and not a studio with harsh unflattering lights. You’d be surprised how many of my most beautiful shoots of clients are taken at the window of a kids messy bedroom 😂

But sometimes, at home isn't an option because of kids, dogs (which I adore anyway) etc and you've had to book a hotel room. 

I’m always asked for recommendations for a hotel and what’s my favourite. I think I've shot in just about every hotel in Dubai over the years and don’t have a favourite, it’s entirely up to you. I’m not a fan of carpeted rooms but not many have that now. And of course you need to specifically ask for a sunny room. It’s fine to tell them you’re having photos taken and makeup done and need good day light. 

You require permission from the hotel in advance for large scale photo shoots, make sure you emphasise its just portraits from one female photographer. 

Shooting at home or in a hotel also depends on what you want on top of a shoot as “extra’s”. Some of you want a night away from the kids, are celebrating a special occasion or just want to have a hotel room after your shoot to relax after a night out in your gorgeous hair & makeup.

I know that budgets vary and reasons for shooting vary, so I've done the homework for you and came up with some alternatives if you really cannot shoot at home. 

Booking.com have some apartments which work out better than a hotel room because we’re not waiting for a check in at 3pm, you can get in earlier, and we have a whole apartment to work with instead of one room. Normally these apartments are minimally furnished from a management company and minimally decorated...exactly what I need. You have the benefit of seeing exactly what you're booking from the photos and you can see if there is marble, wooden or carpeted floors. Also, they’re sometimes prepared to give you a deal if you ask them to book for “day use” only. I use a holiday home management company for my business trips in dubai, and they can sometimes give me an apartment for the day if they have one free. 

Ask me before our shoot so I can enquire with them.

Another option is to just ask a friend if you can use their home. I’ve had a lot of women do this when they can’t shoot at home.

There is also dayuse.com A website dedicated to finding you hotels that offer day use only. To be honest, the rates are good and so are the timings for check in, but you're never sure what you're going get, so make sure they send you pics of your room before you confirm with them. 

One last thing...I will always prefer home shoots, I can move your furniture around till I get what I want and you won't recognise your place in the photos. In fact, I've had a few leave it exactly as I left it the day of the shoot because they preferred it! I've shot in tiny studio apartments and palaces. The end results are not much different. The main focus is you, not what’s around you.

I promise. It’s not the location.

It’s the photographer, the styling, the directing, the makeup girl and the post editing that make an incredible image.