Having Professional Photos Taken on Vacation

Why haven’t I thought of this before?   I truly can not believe it took becoming a travel advisor to realize that I could have family photos taken on vacation.  

When I kicked off my travel career earlier this year, I marveled at some of the photos on fellow travel entrepreneur’s websites.  While at a workshop for travel advisors, I heard the website flytographer.com mentioned several times.

Flytographer brings together travelers and local photographers.  When you do not live in a location, it is harder to do the legwork associated with finding a quality photographer.  It is also a little nerve-wracking to pay cash directly to a photographer and hope that they actually send you the photos.  The easy of paying with a credit card with a Square device has not made its way to many places, so cash is the only option. With flytographer.com, everything is regulated.  Prices are the same no matter your destination. You are protected from a rogue photographer by using their services.

That being said, there was no flytographer.com photographer registered for our destinations in Greece. Thus, my only choice was to reach out to a local photographer and hope for the best! We arranged everything via email weeks before the trip.  However, there were some anxious moments as the date for photos neared. There were a couple of unreturned emails leading up to the day we had scheduled to take photos.  The day of the shoot, I still did not have a time confirmed. I started to wonder if the photos would still happen. I went to the photographer’s website and found a phone number.  I used WhatsApp to contact the phone number, and luckily, the photographer responded immediately. Whew!

The anxiousness returned when I had not received the photos by the date she had promised them.  Again, my emails went unreturned. However, as soon as I used WhatsApp, I had an immediate answer.  The photos arrived six days after they were promised, but I honestly did not mind as I did not have time to go through them before then.  Returning from a vacation is hard work!

Another thing to consider is that it is not as easy to primp for photos as when you are at home.  I did not have all the products I would usually have to ensure my hair was behaving. We all traveled with just carry-ons for this trip, so all my hair products had to be in containers less than 3.4 oz.  I wanted to go with a wavy look for my hair, so I brought my curling wand and also a small travel size straightener. I did not consider how dry the air in Greece is! I am used to a humidity in the air, so my hair would not curl!  I ended up with one crimped looking strand that I tried to straighten with the small, barely effective straightener.  It really was not a big deal, but it is something to consider if you are considering professional vacation photos.

Despite these small hiccups, the overall experience was everything I had hoped for. This trip deserved more than selfies! Selfies are usually the only way I make it into a photo, so it is so nice to see some quality photos of me on vacation with my family.

I was also able to have some much-needed headshots taken.  Now, I feel like a real professional!

What I did not even think about before the experience was that the local photographer also acted as a guide. She showed me a part of the town that I would have never ventured to on my own and taught me about what I was seeing. This was my second trip to Naxos Town, but I had never climbed past the main part of the castle. The castle continues to the highest point of the town which is where many of these photos were taken.

The magic of Greece is forever captured in these photos.  They are truly the best souvenir I have ever brought back from my travels.