Frequently Asked Questions

English and Spanish, both comfortably — most of my clients are visiting from the United States and Canada, and the entire session runs in whichever language you prefer. I also speak some French, though I will admit it is rustier than it used to be. If you are booking from abroad and worried about a language barrier during your session, there is not one.

I have been making images since 1993 and photographing clients here in Puerto Vallarta professionally since 2023. My history with the city goes back much further: I first arrived in 1992 and have lived here six separate times since. That combination is the useful part — decades of photographing people, and a familiarity with this coastline that took years rather than a season to build. I know which beach is calm in March, where the light lands in December, and which spot is quiet on a Sunday. <a href="/about/">The longer story is on my about page</a>.

Specific edits, yes, as long as they fit within my style and there is a clear reason for them — that part is necessarily subjective, so the honest answer is that we talk about it. Individual retouching is also available at 30 USD per photo. I will be straightforward that retouching has limits: I can refine, but I cannot work miracles, and I would rather tell you that up front than take your money and disappoint you.

Yes, at no extra charge. Tell me which images you would like converted and I will send you black and white versions alongside the colour ones. Some frames genuinely work better that way, and I am happy to suggest which ones if you are unsure.

The session runs for the time you booked, starting at the agreed hour. If you arrive twenty minutes late, we have forty minutes rather than sixty. This is not me being rigid — it is that these sessions are scheduled around a specific light window, and the sun does not wait. If you are running behind, message me as soon as you know and I will tell you honestly whether it is still worth going ahead or better to reschedule.

Yes, and they are welcome. I will say honestly that photographing animals is harder than photographing people — they do not take direction and they choose their own moments — but that unpredictability is also where the good frames come from. Bring whatever helps keep them settled, and let me know beforehand so I can pick a location where they are allowed and comfortable.

I work independently, so there is no agency between us and no commission built into what you pay. That said, I am glad to coordinate directly with your planner or your hotel concierge if that makes your trip easier — just put us in touch and I will handle the scheduling with them.

It depends on whether there is a surprise involved. A <a href="/puerto-vallarta-couples-photographer/">couples session</a> is for when you both know what is happening — an anniversary, a honeymoon, or simply good photos from the trip. A <a href="/puerto-vallarta-proposal-photographer/">proposal session</a> is a different kind of work: it has to be planned carefully so that I am already positioned and ready at the moment of the surprise, which sometimes means scouting the location before the day itself. If you are proposing, book the proposal session even if it costs slightly more — the preparation is the whole point.