To entice media interest, the right images can be just as important as the actual story.

When Lori Zelenko, LSZ Communications principal, was tasked with promoting the new Russian spa Okeanos, she hired a professional photographer to shoot images of the spa to illustrate the concept of it as a luxury destination.

"How can you convey a luxury image if you have no luxury images?" she asks. Those photos were instrumental in landing a cover story in American Spa. ...