I have one regret from our European trip last fall: the pictures. Specifically, the lack of great pictures of our whole family. We really only have one great one, taken by a fellow tourist at the Spanish Steps in Rome (see left). That's not to say that we don't have great pictures from the trip. It's just that most of them are either me holding Mia, Jole holding Mia, or Mia solo. I didn't even realize until we got home that the best picture of Jole and I together was a selfie of me kissing him on the cheek in the rain at the Arc de Triomphe. Very romantic, but also quite blurry!
As soon as we planned our trip to Maui this spring I knew I wanted to have professional photos taken—Jole and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary a few weeks before and I wanted to make sure we got the photos that we missed in Europe. As a first step I Googled and Yelped photographers in Maui and was instantly overwhelmed. There are a LOT of photographers in Hawaii and they vary widely in price and quality. Without a personal recommendation, I'd have no idea who to pick. Then I learned about Flytographer (thanks TMOM!), and my concerns about getting high quality pictures of the whole family disappeared! The service works with vetted, professional photographers around the world (140 cities and counting). These aren't amateurs or newbies—many of them also shoot major magazine fashion spreads, celebrities and big events. They know their stuff.
Flytographer took care of all the details. All I had to do was enter my destination and dates, and a concierge took over to coordinate the details on my behalf. We planned our shoot for the mid-point of our stay, ensuring we'd feel and look relaxed and rested, and our concierge worked hard to get a great photographer scheduled for us—we scored with Chelsea Abril, a Hawaii-based photographer that flew to Maui from Oahu just for our shoot! Chelsea arrived early and scouted out the grounds of our resort to find the best spots, and we got started an hour before sunset.
We look fantastic if I do say so myself :) Our hour-long shoot with Chelsea yielded almost 50 gorgeous photos like these, and all the retouched digital files were included in our $350 package, which is a great price for so many high quality photos. Prices vary a bit depending on your location and there are options for multiple location shoots, longer sessions and bigger groups.
MAMA SAYS: Getting incredible pictures on vacation is a no-brainer now that Flytographer is here! I recommend it in Maui or wherever in the world your family will be, and you can get $25 off your first shoot (and send $25 my way as well!).