Longboat Key, between Sarasota and Anna Maria
Longboat Key family photographer
Longboat Key is the quiet option. Its Gulf side feels more residential and less busy than the larger public beaches, which gives families room to move without much happening behind them. If you are already staying at a resort or rental on Longboat, we can often photograph you on the stretch of beach you are already using instead of moving the whole family somewhere else.
A family hour is $350 for up to five people, or $450 on a Friday to Sunday evening. Longboat Key adds a $50 travel fee, ticked at booking.
- Best for
- Guests of the island: resorts, and rentals with their own beach access
- Light
- Evening, and no strangers walking through the shot
- Session
- Full sessions and longer projects. No mini sessions here
- Price
- $350 an hour
The quiet island, and what it costs you
If you are staying on Longboat, this is the easiest session you will ever book. You walk down from where you are sleeping, we photograph on a stretch of sand that belongs to your building, and there is no parking problem because there is no parking involved.
If you are not staying here it is a different story, and I will be straight about it. There are twelve public accesses along the key and the lots at them are small, some of them only a handful of spaces. On a busy weekend that is a real constraint, and it is worth planning around rather than discovering on the day.
The north end is the exception worth the drive. It has a name, Beer Can Island, officially Greer Island, and a stretch of fallen trees and bleached driftwood there that exists nowhere else nearby, so it photographs like a different coast entirely. It is about a third of a mile walk from the road, and there are no restrooms and no facilities of any kind, so it is a place I suggest with older children rather than toddlers.
Longboat runs twelve miles and sits in two counties at once, Sarasota to the south and Manatee to the north, so where a session lands on the island can change which county you technically photograph in. Not that it changes the light.
Practical notes for Longboat Key
Crowds
This is the quietest of the four beaches I work on. That is the point of it.
With small children
On a resort beach, easy. At the north end, less so, because of the walk and the lack of facilities.
If you are staying on the island
Send me the name of your resort or rental when you book. Most of them have their own stretch of beach, we use it, and the whole parking question disappears.
Large groups
A large family is comfortable here, especially if you are all staying in the same place. Up to 20 of you book online, more by message, and there is no separate package for a big group.
The north end
Beer Can Island, officially Greer Island, is public and about a third of a mile from where you park on the road. No restrooms, no shade, nothing there at all. Bring water, wear something you can walk in.
If you are driving in
There are twelve public beach accesses along the key, each with a small parking area, some of them just a few spaces and some with accessible spaces only. Tell me your date and I will tell you where to aim for.
Who this beach suits
This island fits you if you are already staying on it, or if you want a quiet beach and a landscape that does not look like every other Florida beach photograph.
If you are driving over from Sarasota for the evening and you have a toddler and a grandmother with you, I would send you to Siesta Key instead, and say why.
Siesta Key easier parking, facilities close by, and the short mini sessions
Anna Maria Island quiet as well, but with restrooms and food nearby
Prices and availability
Booking Longboat Key
$350 an hour
Friday to Sunday evening is $450. One hour or ninety minutes, up to 20 of you online, no separate package for a large family. A 30 percent deposit holds your date and the rest is paid right after the session, the same day.
Looking for something shorter
Mini sessions run on Siesta Key
The 15 and 30 minute sessions happen at one fixed spot on Siesta Key, in set time slots. Base price covers four or five depending on length, and more people can be added for fifty dollars each. They do not run on this beach.
Questions I get about Longboat Key
We are staying at a resort on Longboat. Can you shoot on its beach?
Usually yes, and it is the simplest way to do this. Tell me where you are staying when you book.
Is there public beach access?
Yes, twelve of them along the key, each with a small parking area. The lots are genuinely small, so it is worth agreeing on the spot in advance.
What is the driftwood area like?
A stretch of fallen trees and bleached wood at the north end, about a third of a mile from the road. No facilities of any kind. It photographs like nowhere else around here.
Do you charge extra to come to Longboat?
Yes, $50. You tick it when you book, so it is in the total you see before you pay.
Can you photograph a big family here?
Yes, and this island is well suited to it, especially if you are all staying together.
Planning a proposal on Longboat Key?
Surprise proposal
$450 for 45 minutes
Friday to Sunday evening is $500. 60 edited photographs. The $50 Longboat Key travel fee is added when you book. We settle the spot and the time by message before the day, I stay out of the way until the ring comes out, then photograph the reaction and a short couple session after.
Christmas and New Year
The most popular time to propose
The weeks around Christmas and New Year are the busiest for proposals all year. In late December the sun sets around 5:40 pm, so an evening proposal is over before dinner. The calendar shows the open evenings for your date.
Other beaches I work on
Not sure which one fits your family? Compare all the beaches in my guide. Every beach I photograph, from Venice to Anna Maria Island, is on one page: Sarasota photographer.
Lido KeySunrise light at South Lido, and open sand and green shade in one session
Anna Maria IslandPine shade, pastel cottages, and Bean Point where two waters meet. The island shows up in the pictures
