You will only get one chance to photograph your children at that age, and may only get one chance to get pictures at that particular destination. It's important to get the shots right, and to make sure you preserve them well.
Here are some tips for getting great family travel pictures.
Get Close-Up Pictures
Get close to the children or family members. You want them to dominate the picture if possible. One common mistake is to try to capture an entire building, for example, and when you do the children are far too small to be recognizable. A great way to avoid that is to keep the people close to you so they are large, with the travel attraction in the distance.
Forget Posed Shots, Get Candid Travel Pictures
Limit the posed shots. We have all seen them: family members in a row, some looking miserable, standing in front of a really old building. There is so much more to family travel than these moments. Instead, focus on getting candids. Catch the child passed out on the rental cabin couch after a long day of sightseeing. Get a shot of grandma and child splashing in the water at the beach. Shoot your child with a miserable look on his or her face even. These all make up the unique memories and moments of a family vacation.
Catch Little Details from the Family Vacation
There are also so many small details that make up the mosaic that is a family vacation. They are often overlooked and forgotten, but they can make very lovely artistic shots.
Haphazardly tossed seashells on the counter, pajamas laid out on the hotel bed, torn amusement park tickets, a small hand clutching a souvenir stuffed animal, the special local dish everyone loved: these are all things that make for wonderful shots. They can especially be nice to include in multi-picture frames or scrapbook pages as accent photos.
Take Advantage of Lovely Scenery for Portraits
Oftentimes when you travel, you encounter lovely settings: parks, unique architecture, gardens and so on. Take advantage of these settings to do some individual or family portraits as well. Look for a nice bench or a place with little background distractions, have taller people in the back and children in the front, and take several shots. You will likely not have a portrait on the level of a professional's work, but you very well could end up with something nice enough to print for your holiday cards that year.
Get the Kids' Eye Perspective Shot
Kids may not be the most savvy photographers, but sometimes you might be surprised and impressed with what a child captures in pictures. Even toddlers can sometimes get a cool or fun shot. You can give children disposable cameras, or you can find very inexpensive children's cameras. The photo quality is typically bad, but mostly it is fun for kids to join in. After the trip, they can even make their own album of their photos.
Family travel pictures can be creative, unique and fun, especially if you think beyond the same basic shot of people standing in front of an attraction. There are some wonderful images and moments to cherish in the future.
 |
