Skye Commercial Photography has a nice cup of what you fancy

Skye Commercial Photography has a nice cup of what you fancy…

We have photographed more than a few cups of tea and coffee in our time.

A hot cup of something nice always makes everything better and that is true of photography as much as everything else. How to show somewhere is comfortable and welcoming? A nice cuppa sitting on the table by the window does that very well. If there is a biscuit or two or maybe even some fine Scottish tablet even better.

How to show that the table on the deck is an ideal spot to have breakfast and enjoy the view? Yup, tea or coffee will do it . So much niceness and warmth can be conveyed by the inclusion of some cups, a cafetière or teapot, milk, sugar (preferably lumps) and something on the side (anything scrummy will do).

It can be the tipping point for a prospective visitor. Don’t you want to be in that room, sitting in that chair admiring that view and enjoying the cup of coffee?

“I’m going with the one with the lovely cup of coffee. it speaks to me.”

Saying that it could even be down to

“Oh, I like their china.”

So that’s why I can be found sometimes carefully carrying a tray from the kitchen up though a hotel, a look of utmost concentration on my face, trying not to spill anything as I negotiate fire doors, guests and housekeepers on my way back to the room. Sometimes I can be found apologising to a housekeeper about the room they have recently made immaculate. I may have not only made a cup of tea but I’ve also opened a pack (or two) of the complimentary shortbread thus making the room quite a bit less immaculate.

Of course this leads to the added benefit to the photographer of a lovely hot beverage and maybe a biscuit after photography has been concluded. Except at a recent shoot where the hotel was in mid renovation and I was photographing the first rooms that were ready. The rooms were very smart and the addition of a cup of tea on the table in the window would be a lovely touch. The snag was the only tea they had was some raspberry and cumquat herbal infusion type of thing and to get it to look even vaguely tea like after the little tub of UHT milk was added took 6 teabags. Looked good, smelled funny and definitely wasn’t tasted.

I’ve spent too long looking at and talking about delicious cuppas, I think it might be time to stop now and put the kettle on. I hope we have some biscuits…