Cynthia DelConte

Travel in my blood

At the ripe old age of 18, I ventured out to Europe for a three-month backpacking journey. Armed with the newly minted book, Europe on Five Dollars A Day, a rail pass, and passport, a slew of vaccinations against things like typhus and malaria, and $2000.

I had planned to travel with a classmate, but at the last minute she backed out. From London to Paris, to Madrid and Barcelona and Arenas Del Mar, then to Nice, France, Rome and Florence and Austria, Switzerland and finally Amsterdam. I was in love with everything I saw tempered by homesick mornings, pining for clean sheets and my mom’s cooking.

This adventure was the start of my love of exploring places, off the beaten path eateries, art hidden in the walls of small village churches, train rides to unknown destinations.

From Europe I moved to Santa Fe, living at the top of Canyon road, around the corner from  Georgia O’Keefe. I gathered my friends and we drove to Mexico, encountering Tanks with Mexican police, waiting to arrest American students for ransom money.  Funny story to tell another time.

The last 25 years I have been photographing events around the US and Caribbean. I have tasted new foods, walked pink sand beaches and witnessed marriages in all different religions and cultures.

I always end up coming home to the beautiful, diverse, historic, Green and Urban, Hudson Valley. We have lived here for the last 37 years. Both as personal enjoyment and to engage my clients, I have toured our parks and mansions, eaten at the many fine restaurants, known and hidden. I have taken my engaged couples to magical gardens and trails for engagement photos, to mansions like Montgomery Place and the Vanderbilt Mansion for gorgeous backdrops for those portraits. I have found the magic of these places allows my photo clients to be mesmerized and engaged with nature and each other.  Making a portrait session fun and adventurous.

These sessions led me to think about offering tours of the region, especially the hidden gems, to folks arriving by train or plane or car. I love travel so much, I want to share my joy of the magnificent place, the wines, the mansions, the art, the music, the history, with you.