Did You Know You're Supposed to Hire A "Vacation Photographer" For Your Next Trip

Me and my husband Jeff on a brief getaway in a
blueberry patch a couple years ago. The photo
was NOT taken by a professional, it was a quickie
snapshot. But it did the job just fine. 

We all do it:

When we go on vacation, we take lots and lots of photos. At least most of us do.

Practically everybody has a smart phone, and the photographic images they make are usually pretty good.

However, apparently people who are into conspicuous consumpton believe that no vacation is complete unless you hire a vacation photographer to tail you.

Yes, you can hire your own paparazzi to follow you around.

According to Conde Nast Traveler, people are asking expert photographers to set up professional shoots to make the vacationers look perfect for the inevitable Instagram and Facebook shots.

True, some resorts have long had photographers on duty to take good photos of their guests. But some vacationers want their memories better than everybody else, or at least more slickly produced, than everybody else.

Conde Nast Traveler quoted Tricia Keffer, a Florida-based photographer who said she started getting requests to photograph families taking their Florida vacations nearly 20 years ago. Now, it's a full time gig called Tricia & Co Family Vacation Photographers.

She follows vacationers around the major tourist hubs of Florida, and goes to places like Paris occasionally, reports Conde Nast Traveler.

Vacation photography packages through Keffer's firm start at $350.  That, of course, is a good price for a photographer of Keffer's caliber, but still, it adds to the cost of an already expensive vacation, doesn't it?

If you want to hire a vacation photographer, go right ahead, but for me, it's a little ostentatious. Especially since I'd rather be enjoying the sites, sounds, people and experiences of wherever I'm visiting rather than posing for glossy photos.

I'd rather just take a grainy selfie to remember the moment in Vacationland and move on. Besides, does everything have to be professionally documented? Or documented at all?

Why not just enjoy the moment you're having, and let that nice memory reside in your brain for the rest of your life rather than fuss with staging, posing, lighting and all that to be one of the Beautiful People in one of the Beautiful Destinations?