Want some amazing wedding or engagement portraits? Italy does not disappoint. It is a wedding photographer’s dream and we were fortunately able to spend a week touring and photographing different parts of the country.
This couple joined us in Italy on one of our destination portrait sessions. We traveled to Venice, Rome, Florence and Milan and took wedding and engagement portraits for them.
We started off in Venice and photographed St Mark’s square, in front of gondolas and the surrounding area/canals. These portraits feature a red dress for her and a casual suit for him. It matched the architecture perfectly.
We then took a train to Rome. We photographed the couple in their wedding attire for wedding type portraits. We spent a couple hours at sunrise photographing in front the Coliseum. Pro tip… to avoid crowds, go at sunrise. Be sure to be finished by 8am before the first tour busses arrive. This will allow you to take portraits with minimal tourists. No one wants a million tourist in their wedding portraits, right?
After Rome, we took a train to Florence for a couple of nights. We rented Vespas and took a trip into wine country to photograph in vineyards. This was a fun and relaxing day. We took engagement type portraits for this session as we were limited in what we could bring with us on the Vespas.
Finally, we finished in Milan and the iconic church in the center of the shopping district. This shoot was late at night, again to try to avoid a million tourists in the square. We used a long flowy yellow dress to give it a fashion type look.
This trip was AMAZING. We got to provide an amazing destination portrait experience for our client and they got to spend a week touring Italy. If you are getting married, think about doing your wedding portraits in Italy :)
Enjoy some of the images we captured!
Arizona Senior Portraits | Destination Session
We are often asked where we think the best location in the US is for senior portraits. This can be a difficult thing to answer since there are SO many amazing locations out there, but if we had to pick just one place, it would be Arizona. That is a surprise to many since there are places like Hawaii or New York City that often come to mind, but Arizona is unique. In Northern Arizona, there are things like the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, slot canyons, desert locations, etc. In central Arizona are placed like Sedona and the famous rock formations. You also have cities like Phoenix if you are looking for architecture. In short, there is a lot of diversity and unique locations within the state.
For this particular senior destination trip, we went to the Grand Canyon and finished up in Sedona around sunset. We love taking people to the Grand Canyon as its truly a sight to see. There is nothing like it in the world and it makes for an amazing portrait experience.
Enjoy some of the photos we did from this senior portrait session in Arizona!
Italy Senior Portraits | Destination Portraits
Who would have thought you can have your senior portraits taken in Italy? Its all about the experience for us. We can create amazing portraits locally, but there is something about that once in a lifetime trip that takes the senior portrait experience to another level.
Earlier this summer, we had the opportunity to bring a few of our clients with us to Italy. These destination portrait experiences are an unique way to explore the world and getting some amazing senior portraits at the same time. We plan everything for you and all you need to do is come along for the journey.
For this trip, we started in Venice and photographed in the famous St Mark’s Square. From Venice, we traveled to Rome and spent a couple of days exploring the city and of course, the Colosseum. We took a day trip down to the Almafi Coast and explored where Lemoncello originated. After Rome, we made a stop in Florence to ride Vespas through wine country. We ended our trip in Milan and the iconic shopping district.
These 10 days flew by but we were able to get some great senior portraits for Kiersten in between the food, shopping and tours!
Here is a preview of what we created for her!
Las Vegas, Arizona, Utah and California Senior Portrait Roadtrip
We travel A LOT for our senior portrait sessions. We try to create trips that are unique and provide our senior clients with an amazing experience. We have been to Las Vegas several times as well as the Phoenix, Arizona area. These locations are AMAZING for senior pictures. The diverse scenery is completely different than what we get in the Tampa, Florida area. This is one reason why we travel…. let our clients see parts of the world they have never seen.
Morgan told us she wanted to do a trip out west for her senior portraits since she has never been. We came up with doing a trip to Phoenix. A week or so before the trip, she reached out and asked how far it was from Phoenix to Las Vegas. Long story short, we ended up deciding on doing a road trip out west.
This trip started with the flight to Phoenix. We then drove over to Las Vegas to do a shoot at a ghost town. From there, we went to the strip for a photoshoot with the lights in the city. In the morning we drove out to Death Valley and did a portrait session there with sand dunes, salt flats and mountains. Then we drove to southern Utah to take advantage of the slot canyons there. In the morning, off to Horseshoe Bend for a senior portrait session there before heading to the Grand Canyon. After dinner at the Grand Canyon, we headed back to the airport in Phoenix.
WOW.. What an amazing trip. Senior pictures in 4 states in 2 days.. Crazy to even think about but Morgan had a blast and got to see 4 states she has never seen.
When it comes to your senior portraits, lets do something outside the box like a roadtrip out west. It is something you will NEVER forget.
Here are some portraits from the trip. Enjoy!
Why Destination Portrait Sessions?
One of the questions we often get from parents, seniors, couples and others about our destination session offerings is: “Why should we do a destination session?” Its a fair question, so I will use this post to explain why we offer destination sessions to our clients and why you might want to consider one for your portrait session.
Once in a Lifetime Experience!
Destination sessions are about the experience you have in another location while visiting different sites, touring, eating and yes taking pictures. It is something that you will remember the rest of your life. We could certainly create pretty images at a local location, but that is “normal”. When was the last time “normal” had a significant memory in your life? Think of the last time you had a portrait taken and where it was taken at. Is it a significant memory? Does the location factor into it at all? Chances are if you are like more people, you went to a local park and did portraits there. While the portraits came out great you and were happy with them, there really isnt a memory attached to it. In 20 years, will the location have mattered? No, you value the image that was created and hanging in your home, the location was just a the pretty place you picked.
Now imagine for a moment if you had that same portrait session in Paris, Iceland, Greece or even a place like Colorado. The location then becomes part of the story behind the portraits. Every time you see that portrait on the wall, you will remember your trip and the experience that you had and you will remember it far longer than if it were just a “normal” session down the road. You will remember the travel to get there.. You will remember the smells of the location.. You will remember the food, how many tourists there were, how things were different than you are used to and so on.
The trips we provide are about that creating that experience and not about the portraits. Yes, we will be taking portraits, but the portraits are the result of the experience. They are what we create to represent that experience, but the trip is first and foremost about the experience that traveling provides. We want to provide you with something that you will remember forever!
Amazing Portraits!
Wait.. Didnt I just said it wasnt about the portraits? Yes, that is correct. Its about the experience, but the portraits become what we use to portray that experience. Every time you see your portraits on the wall or in the album you will instantly remember the experience you had on that trip. The portraits give us the reason to go, the experience is the most important part and the portraits are the way to remember that trip years down the road. Think of it like a sandwich. The most important part of a sandwich is what is between the bread. Its the meat, the toppings, the dressing, etc. Without those things, you are just holding 2 pieces of bread. The experience is the meat and toppings of the sandwich. The portraits are the bread that hold it together.
The location becomes an integral part of the portraits we create. While it is true we can provide you with images you will love and cherish with local sessions, there is just something different about images with well known landmarks in them. Take the image of Olivia in the red dress. I could have done something similar locally. It would have looked good. She would have loved it.. but it wouldnt have been on a rooftop in Santorini. The location sets the image apart. The process helps create the experience.
Which do you think is more memorable; doing this at a local park or doing this on a rooftop of Santorini? Which do you think has more impact? Which do you think creates the “wow” factor? Destination sessions allow us to create those “wow” portraits that you will be excited to display or share on social media. simply due to locations that are different and beyond the norm. The location become part of your story. The location allows you to get images you otherwise wouldnt be able to get. It all comes together to allow us to create some amazing portraits for our clients.
Spending time with a loved one!
Parents! Did you know that in a few short years (or even less than a year for parents of seniors), your children will be leaving the nest to spread their wings in the real world? I’m sure you dont need me to remind you that your time with them is limited. Once they leave to be on their own, your time with them is even more limited as they begin their lives without you. Yes, they will still visit. Yes, they will spend holidays at home, but it wont be the same as them living under your roof as they did the previous 18 or so years. Soon they will have their own families that will begin to take their focus. Soon they will have their own families in which they will vacation with. What parent wouldnt want to maximize the time they spend before their children leave? Go ahead, grab the tissues!
Destinations sessions give you an opportunity to travel one more time with your child. They give you an opportunity to experience other parts of the world with them. It allows you more time to create memories you both will cherish years down the road. It provides more dinner conversations years in the future when they visit with their families. You both can recall that trip you took for the portraits… and as mentioned above, you will have some amazing images to share with them.
Excuse to Travel!
Most people want to travel and see other parts of the world, but many feel traveling just to travel is not a good use of resources. Destination sessions give them a reason to travel. There is now a reason to do it that goes beyond just wanting to go. The portrait session gives them a reason to go. Its a justification to invest the money to do the trip.
Also, this makes traveling easier. Many people dont want to travel because of the amount of planning it takes to do a trip. They dont know how to navigate airports. They are nervous about getting lost. Planning gives them anxiety. With our destination portrait sessions, you do not need to worry about any of that. The trips are planned for you. I am there to help you navigate a new city, help you travel through airports, train stations, etc and help you make the most of your trip without you having to worry about the details.
Cheaper Trips!
Our destination trips are significantly cheaper than most expect. I put together the cheapest trip possible to many of the most famous locations. To give you some ideas on costs for our trips, here is a list of some recent trips and the costs (not including food) to do them.
- Paris: $450
- Iceland: $600-$850
- Greece: $850
- Colorado - $165
- Las Vegas - $115
- Ireland - $1000
That is a small sampling of some trips we have taken. As you can see, those are pretty cheap prices to travel to those locations. To up the WOW factor, those prices above include airfare, lodging and transportation. All of the international trips include multiple days, usually about a week. Say what?!?! Greece for $850? Yup, that trip was 7 days during spring break. Crazy huh?
So as you can see, the trips we put together are pretty cheap considering the locations. I spend a ton of time finding the best airfare and lodging deals for each trip so that you dont have to worry about it. :)
Here are a couple of reviews from a recent trip to Iceland
“I’m not sure if words can describe what this trip meant to us...What started as Senior pictures for my daughter turned out to be more than you could ever imagine. We made memories, met new people, saw gorgeous sites and genuinely enjoyed our time together. Curtiss isn’t just an exceptional photographer, but an extremely knowledgeable tour guide. He even made traveling practically painless, which I would have never believed possible. We would do it again!” - Tabitha
“This might hands down be the best experience we have had. It’s no secret that Curtiss takes amazing portraits, but beyond that the experience was something we will always cherish. We got to see the most gorgeous landscapes I’ve ever seen in my life and my daughter felt like a celebrity having her portraits taken in these grandiose locations in gorgeous dresses while bystanders came by to see what was going on and started taking her picture paparazzi style. Julie isn’t quite a senior yet, this was just a mommy and daughter trip, but it was so nice to be there with the other moms and our daughters and spend that time with our girls in these AMAZING locations. Curtiss was such a great tour guide.. not to mention exceptional photographer. I saw some sneak peeks of the pictures he took and words can’t describe how beautiful they are!” - Emily
As you can see from the reasons above, destination sessions provide an unique opportunity for your portraits. But you likely have a few more questions, so I will cover some of those below.
Are the pictures included in the price for the trip?
Yes and no. I do not charge a session fee to take the pictures while we are there, but you would need purchase the prints and products you would want separately after the trip. We invite you to the studio after we get back and that is where you will view your portraits and make your selections. We do not have a minimum purchase amount, so you only order images that you want.
How many trips can we do?
As many as you want. We do not limit how many trips clients can go on. If you want to go on multiple trips, you just pay the costs for those trips and whatever prints/products you want after the trip.
I’m a senior and want to go on a trip. Who is required to go with me?
A parent (or someone over 25) is required to go with anyone under 25. There are several reasons for this.. 1) liability 2) car/hotel rentals 3) gives you someone to be there with you to tour while I may be photographing someone else and 4) just a rule we have :)
I want to go on a trip, but I want to see the sights. Do we do portraits all day?
It depends on the trip. Our one day trips are portrait based and there wont be much time to see the sights outside of the locations we photograph. We are in and out the same day. ALL of our international trips include time to tour. We do not shoot all day on those trips, so once your session is done, you are free to be a tourist the remaining part of the day and other days you arent shooting. We want you to be able to experience as much as possible, so we dont take all day to photograph you. The one exception to this would be Iceland. Since everything is so spread out, a lot of time is spent in a car. So days we do photoshoots, we are traveling several hours by car, so you wont have a ton of tourist time in Iceland, but lets face it, you didnt choose Iceland for the tourist activities. You chose it for the landscapes and scenery and there is a TON of that.
Are there any extra costs to the trips?
Again, it depends on the trip. I try to provide as much transparency as possible. I try to do an all inclusive rate so that you just pay once and airfare, lodging, ground transportation, etc is included. The main thing we do not include is food because that is up to each individual. Each person can decide what they want to spend on food each day. Some people spend more/less than others, so we dont include that in the pricing. There would be other fees like museum admission, souvenirs, etc that you would pay for separately.
Do we stay with a group of people?
Yes, we typically stay together as a group in each location. This is mostly to keep costs down for lodging. You dont have to stay with the group during the day, but most of the time, we share an apartment/condo unit. While we share the common areas, you will have your own bed (or share with your child). You may need to share a bathroom, but we try to get each “group” their own bedroom. Doing it this way allows us to keep the prices significantly cheaper than staying in individual hotel rooms.
If you have any questions or are interested in one of our trips, please visit www.curtissbryantphotography.com/destinations to get added to our mailing list for destination sessions. Cant wait to travel with you!
Destination Portrait Session - Senior Portraits - Jessica - Ireland - Dark Hedges, Dunluce Castle & Giants Causeway
Destination sessions are quickly becoming the most popular type of session that we offer. We travel all over the world to create amazing memories for our clients, particularly for senior portraits. Over the summer we had the opportunity to travel to Ireland and meet with Jessica to do a portrait session. Ireland is an amazing location for your portraits. The weather is always hit or miss as we had some days full of rain and others without a drop. We just roll with it and make the best of the situation.
On this particular day, the weather cooperated until we finished the shoot and the skies opened up. But at least we were able to finish and get some amazing portraits for Jessica. We visited some of the most iconic locations in Ireland, including the Cliffs of Moher, the Dark Hedges, the Giants Causeway and Dunluce Castle.
For Jessica’s portraits, we decided on Northern Ireland and some of its most visited locations. It just so happens that many of them are filming locations for the Game of Thrones. Amazing images AND seeing some filming locations for one of the most popular TV Series… Double Bonus!
Enjoy the portraits of Jessica and let us know if you would like to join us on one of our destination portrait sessions. These are perfect for engagement session, senior portraits or even post/pre wedding couple portraits. Create memories that will last a lifetime AND get amazing portraits for your home!
Senior Portrait Destination Session - Costa Rica
A few weeks ago, we headed to the jungles of Costa Rica for a week long adventure with some of our seniors to create some amazing senior portraits for them. If you have seen our work, you know that we love to offer these destination sessions for our high school senior clients. Its a great way to create an amazing experience for the seniors as well as create some amazing images for them. These trips are an experience of a lifetime.
We landed in San Jose and drove to the west coast of Costa Rica and stayed around Playa Ocotal. We stayed there a few nights and photographed on the beach in the area. We then headed back towards San Jose and stayed at the base of the Arenal volcano for the remaining nights. Overall, it was an amazing trip and we created some great memories for our clients.
This trip also gave us an opportunity to show how we use the Spider Holster when we travel. This belt is simply amazing. It allows us to carry our camera without a strap getting in the way. It also allows to free up our hands to move lights, fluff dresses and just interact with our clients, without a camera being in the way. We use the Spider Holster on every shoot and it makes our jobs 100x easier. Thank you Spider Holster for creating an amazing product for us to use. You can check them out here! :)
https://spiderholster.com/
You can check out some of our images from the trip and some of the behind the scenes images below. Enjoy!!
Shannon | Charlotte Senior Pictures | Destination Portrait Session
Senior pictures are all about the experience. We strive to provide an amazing experience for each and every one of our senior clients. Part of that experience is providing the opportunity to travel for destination senior portrait sessions.
We recently took Shannon to Charlotte for senior portrait destination session. Being located in Central Florida, we obviously dont have any mountains to photograph in. For her destination portrait session, Shannon wanted mountains in her background. We found a cheap flight to Charlotte, so we decided to do her senior pictures there as part of her destination portrait session. Let me just say that Charlotte is a beautiful city. We are definitely going back in the future. Shannon is a blast to photograph, so the combination of the two allowed us to produce great senior portraits for her.
Traveling for your senior portraits is a great way to get an unique session. We arent limited by the local area and we are able to create some amazing senior pictures for our clients. Not only does it allow for great portraits, it also provides our clients with an experience of a lifetime. Many have never traveled much, so this gives them the opportunity to do something they rarely get to do... and did I mention it allows from some AMAZING pictures. Below are some of the pictures from Shannon's senior portrait session in Charlotte.
We are putting more emphasis on travel sessions for 2018. Contact us if you would like information on how you can join use for a portrait session experience of a lifetime.
Aubrey and Lindsey | Iceland Senior Portraits | Destination Session
Aubrey and Lindsey joined us on a recent trip to Iceland for their senior pictures. Destination portrait sessions are becoming a big thing in the photography industry. We began offering them about two years ago. They provide an amazing portrait experience that you cannot get with local sessions. Imagine the whirlwind of excitement of getting on a plane, landing in a place you have never been and traveling throughout the country having your portraits taken. It is certainly a blast and an unique experience.
Iceland provides an amazing portrait opportunity. Everywhere you turn is another great location. You can see why Iceland has become one of our favorite countries to visit with our clients. I am pretty sure its impossible to take a bad picture there. We will definitely be doing more trips to Iceland for portraits.
Enjoy some of our images from the trip
Let us know if you are interested in a destination session of your own.
Samantha and Brian | Wedding Pictures in Hawaii | Hawaii Wedding Photographer
We recently traveled to the Big Island in Hawaii to photograph Samantha and Brian's wedding around the Kona area. How can you say "no" to a wedding in Hawaii, especially one that involves a helicopter? This was a wedding photographer's dream come true.
We travel A LOT for our business. We have photographed destination sessions in Paris, Iceland, Stockholm, Aruba, Barbados, Italy, etc, but there is something about photographing a wedding in Hawaii that rises above the rest.
We have known Samantha since middle school. So we were excited when she asked use to be her photographers. As wedding photographers, we have the opportunity to photograph amazing clients each and every year, but we rarely get the opportunity to photograph a wedding for someone that we know very well on a personal level. It makes the entire process much easier. Wedding photography is so much easier when you know the clients personally, which is why we strive to build a relationship with each of our clients.
Photographing a wedding in Hawaii is pretty easy to be honest. There are so many different spots to photograph that its a wedding photographer's dream. It is not very difficult to get an amazing portrait.. Add a helicopter (Blue Hawaiian) to the mix and you know the photographs will be AMAZING!! This is the kind of wedding that makes other photographers jealous :)
The day following their wedding at a private waterfall, we took a trip to Volcanoes National Park on the south side of the Island of Hawaii to photograph Samantha and Brian some more. We wanted to take advantage of the erupting volcano (Kīlauea), so we headed out to the lava fields to create some amazing portraits for Samantha and Brian.
Check out our Hawaii wedding photography below :D
Denver Engagement Session | Michelle and Todd
A couple of months ago, I met Michelle and Todd in Denver and did an engagement session for them. Being a photographer from Florida, I get tired of the beach and other scenery that Florida offers. I have always wanted to do a session in the mountains and snow, so off to the mountains I went.
I may be the most unlucky photographer when it comes to travel sessions. Leading up to this session, the weather was in the 70s and 80s for weeks. The day that I arrive it drops to 30 and snows 5 inches. While the snow was welcomed, the cold that accompanied it, not so much. Its pretty difficult to smile and look happy when its pretty cold outside. I was perfectly warm under my jacket, but I cant say the same for Michelle and Todd when they took theirs off for the pictures. I applaud them for being troopers and pushing through when they probably didnt really want to be taking pictures... But we got some awesome images!! :)
Something that is unique about our photography services is that we have the ability to travel for sessions with our clients. This allows us to provide unique images to our clients that arent really possible when we stick to local locations. If you are planning a trip somewhere, let us know before you go and we can possibly join you for a session :)