Sacred Gift, One of Four
The Photoshoot.
One of the four Sacred Gifts. Included with every retreat at Lunita.
One hour, somewhere in the middle of your retreat, with a professional photographer who happens to be one of the people who built this place.
Nico shoots an hour for your group. What he shoots is your call: group portraits, activity coverage, a sunset ceremony, a morning yoga session, any combination you want. Two weeks later, you receive at least a hundred fully-edited photos. You use them however you like.
The photos are for your guests, who will keep them. They're also for you, the leader, who has a next retreat to fill.
Why this gift
exists.
Nico has been a photographer for more than twenty years. Long before Lunita existed, before Mexico, before the jungle, before any of this, he was the kid in Milan with a camera, then the working photographer who shot weddings and editorials and portraits across Europe, then the eye behind countless retreats and ceremonies and moments that needed to be captured well.
That eye came with him to Mexico. Some of the most distinctive imagery on this site: the property, the people, the ceremonies, Nico shot himself.
When we built the Sacred Gifts, we asked: what does Lunita have that other retreat centers don't? The answer included a lot of things, but one of them was Nico. He's right here. He has the gear. He has the eye. He can spend an hour with your group and produce something most retreat venues would charge hundreds of dollars for.
So we made it a gift. Not because it's easy to give, it costs Nico his time, his attention, his eye, but because the leaders who bring groups to Lunita deserve to leave with something they can actually use.
That's the Photoshoot. The Sacred Gift was born from what Nico already brings to every retreat.
What happens during
the photoshoot.
The hour is yours to design.
Before your retreat, you'll talk with Nico about what you want covered. Some leaders want a full hour of professional group portraits: two different setups, two different lights, two different vibes (morning soft light + sunset warm light, say). Some want one half-hour of group portraits and one half-hour of activity coverage, capturing your group mid-yoga, mid-ceremony, mid-meal. Some want both halves to be activity coverage, half an hour of one session, half an hour of another. Some want something else entirely.
Whatever you design, you tell Nico in advance. He plans for it. He shows up with the right gear, at the right time, in the right light. The hour gets used.
What it looks like during the shoot: Nico moving quietly through your space, framing, waiting, shooting. Group portraits get gentle direction: where to stand, where to look, when to relax. Activity coverage is more invisible. He doesn't interrupt the work, he documents it. Most participants forget he's there after about ten minutes.
A few practical notes that matter: he shoots in good light because he can choose when to shoot. He shoots with a real camera and the lenses to do justice to the property. He edits the work himself before he sends it back. Nothing about the deliverable feels phone-grade, smartphone-edited, or rushed.
About two weeks after your retreat ends, you'll receive a download with at least a hundred fully-edited images. Usually significantly more.
Who shoots it.
Nico does. Always Nico.
This isn't a hired photographer Lunita brings in for the hour. It's the co-founder of the place picking up the camera he's been picking up for half his life and pointing it at your group, your guests, your ceremony, your moment.
There's a different quality to photos shot by someone who knows the property: where the light falls at 5pm, which corner of the meditation pavilion catches the afternoon sun, what the cenote-pool looks like as a mirror at dusk. Nico knows all of that because he shot the marketing photos for this place. He knows it by heart.
That knowledge transfers. When he shoots your retreat, he's already shot the place enough times to know exactly where to stand, when to shoot, and what to wait for. You get the benefit of every previous shoot he's done here.
He's also, by now, used to retreat dynamics. He moves through your group quietly. He doesn't interrupt. He shoots the moment, not the pose.
Why it's part of
every retreat.
A photoshoot does two distinct things, for two distinct people.
For your guests.
Most retreat memories live in iPhones, half-blurry, badly lit, taken between sessions when nobody had time. The Photoshoot replaces that. Your guests leave with at least a hundred professionally-shot, professionally-edited images of themselves and each other: in good light, in their best moments, in the place. The kind of photos people print and frame.
For you, the leader.
The photos are yours to use. Marketing your next retreat. Updating your website. Filling your Instagram for the next six months. Sending a follow-up email to your community with images that make your work look as serious as it is. The hour Nico spends with you costs you nothing and produces an asset most leaders would have paid hundreds of dollars to create.
For the cycle.
And this is the real magic: the photos from this retreat help you fill the next one. The Photoshoot isn't just a memento; it's how Lunita helps the leader who came once come back, with a bigger group, knowing what to show them.
That's why every retreat gets one. The hour gives twice.
Practical details.
Length
One hour total.
Format
You design the hour: portraits, activity coverage, or a combination. Tell Nico in advance.
What gets shot
Whatever you've designed: group portraits, activity coverage (yoga, ceremony, meals, hikes), property shots, or a combination. Nico shoots in good light, with professional gear.
Delivery
Photos delivered within approximately two weeks of your retreat ending, via download.
Number of photos
At least one hundred, usually significantly more.
Editing
Nico edits the work himself before delivery: color, light, crop, the standard professional post-production.
Usage rights
Free use for you and your participants: website, Instagram, marketing, personal keepsakes. No licensing fees, no restrictions.
Included with full hosting
Free with any hosted retreat of three nights or more.
MoonSeeds retreats
Available at a special MoonSeeds rate. The Photoshoot involves Nico's professional hour and editing time. We offer it at a price built for smaller groups.
Planning
You and Nico will talk in the weeks before your retreat to design the hour. He'll ask about your vision and the activities you'd like covered.
Ready to bring your
retreat here?
Host your retreat here, with these photos to take home.
Hosting through MoonSeeds and want to include the Photoshoot?
See the other three Sacred Gifts.
Or talk to us.
Questions about
the photoshoot?
We respond within two working days. If you want to talk through how the hour could be designed for your specific retreat, book a free call with Nico directly.
Whenever you're ready.
Three paths. One jungle. The next move is yours.