We all know the value of great photos, and as listing sites become more sophisticated and WordPress themes offer greater choice, higher quality images are going to become necessary in order to compete in this market. Dwellable is leading the way with this and owners who are listing with HD photography are blowing the competition out of the water.

Finding a photographer to do a shoot and then scheduling them in on an appropriate day, works.

To a degree.

What about the local interest shots that would be great to have on a listing? The farmer’s market (only open one day a week); a local festival (great evening images but the photog will only be there for the afternoon); the local wildlife (good luck with getting bambi to appear on cue) – all of these images would be superb but are hardly likely to be within the photographers remit if you are only paying for half a day of his time.

So what about having a professional photographer actually stay at your vacation home for a couple of days – or even a week? If they had enough time to become familiar with the location, to understand what your guests feel when they stay there, and to appreciate the surrounding area too?

Let’s also say they pay your cleaning costs and provide a damage deposit (if that is what you normlly collect), and it costs you nothing to register. Sound good?

Enter Shootstay.com

Just found out how to get pro #vacationrental photos for free! Thanks @cottageguru @ShootStay for your great idea

I first heard about Shootstay from one of the pre-launch videos from the Vacation Rental World Summit. I was transfixed by the idea immediately, not only because we had exchanged some of our expertise for some additional days at our Bahamas rental in February, and love the concept of barter, but this deals with a pain point many owners have. Getting professional photography and videography for our properties is expensive and actually finding someone to do it can be really tough.

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John’s concept of trading off-season time with free stays for a professional photographer is stellar and in this episode he explains how the concept became a fully fledged exchange of professional photography with free stays at vacation rental homes.

We talked about:

• John’s background in music and photography
• How choosing a vacation rental in the Poconos was the catalyst for the idea
• Why the expression ‘the photos don’t do the place justice’ started it all off
• The Shootstay concept and how professional photographers are screened
• How this happens at no cost for the owner or manager
• Why photographers are encouraged to read reviews before their stay
• The nuts and bolts of the process
• Contractual arrangements and copyright issues
• Why this is a complete no-brainer for owners with down-time in the low season

Links:

Dwellable

Vacation Rental World Summit

Shootstay