When your family takes a vacation, your best and most memorable souvenirs are usually your photos. Next time around, make sure you get some really good shots! Your photos will tell the story of the places you visited, things you experienced and places you saw. You can even turn it into a game by having your own vacation photo scavenger hunt. Here are some tips and ideas to get you started:
Family Vacation Travel Photography Tips
- Don’t just stand in front of things. Interact with your environment, engage with your surroundings, and don’t be afraid to act a little silly.
- Get mom in the pictures. If you’re the one always taking the shots, you’ll never be in any of them.
- Hand the camera over to the kids. Their unique perspective can generate some memorable photos.
- Ask a stranger to take a photo of your entire family once in a while.
- Avoid too many posed shots.
- Try to compose shots without too many strangers in the background.
- Don’t have a fancy camera? Use your phone paired with great photo apps like Instagram, Pic Jointer, Hipstamatic and Labelbox to create fun, memorable images.
- Heading to Disney? Check out our Disney Photo Tips & Ideas
Vacation Photo Scavenger Hunt Ideas + 50 Vacation Photo Ideas
- A funny hat
- A tacky souvenir
- The back of a car featuring a state license plate and bumper sticker
- By a state sign
- Someone from your travel crew with a group of tourists you don’t know
- A funny sign
- Someone hugging
- Low perpective (lay on the ground, shoot your subject looking up)
- Someone from your group imitating a statue
- Your reflection in water
- A restaurant menu (especially if it features local dishes)
- Grafitti
- At a park on a slide, merry-go-round or monkey bars
- A church
- A dog, cat or other animal
- A receipt or price tag of something you purchased
- In front of a store with your shopping bag
- An old water tower
- Something you ate
- A unique door or entryway
- Bricks or stone in a street
- Cakes or pastries at a bakery
- A streetlamp
- Someone from your travel group jumping (get shot in mid-jump)
- A fountain
- Unique architecture
- Trinkets at a restaurant: napkin, coaster, sugar packets, etc.
- Your drink at a bar
- The sky
- Produce at the supermarket
- Flowers at a floral shop or street market
- A flag
- A sunrise or sunset
- Someone from your travel group with a character or mascot
- A local newspaper headline
- A different currency (if traveling abroad)
- A ticket (plane, subway, event, etc.)
- A transportation station sign (subway, airport, bus stop, etc.)
- Someone kissing
- A phone booth
- Trying on clothes
- Someone from your travel group with a server/waitress/bartender
- Your shadow
- A unique window
- A tree, flower or plant native to the area
- Your feet
- Someone from your travel group doing a headstand or cartwheel
- The view from where you’re staying
- The contents of your suitcase
- Your hotel room
What to do with your Family Vacation Photos When You Return:
- Create a photo book, scrapbook or photo album for that vacation only
- Use an app like Mixtiles to create a gorgeous wall display with your Instagram Photos
- Get that holiday card done ahead of time with one of your favorite pics, or a collage! If you’re like us, you are rushing around in December trying to find a photo and get the cards out in the mail.
- Turn one of your more artistic photos in a blanket, pillow, iPhone case or accessory on a site like Zazzle
- Print out your 4×4 Instagram photos at Walgreens and throw them in a decorative bowl you can set on a coffee table
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