Art Deco to Lifeguard Towers: Your Own Ocean Drive Photoshoot
A half-hour walk from Ocean Drive's Art Deco hotels down to the beach, with a professional photographer shooting the whole way.
Ocean Drive is laid out for the camera: pastel Art Deco fronts, palms, a beach across the road. Whoever holds the phone stays out of the picture, though, and this booking hands the camera to a professional for thirty minutes.
The company behind it, Villas Channel Photography, is Jose and Cynthia Villatoro, a husband-and-wife team based in Miami who describe their work as candid and documentary, shot in natural light. Both reviews on the listing name the person behind the lens: one thanks Jose, the other Cynthia. The session is private, so the only people in front of the camera are the ones on your booking.
Confirmation is instant and the ticket is mobile. After booking, what remains is the date, the start time and the entrance of the Bentley Hotel on Ocean Drive.
Miami Beach Ocean Drive Photography Sunrise & SunsetPrivate 30-minute photo session along Ocean Drive and the beach, starting outside the Bentley Hotel South Beach at 510 Ocean Drive. Includes 40 color-edited, high-resolution photos in a private online gallery.www.viator.comFrom the Bentley's Entrance Down to the Sand
The meeting point is the sidewalk outside the entrance of the Bentley Hotel South Beach, 510 Ocean Drive. From there the photographer walks you along Ocean Drive, past Art Deco buildings with colored facades, palm trees, well-known hotels and restaurants, and the listing says vintage classic cars turn up along the way too.
The walk ends on the beach, among the dunes and the colored lifeguard houses. The photographer directs as you go, suggesting poses and simple moves such as a casual walk or going in the water. Wear something you are happy to get wet at the hem.
Forty Photos, and You Pick Which Forty
Not every frame comes home with you. Two to seven business days after the session, the operator sends low-resolution, watermarked proofs of everything it captured. You choose the forty photos that get fully color-edited, and those forty are the delivery. They arrive as high-resolution JPG files plus web-sized copies for sharing, through a private online gallery, and the listing gives you the copyright to those forty.
Left out: prints, unedited frames, the RAW camera files and props such as dresses or decorations. The listing offers the rest of the photos, and the RAW files, for additional fees without stating the amount.
Choosing the Start Time for the Light
Ten start times run every day: 6:30 AM, then each hour from 7:00 AM to noon, and 4:00 PM, 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM. The session is sold for sunrise and sunset, and which slot lands nearest either one changes with the date. Look up sunrise or sunset for your day first, then book the slot just before it.
Sessions can be run in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian. The booking depends on the weather: a session canceled for poor weather is offered another date or a full refund.
Fares, Group Size and Access
The fare is per person, and every age band from infants to seniors costs the same. One booking takes up to eight people. A couple pays two fares; a family of four pays four. The listing describes the forty-photo delivery the same way whatever the number of people on the booking.
The listing ticks wheelchair and stroller access and rates the session suitable for all fitness levels. The operator's own website says nothing about access, and the route finishes on the beach among the dunes.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before your start time; inside that window nothing is refunded.
After that, the half hour is yours: hotel entrance, Art Deco block, lifeguard houses and water, with someone else carrying the camera.