Five tips for your family photos
Smile: It’s a family photo! While your backdrop might not be an exotic locale or an international landmark, it’s still important to capture your family’s current experiences for future reference and enjoyment.
Here are five ideas to consider.
1. PEOPLE PICTURES STAND THE TEST OF TIME.
Including people, especially your loved ones, in your shot adds tremendous interest. Encourage family members to be the focal point of landscape images, providing context and great memories. Over time, you may not remember that towering forest or the flowerstrewn meadow. But you will recall the memories made in that location.
2. CAPTURE COLOR.
Whether you travel near or far, markets, parades and streetscapes will often provide an array of colorful subjects and unique experiences that will help tell the story of your family adventure. At the market, for example, be on the lookout for brightly colored vegetables, fruits, meat or fish unlike those in your local grocery store. Stoke your children’s natural curiosity by asking the vendor to explain the origin of items.
3. GIVE ANIMAL PHOTOS A SHOT.
Whether at the zoo, in the countryside or in a national park, snapping photos of critters can be an enriching experience. Will you get the shot when the lion roars, the giraffe reaches upward or the monkey swings from the branch? Remember that animals in the wild are just that: wild. Keep a proper distance.
4. GET IN ON THE ACTION.
It’s fun to capture the movement and the exhilaration of the adventure. Whether it’s a swing or slide in a nearby park, a child running through a field, rafting through the rapids or biking down a trail, capture the action in an image or video.
You don’t need a fancy camera to create fun shots that tell the story. Compare notes and consider experimentation with light, angles and approach part of the family experience.
5. SEEK BEAUTY.
This unique time in history may mean we have more time to focus on the small details of everyday life. Look for the beauty found in blooming wildflowers, the fluttering wings of a hummingbird, a bird building a nest, shifting clouds or a full moon. Consider sharing your favorite pictures with friends and family in distant places. They will likely take solace in the connection and the glory of your extraordinary images.
Lynn O’Rourke Hayes (www. LOHayes.com) is an author, family travel expert and enthusiastic explorer. Gather more travel intel on Twitter lohayes, Facebook, or via FamilyTravel.com.