10 Reasons Why Booking a Photographer on Vacation is Oh So Worth It

I am speaking from recent personal experience here. HIRE A PHOTOGRAPHER FOR YOUR NEXT VACATION! After seeing many of my travel consultant friends doing this for a while, I decided to give it a try during our last vacation. Last year, we went to New York City for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, to see the Rockette’s Christmas Spectacular show, and to explore the city during the holidays.

Considering the fact my husband and I haven’t gotten professional photos done since our wedding almost nine years, ago, AND we’ve had a daughter since then, it was way overdue. So about one week prior to our trip, I booked a half-hour session with a photographer in Central Park through flytographer.com.

The process is really easy. You can first search by the city you are visiting. Flytographer is all over the world and if your destination is not on their list of cities, you can contact them to see if a photo session can be arranged where you are going. On the city page, there will be a list of their typical photo routes in areas like, Central Park, Times Square, etc. They’ve also made all of their local photographer’s photos, portfolios, and information available on this page, so you can select based on style/ portfolio, etc.

They offer multiple packages. We opted for the “30 Minute Short Storyteller” (which is the least expensive at $250) for a couple of reasons: (1) we have a busy toddler and we didn’t think she’d last longer than 30 minutes; and (2) it was our first time using the service and we wanted to test it out before going all in.

After filling out the online booking form, I went back-and-fourth with the Flytographer concierge to settle on a photographer, location, and specifics. When the details were finalized, we received all the necessary information to get to our photo shoot in Central Park with Samantha.

At the shoot I warned Samantha that we’d probably need a lot of direction since we’re not exactly models by trade, so she was very helpful in telling us what to do and providing opportunities for many different poses, candid shots, and configurations. It was a good thing we only booked her for a half-hour because that was about the limit of my daughter’s attention span. Samantha was very patient with our busy girl and Central Park was a good place for us, as it allowed Zora to run and play quite a bit.

Five days later we received the proofs of the images. With our package we were supposed to get 15 digital images, but they gave us some extra images, “because Zora was just too cute!” (She really is.) The pictures are beautiful and I will definitely do this again!

Does this still sound a bit extravagant to you? It really isn’t and it really is worth it. Here are the reasons why.

Vacation is all about making memories. What better way to preserve memories than with professional photos of your experiences?
Vacation is often about being with the ones you love. This is a great way to capture those bonding moments.
Having someone else take pictures of you allows you to be in the moment, rather than fidgeting with cameras or phones.
These are professional photographers. They will capture the lighting and atmosphere better than most of us. These photos are really going to be frame-worthy.
This goes without saying, but it allows EVERYONE to be in the picture. No need to flag down someone and ask him or her to take your picture, only to find they cut everyone’s head off in the frame or the focus was blurry.
These photos make great gifts! Send them to the grandparents for the holidays, put them on your holiday card, make a calendar…you know what I mean.
These photographers are local, so they may take you somewhere you may not have thought of visiting. Our photographer suggested Bethesda Fountain in Central Park because of the lighting and our request for open spaces for our energetic child. Despite the fact that we spent a good amount of time walking through Central Park in the days preceding the photo shoot, we never actually made it to the fountain, so this was an opportunity for us to see a new part of the park.
If price is the only thing holding you back at this point, I will just say that is worth the money. The rate is standard for professional photographers and considering the ease of booking this in most major cities in the world, the value really is very apparent.
Along the same lines, I think this is a much better souvenir to bring back from a trip than most any trinket you can find. Rather than buying a bunch of t-shirts or snow globes, capture your memories and cherish them forever.
Finally, I was so excited about the money I saved when I booked this trip to NYC; I decided to allocate some of that money to this photo shoot. And, what a great idea! These photos (like our memories) will last a lifetime! When my daughter is older, she can look back at these pictures and that truly warms my heart.

If you’re sufficiently pumped and want to book a Flytographer for your next vacation, use this code: kinshipvacations

For clients that book a vacation package with me, I can get you a special discount on a Flytograpther photo shoot, so don’t forget to ask me about booking a photo shoot for you when we plan your next vacation together.

In the meantime…

Happy Wanderlusting!

Ashley

P.S. To see the rest of our photos, check out the album.

P.P.S. For more travel tips and inspiration and a FREE GUIDE, “10 Ways to Strengthen Relationships Through Travel” CLICK HERE.

Or, if you’re ready to jump right in and start planning a memorable, bonding travel experience for you and your loved ones, start by filling out our trip planning form.

Originally published on www.peregrinekinship.com on Dec 1, 2016 - https://peregrinekinship.com/2016/12/01/10-reasons-why-booking-a-photographer-on-vacation-is-oh-so-worth-it/