If you’re a travel UGC creator, you may be wondering what you can do to create content that helps you land paid collaborations. It might sound as simple as shooting your phone at the hotel bed or pool and clicking, but here’s the reality. If you want to get paid to travel with UGC, your job is to create high-quality travel content for hotels, resorts, and Airbnbs that makes guests want to book a stay. 

Creating stunning travel content that actually converts to hotel bookings takes practice and technique.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: a simple photography technique called framing can help you elevate your photos so you can create travel UGC that delivers real results. When you have framed photos in your UGC portfolio, you’re more likely to get fully booked out and make money traveling.

By the end of this post, you’ll understand how framing works so you can use it to create travel content that feels more immersive, professional, and valuable to brands hiring UGC creators. 

What Exactly Is Framing? 

Framing is a photography technique where you use elements in your photo or video to highlight the focal point of your content. These elements create a natural “frame,” or border, around what you want the viewer to notice first. 

Imagine you were looking through a keyhole or window. The edges of the window or the keyhole aren’t the subject; they exist to give you a view of the bigger picture. The frame that the window or keyhole creates makes the view outside feel more intentional. Framing works the same way in travel photography.

Using framing to create travel UGC allows the viewer to feel like they’re stepping into the space — like they’re actually there. It’s a powerful composition technique that works well for tourism marketing because it helps potential guests feel what it would be like to be immersed in the experience.

How to Use Framing for Travel UGC

Hotels, resorts, and Airbnbs provide many opportunities for framing. As a UGC travel creator, one of the best things you can do is learn how to spot them! Here are some framing photo ideas for UGC. 

• Look for architectural frames for travel content. Doorways, archways, and window frames can all be a great way to offer a luxurious look into a scene. Framing can add a sense of exclusivity or privacy that will make the viewer feel like they’re actually there. For example, you might try filming a luxury suit through the open doorway, using the doorframe as the border. You could shoot a pool through a cabana arch or capture a balcony through sliding glass doors. This makes the viewer feel like they’re getting a VIP look into the room, helping them envision what it would be like to stay at a hotel or resort — and that’s exactly what your goal is when you create travel UGC.
• Search for natural frames for UGC. Palm leaves, hanging flowers, tropical plants, and tree branches are some of my favorite natural elements to use for framing. It’s an effective way to highlight resort destinations. It creates a lush tropical atmosphere that hotels love to show in their marketing materials. What could make you want to visit a Hawaii resort more than a UGC travel photo of the pool framed by hibiscus or palm trees? 
  

• Use the environment to frame a person. For example, you might frame someone stepping onto a balcony through sheer curtains, walking through a hallway framed by columns or sitting in a pool chair framed by umbrellas. When you use this type of framing for travel UGC, it creates a lifestyle moment rather than just a static shot. It grabs attention, which is what will land you UGC travel collaborations. 
• Use a mirror for framing photos. You can use vanity mirrors to frame a lifestyle shot or capture other areas of the room through a hallway mirror or floor mirror in a hotel room. This makes lifestyle shots feel more candidate and artistic, but it doesn’t feel overly posed. That natural look is exactly what travel brands are looking for when they hire a UGC travel creator. 

Once you start seeing framing opportunities in everyday environments, you begin to realize that you have dozens of ideas you can use to create travel UGC. Instead of letting those photos sit on your camera roll, plug them into your professional UGC travel portfolio! You can grab my Free Canva Portfolio Template to organize your best shots and start presenting your work to hotels. A high-quality portfolio is what will help you get paid to travel with UGC. 

Why Framing Works So Well for Hotel Marketing

Framing is an effective photography technique for hotel marketing for several reasons.

It’s rare for travelers to book a hotel room based solely on the description. They book it because they envision themselves having a cocktail at the hotel pool, looking out the balcony window, or getting a spa at the salon. Framed UGC photos can create those types of feelings. Rather than showing the viewer a pool, the goal is to create travel UGC that shows what the pool looks like from the cabana — creating the emotional and storytelling experience that converts into room bookings.

Another reason framing for travel UGC is so effective is that it stops the scroll. Hotels are in need of content that grabs attention. Framing is naturally eye-grabbing, making it an effective option for Instagram and Facebook posts, digital ads, website advertising, email marketing, and booking platforms. 

Framed photos look high-end. Magazines like Architectural Digest or Condé Nast often use photos with framing. When UGC travel creators use framing, it makes their content automatically look higher-end. When you incorporate framed photos in your UGC travel portfolio, it signals to hotels that you understand professional visual storytelling. 

Framing Hacks That Instantly Upgrade Your Travel Content

While framing can be a powerful way to elevate UGC for hotels, resorts, and Airbnbs, it’s important to know how to use it correctly. Here are some important framing tips to keep in mind when you create travel UGC: 

• The Negative Space Rule: To avoid overcrowding the frame of a travel UGC photo, it’s important to leave space around the subject. This will make the room feel more open and luxurious. Hotel marketing relies heavily on space and clean content. 
• Foreground Depth Trick: Choose a “frame” that’s closer to the camera. For example, you might use a palm leaf, a curtain edge, or a chair in the foreground. This UGC photography trick adds layers and dimension to your travel content, which makes the background subject stand out.
• Use good presets. Using for framing for travel UGC gives your content structure, but lighting and color help create the mood. To get a consistent editorial look that resorts love, I use my Layover Luxe Preset Pack. It turns photos from my camera roll into polished, high-end UGC travel photos in one click. 
  

Enhance Your Travel UGC With Framing  

What separates amateur travel content apart from professional UGC isn’t expensive gear; it’s intentional composition. Using framing when you create travel UGC is a great way to enhance your photos and videos so you can provide content that delivers.

When brands see content that looks high-end, thoughtful, and well-composed, it immediately signals that the UGC travel creator understands marketing. When your travel content consists of better composition, it leads to higher engagement, stronger brand perception,  and repeat collaborations. The end result? You get to do what you love: get paid to travel the world. 

Now that you know how to capture high-end travel content, the next step is to know how to pitch it to hotels and get paid for it. My eBook, Check-In & CaSh-Out, walks you through the exact process I use to turn travel content into paid collaborations. It teaches you how to make money traveling, doing what you already love: taking photos of hotels, resorts, and Airbnbs.

If you’re serious about building a travel business that goes beyond social media trends, join my free Clear For Takeoff Telegram broadcast channel. I share visibility strategies, mindset shifts, and blogging insights to help your business take off! 

Want to learn more photography tips and tricks you can use to create travel UGC that gets you booked? Read more about how Balance, the Rule of Thirds, and Leading Lines can help you create travel UGC that sells.