Flying Visit: Creating a Hilton Campaign in Istanbul and Dublin in One Week
In one week I went London → Istanbul → Dublin → home again, shooting lifestyle hotel photography for Hilton across two properties with the Heehaw film team. The brief was to keep one visual language running through both cities, warm, relaxed campaign stills for hotel marketing that could sit comfortably alongside video across ads, website and social media.
Istanbul hotel photography: rooftop first, lobby last
In Istanbul we started the hotel photography day on the rooftop pool at Hilton Istanbul, racing the sun before it slipped behind the neighbouring towers. The brief was to make it feel like a calm city escape, so we kept the setups simple, our guests moving between loungers and cabanas while the reflections in the water did most of the work. Once the direct light had gone, we moved indoors to the main indoor pool, using the softer, even light to show off the architecture and keep the water looking clean and inviting for Hilton’s marketing images.
From there we dropped into the spa and hammam, the space was already very cinematic, so we could keep the posing minimal and let the architecture and candlelight carry the mood. It gave Hilton a set of spa lifestyle photographs that felt calm and inviting without being overly staged. We finished the Istanbul hotel shoot back up in the main lobby restaurant and bar, building a small story around two friends meeting for Turkish tea, arriving through the bar, crossing the patterned carpet and finally settling into the navy sofas with a table of pastries. Working around the film crew and real guests, we prioritised a handful of wide, mid and close frames we knew Hilton Istanbul could use as campaign assets across their website, print and social media alongside Heehaw’s film work.
By the time we wrapped in Istanbul, we had a strong set of hotel assets set that felt true to the property. Twenty‑four hours later I was in Ireland at Conrad Dublin with a new pair of models and the same hospitality photography brief, this time starting the day with breakfast and ending it with cocktails and a piano in the presidential suite.
Dublin: breakfast, bar and a piano
Dublin hotel photography: breakfast, bar and a piano
In Dublin the brief stayed the same: relaxed lifestyle hotel photography for Hilton, now at Conrad Dublin with a new pair of models. We started in the bar while the breakfast room was busy with guests, then moved into breakfast once the space was clear and finished upstairs in the presidential suite at the piano. On each setup we worked closely with the Heehaw film team, planning lighting and blocking together so the stills and video shared the same natural, relaxed feel.
Looking back on the week, what stays with me is how many moving parts had to line up for the images to feel effortless. Travel days, hotel schedules, guests, models, production, film and stills all had their own needs, but working as one team with Heehaw and Hilton meant we could share light, time and ideas instead of competing for them. When that planning and collaboration comes together, you end up with a campaign that feels calm and natural, even though it was built in just a handful of very full days across two cities.