Life’s a splash with holiday park photography

It’s summer and that means one thing, time to get stuck in to creating fresh images for my Holiday Resort clients!

My shorts come out of hibernation and I clear out the half empty, out of date bottles of factor 50 from the bathroom cabinet, before setting off for long days at parks across Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and South Wales.

At this time of year, phone calls come from the marketing teams of Holiday Park HQs asking for my availability over the next couple of months. They all want blue skies and for the sun to be shining in their latest marketing images. It makes for a planning challenge but I realise how important being flexible is to my holiday industry clients.

As well as being flexible, factoring in travel time, overnight stays, the weather, my availability, availability of models, the moon aligning with Saturn and a dozen other aspects, you can see why my hairline has started to recede ever so slightly!  However, we manage to cope every year and once the shoots are over, I work through my post production during my overnight stays and eagerly await the thud of the brochures as they land on my doormat.

The anticipation of seeing my images in print is the same as it was thirty years ago, when my ‘smudges’ graced the pages of my local rag. To see some of my images on the front cover of holiday brochures is an added bonus and is something that I crave for my own personal satisfaction.

Shooting for Holiday Park companies such as Park Dean Resorts requires more skills than knowing your f stops from your elbow. There is a need for diplomacy, when the lifeguard of the park’s swimming pool won’t let you shoot as the pool is hosting private lessons, for fear that they won’t have all of the parent’s approval – especially if the images will be used on the internet.

Children’s Entertainer is a hat I wear quite often, especially when the model family’s two year old just fails to understand the term ‘work ethic’. The parks are always full of exciting and fun activities for kids and understandably, all they want to do is play – never with the facility I need them to initially, or in the place that I want them! Getting them out of the swimming pool to go on to the next brief can also be a challenge.

Making my ‘game’ the one they want to play each time has become a skill I have honed to perfection over the last few years. Failing that bribery usually works too!

While acting the Diplomat, Children’s Entertainer, Artistic Director and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer there is also the small matter of getting the right people in the right place for the shots I need to capture for my client and photographing them with the right lens. This needs to be done without the ubiquitous photo bomber and of course with the right light which is usually in the hands of my over worked and under rated Assistant.

When it all comes together and we have eight hours of blood, sweat and tears under our belts it’s time to eat, agree the plan for the next day and get on with post production. A few hours of sleep and it’s time to do it again.  The aim of course, is to create images that the potential holiday maker will see themselves in. If my pictures sway anyone to part with their hard-earned cash and book a holiday at my client’s holiday park, my job is done. I’m happy about that, especially if they’re happy enough to support my business and repeat the procedure next year.

To discuss your next photography project, please give me a call on 07976 222583 or email me on info@simonburtphotography.co.uk