Working Eight 14 Hour Long Days, Photographer Gergely Jancso Makes a Multitude of Hospitality Images for IGH Hotels

by Lexi Taciak December 13, 2024December 5, 2024 0 Project of the Week

IGH Hotels are some of my favorite local stays. Whether it’s Baltimore and DC’s Hotel Monaco or Philly’s Hotel Palomar, these properties have become my go-to “staycation” spots, perfect for anniversary getaways. So, when architectural photographer Gergely Jancso shared his stunning images of IHG Kimpton BEM Budapest, they instantly felt familiar and inviting to me.

Greg spent eight days on location, working tirelessly for 14 hours a day to capture the essence of the project. His dedication shines through in the sheer volume of images he produced. Despite the demanding timeline, each photograph reflects his meticulous attention to detail and craftsmanship.

Greg has a lot of great intel on this shoot as well as a multitude of photos, so I’ll let him take it away and let you look through his work:

Greg: “The Kimpton BEM project for IHG took a full eight days of shooting. Designed by Marcel Wanders, the photography started with two days focused on the rooms. All rooms faced the garden with limited natural light, so we captured them with lights both on and off, using flash and merging the images in post-production.”

“As the hotel was still being finalized for opening, we photographed spaces in different stages of completion, including rooms, the lobby, conference area, restaurant, bar, rooftop bar, and wellness area. While shooting the steam room, we accidentally triggered the smoke detector, not realizing it was sensitive to steam as well.”

“Given IHG’s high brand standards, we aimed for about 12-15 images a day, working 12-14 hours daily to ensure every detail was covered. With the hotel not yet open to guests, we managed to complete the shoot just before the official opening.”

“The expected image delivery time was 3-5 days, but with 4-5 consecutive days of shooting, this was nearly impossible. We work full-time as a team with Greg and Patrick making the process smoother, but we had multiple projects during this period, and delivering the images to meet client needs required many long nights to maintain quality. I was super happy that IHG had no rejections or retouching requests, a great outcome given the tight schedule.”

“The ceiling height in the lobby, restaurant, and bar was around 7-8 meters, making the Godox AD200 too weak to fill the space with flash light. I have managed to handle most situations with this budget flash, but here, due to the height, a more powerful light was necessary. For cases like this, I use the Godox AD600, which provides the output of light required. The ceiling was a pure white surface, which allowed us to use it as a natural softbox for bounced light. Balancing the white balance was also a challenge, as I had to make the various light sources appear natural in a single image.”