Lucky ShotStudio
Editorial photography, travel posters and printed keepsakes for hotels and historic places.
Feature · p. 01Desired.
Editorial photographs and travel posters that make people want to go.
Feature · p. 02Experienced.
Creative direction for the details that shape how a stay feels.
Feature · p. 03Remembered.
Printed keepsakes guests carry home and keep.
From the editor
What I make
I make a place's whole visual story: the photographs that make people want to go, the details that shape how a stay feels, and the printed keepsakes they carry home.
Lucky Shot Studio works with boutique hotels, historic inns, restaurants, brands and people. Editorial photography, custom ephemera, place research and creative direction come from one studio and one point of view, so the pictures, the paper and the story all describe the same place.
I trained as an architect, and I still start every project by reading the building.
— Clay
Departments
In the studio
- 01
Editorial Photography
Hotels, interiors, architecture, food and drink, lifestyle.
→ - 02
Editorial Portraits
The people behind places, plus engagements, maternity and weddings.
→ - 03
Custom Ephemera
Travel posters, luggage labels, postcards and keepsakes.
→ - 04
Place Research
Building history, archives and the story a place can tell.
→ - 05
Creative Direction
One visual system across web, print, social and the stay.
→
The feature / Signature offer
The Place Kit
A scrapbook of what your property feels like, as if a guest in 1957 had kept everything from their stay.
Read the feature
Concept mockups · Gibson Inn and Park City studies
Departments / Services
In the studio
Five ways in. Most projects use two or three of them together.
01 / Desired
Editorial Photography
Hotels and historic properties shot like a magazine story, not a listing. Architecture, interiors, food and drink, and the people who use the space. Film and digital.
- Rooms, details and amenities
- Lifestyle and guest moments
- Brand and product shoots
- Web, press and booking-ready files
02 / Experienced
Editorial Portraits
The people who make a place: owners, innkeepers, chefs, bartenders and makers, photographed where they work. The same documentary, discovered-moment style carries into engagements, maternity and weddings. Less posing, more paying attention.
- Owner, staff and maker portraits
- Personal editorial portraits
- Engagements and maternity
- Weddings and elopements
03 / Remembered
Custom Ephemera
Vintage-style travel posters, luggage labels and printed keepsakes, drawn from a property's own history and color. Made for the gift shop, the guest room and the press kit.
- Travel posters and prints
- Luggage labels and stickers
- Postcards, matchbooks, key tags, menu covers
- Illustrated property maps
04 / The groundwork
Place Research
Archives, records, old photographs and local voices, turned into the story a property can actually tell. Trained in architecture and anthropology, I read a building and its town together.
- Building and site history
- Archive and image sourcing
- Oral history interviews
- A story guide for staff and press
05 / All three
Creative Direction
One visual system across web, print, social and the guest experience, so every touchpoint feels like the same place. Ideal for openings, renovations and anniversaries.
- Palette and type direction
- Campaign concepts
- Shot lists and art direction
Not sure what you need?
Start a conversationThe feature / Signature offer
The Place Kit
A scrapbook of what your property feels like, as if a guest in 1957 had kept everything from their stay. One visual system, researched and designed for you, ready to sell in the shop, leave in the room and send to the press.
- Research
- A short history and story guide for the property
- Poster
- A hero travel poster built around one big idea
- Label
- A die-cut luggage label or sticker
- Postcards
- A set of editorial photographs printed as postcards
- Paper goods
- Two small pieces: key tag, matchbook, coaster or menu cover
- Field journal
- A small booklet of writing and photographs about the place
Concept mockups · Gibson Inn and Park City studies
From the kit / Concept mockups
How properties use it
A defined share of every Place Kit fee goes to local preservation work.
Contributors / About
Hi, I'm Clay.
I trained as an architect, so I see a building the way its designer did: the sightlines, the materials, the light it was built for.
Lucky Shot Studio is my studio in Panama City, on Florida's Gulf Coast. I studied architecture and anthropology, worked in construction estimating and project management, and now photograph, draw, research and write about places whose stories are worth carrying forward.
I start every project with research, not a mood board. I shoot film and digital, develop my own film, and look for the discovered moment over the staged one. The real moment is always worth more than the performed one.
A share of every Place Kit fee goes to local preservation work, because the places I photograph only stay worth photographing if someone takes care of them.
Portfolio / Projects
The archive
Hotels, people, places and paper. Choose a project to see the full story.