The Perfect Trip Souvenir

Oct 22

When I was a teenager I would go into family friends homes and find myself so intrigued by certain home decor items. I would ask where they bought it, in hope that when I had my own place I could shop at those stores. I was disappointed to find out that it was a rug from their trip to Marrekesh, or an armoire from Ireland. As unattainable as it sounded it sparked something that turned into the desire to travel. I discovered a part of my style was influenced by other cultures and architecture that told a story. In college when I studied abroad I decided I wouldn't buy quick cheap cloths but instead invest in art, or pieces I could decorate with. I still regret not buying a rug I feel in love with in Morocco or the dish set in Nikko, Japan.

On a trip to Venice, Italy my husband and I took last year, we, well I decided and convinced my husband it was a good idea, to do a portrait session around the city. Turned out to be the best souvenir EVER. Not only do we have pictures of us, but we remember each of the details throughout Venice so vividly. Every laugh and cafe that we went to we have a story and picture to capture it all.

Here's how I found a fine art photographer in Venice, Itay for our portrait session:

Using Instagram I searched for photographers using the hashtag #venicephotographer #fineartvenicephotographer. As I found images I liked I looked at their page to see consistency of their shooting.
I made a list of my favorites and reviewed their website. Some had a lot of information that was readily available to me, like packages pricing and travel schedule. I also found which ones were local to Italy and which were destination photographers that lived in the States but traveled frequently.
I emailed all of the ones who's portfolio I liked. I told them when I would be there, the date I was thinking of having the session and asked if they shot film. I personally love how film looks and wanted to have at least a few images on film.
Once I heard back I compared packages and available dates. Some weren't available and that made me nervous right away. We ended up working with Alina Danilov. She’s incredibly sweet and easy to work with. She sent me a Pinterest mood board of images she had in mind for us and worked with us to get a few different locations in our session. We met her right in the square and the rest was a blast.

She shared a few secrets about the city and some suggestions on places to shop, after we finished we grabbed a drink with her and her husband and daughter who she brought with. Take a look at some of our favorites below.

Big thanks to Jess and Loc who gave me the idea to do it on all of our future trips. We created a full travel wall with all of their pictures at their wedding at the Monastery Event Center.