We booked and paid for our own experience with Localgrapher. All words are our own. Localgrapher has graciously offered a discount to our readers. Find the code at the end of the post.

On our last trip to Europe, we’ve done something that I recently only discovered was a “thing” thanks to some family travel Facebook groups I’m in: we hired a travel photographer to take some family photos. And you know what? I don’t regret our decision one bit! I also now know what celebrities feel like with paparazzi following them!

We booked out photographer through Localgrapher. There are other agencies out there, but I needed one who could do photographs in a small town in the Czech countryside, not one of the big cities in Europe. By googling “vacation photographer Cesky Krumlov” I was able to find someone who was available. I booked fairly late in the game - only a few days before our flight left - thankfully the photographer was available!

I booked the Bronze package; it included a half hour with the photographer and 20 images. I know in our society, with social media reigning supreme, most people think more is better. They certainly have packages that have longer times and more images, but one of my photographer friends said to me years ago, “I know 10 images doesn’t seem like a lot, but how many of them are you really going to print and display?” Point taken. So really, for us, 20 images is ideal and anything longer than a half hour with two toddlers would be difficult. However, had we been in a more major city - like Paris or London - where we wanted pictures in front of some famous monuments, then I think one of their other packages would have been much better.

We met Robert, our photographer, in the heart of old town Cesky Krumlov. He immediately started snapping pictures of us. At first, I was a bit taken aback by the suddenness of it all, but he was able to get some great candid shots that way. Our first stop was a little island in the middle of the Vltava river that bisects the old town. We took some photos with the second largest castle in the Czech Republic as the backdrop. In the river, there was a small flock of ducks that caught Evelyn’s attention. She started calling out to them, “Duck! Come here! Come here, duck!” To our utter astonisment, one actually came over! Not close enough for her to touch, but that girl has a crazy duck call!

From there, we walked around the old town a bit. He was familiar with the location, so already had some places in mind, but did ask us if there was anything in particular we wanted. I told him we just wanted some family pictures that captured the charm of the little town. I think he nailed it!

We stopped on a wooden bridge over the Vltava river; in small, picturesque alleys; in quaint, cobbled openings in the town; finally, we ended in the town square. The girls were mostly cooperative during the entire shoot. Robert had to work quick, but we also tried to play with the girls getting them to laugh for some pretty genuine smiles. At the end, Evelyn was over tired, meaning she was super hyper. Normally as a parent, I cringe at this point, but for pictures it was the best! We got some great pictures at the very end of our time with Robert that are some of my favorites!

I know what you’re thinking, “Really? A vacation photographer? Sounds kind of elitest to me,” because I thought the exact. same. thing. It was up there with travel nannies - something that would be nice to have, but not entirely realistic for the average family. But, when I started researching pricing and seeing it wasn’t any more expensive to book a vacation photographer than someone back home to take my newly minted 1 year old’s cake smash pictures, I started to rethink my stance on it. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. How many pictures do we have of the girls and I on vacation, or a photo of just Aaron? We have exactly zero pictures of us together as a family when we travel that aren’t selfies. Too nervous to hand over our nice camera to a stranger, hoping they can snap a half way decent photo, the decision was easy.

A few days before we left, I booked the photographer. I was nervous about a new photographer and if we would like the pictures. I liked his work on the Localgrapher page, but it wasn’t our family, you know? I’m happy to report, I don’t regret a single penny we paid. The pictures he got are amazing, in fact, I’m kind of obsessed with them. My favorite part is that we have beautiful photographs to remember our first trip to Europe as a family of four. I’m actually so happy with the entire experience. that I have declared that every time we travel now, we will try to book a photographer for a half hour or so. Aaron and I will remember the trip, but the girls are still too young to, but now we will have photos to help them (and us). I honestly can’t recommend this whole experience enough. If you have it in your budget, book the photographer. I promise, you won’t regret it!

If these photos doesn’t epitomize what travel in Europe with two kids is like, I don’t know what does!