Do’s and Don’ts for Capturing Perfect Summer Travel Photos

Summer travel with the family is meant for fun and for making lasting memories! What better way to keep the memories alive than with photos? Check out these tips on how to make your family travel photos pop!

Do’s

Use the Right Equipment

You don’t need an expensive camera to take beautiful pictures. You can use your phone’s camera. If you do use your smartphone to take pictures, it’s worth investing in a selfie stick. This way, everyone in the family can be in the frame.

Check out my post on the reasons why you need a selfie stick.

A Look Back: My Mommy Flies Travel Year 2015 — We captured this photo using a selfie-stick in St. Emilion France. It was an unforgettable experience and I’m so glad I had my selfie stick to take it.

Frame your Family with Doorways or Windows

Not only does this help direct the focus of the photos, interesting doorways and windows can also add drama and story.

Perfect_Summer_Vacation_Photos — Standing at the main entrance of Bin Youssef Madrasa in Marrakech Morocco.

Capture an Interesting Background

Backgrounds can sometimes work for or against you. Take a wider-framed shot if the background enhances the story you want to create.

Summer_Travel_Photos — One of my favorite shots of my son gazing into the horizon inside San Cristobal in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Make Use of Lines

Lines like walking paths, fences, hand railings, and even railroad tracks are great for accentuating family photos. Look for these and use them to your advantage.

Perfect_Summer_Travel_Photos — In this photo, I was able to make use of strong lines of the walls leading into one of the turrets. San Juan, Puerto Rico

Print Vacation Photos After Every Trip

There are lots of apps that offer to print directly from your phone. My favorite is Free Prints. It’s very easy to use and select the photos I want. I can also select size and finish. My go to is glossy. It’s free to print 85 photos every month but you pay the shipping, $9.99.

Don’ts

Take photos under the midday sun

The direct light overhead produces squinty smiles and unflattering shadows. If you do need to take photos at noonday, look for a shady spot.

Focus only on faces

We all love taking pictures of our smiling children. But, photos that tell a story don’t always involve a headshot. Try shooting from different angles and see how interesting your photos can become.

Paris_Family_Travel_Guide — This photo was taken standing at the center of Paris. While you don’t see our faces, this photo captures the moment that we were together as a family in Paris.

Keep too Many Photos without Backing Up

Digital cameras make it easy to take hundreds of photos during a trip that lasts only a few days. Avoid the pitfall of having too many photos by deleting the ones that look similar to others. You should also get rid of poor quality shots and back up your storage every chance you get!

How do you capture your perfect family photos. Have more tips you’d like to share? Leave a comment Below!

My Mommy Flies