According to The Wall Street Journal…Travelers Book Professionals to Photograph Best Moments of a Vacation; Services Offer Thinner Thighs, Bluer Skies writes ANDREA PETERSEN
Do you need someone to capture that ride on an elephant moment ©Keith Barnes
For summer vacation, the flight is booked, the hotel is reserved, the bags are packed, but what about the professional photographer to take snapshots and make you look supernaturally gorgeous?
A growing number of hotels and resorts are offering sessions with photographers to chronicle guests’ vacations. Travelers want to record memorable moments without ruining them stressing about focus and flash. They want more sophisticated shots to share on social media. And vacationers realize that an iPhone may not catch that perfect surfing or skiing triumph……..Prices for vacation photo sessions can range from about $100 an hour to much more. The Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii, for example, charges $800 for an hour. A half-day shoot is $3,200…….Grant Myrdal, a photographer from Bend, Ore., offers shoots with skiers and snowboarders on the slopes of Mount Hood Meadows Ski Resort. “When someone is going 40 miles an hour down the hill, an iPhone doesn’t do it,”……….Some city photographers are starting to get requests. Anna Azarov, a part-time photographer in New York, recently was hired to spend three hours with a vacationing couple from St. Petersburg, Russia…….READ MORE HERE
So does this sound like a good gig for a professional photographer, I am not so sure because while everyone else is on holiday having fun you are at work and charged with getting great pictures of people who might not look so great in their swimmers. Still in these straightend times maybe any work is better than none. I can certainly see that for ski enthusiasts the chance to get some skiing in paid for by others whilst taking a few pictures might be attractive, same goes really for any holiday activity that is typically expensive and difficult but beach pictures might not hit the button.
Anyway if you like the idea maybe you should hit the travel agents in your town and see if there is demand locally from tourists, I am sure there is in Oxford, or if they would like to offer a photographer as part of the package.
