How to shoot family vacation photos without the stress

Family photos are the most important souvenirs to bring home with you after a holiday vacation. Of course, you want to capture your family’s special moments. But it can be challenging and stressful, especially when your kids are not in the mood for posing in front of the camera.

To help you take photos of your family vacation minus the stress, here are some tips you’ll find useful:

• Plan your trip before booking. Ask your kids about places they want to visit. Take into consideration all their suggestions. If you have agreed on the itinerary, find out when the country or city is on lean season to avoid overflowing tourists. Moreover, you won’t have any problems looking for the best spot to take pictures with fewer people blocking the view.
• Bring portable tripods. It’s good to invest on travel-friendly portable tripods because the regular ones are too bulky and heavy to lug around. A portable tripod is compact and easy to set up. Use your camera’s timer or Bluetooth control to take group photos. This will spare you from the hassle of asking strangers to snap your family’s photo. You can also use a selfie stick, but try to include a beautiful view as your background.

• Let your kids handle the camera. Photography is a great activity for kids because it can stimulate creativity. Inspire them to capture their own photos. I’ve been training my 10-year-old nephew to take photos, and he uses my old point-and-shoot camera to practice. He brings it along each time we go on a family vacation, so he can fill up his own photo album.

• Shoot candid moments. Isn’t it great to see your kids having fun building sand castles or enjoying a snowball fight? Considering the limited attention span of kids, it’s okay to take pictures of them while they’re not looking straight to the camera. It’s better to capture the adorable moment than ruin it for them. Each time I join my family’s vacation, I make it a point to capture the kids and adults in action like when they’re buying souvenirs, goofing around, or just laughing together.

• Get your kids to pose for the camera. Candid photos are good, but you also have to go for posed shots, especially if the view is stunning. Just make sure the kids are comfortable when you’re taking their pictures. If one of them throws a tantrum, keep your cool and speak calmly. Sometimes, a hug is all it takes to stop a nasty outburst.

• Give kids enough time to rest. Children get tired easily, so make it a point to rest. Stop at comfortable and kid-friendly places—better if there are ice cream trucks, cotton candy makers, or any food stall where kids can eat to regain their energy. This way, they’re less likely to lose their cool or get whiny. While they’re licking ice cream or drinking refreshments, ask them to smile for the camera. For sure, they will flash a cute smile.
• Compose everybody before shooting. Be systematic when positioning everybody before pressing the shutter button. Take a group photo first, then take solo pictures of everyone. This will help you ensure that nobody is left behind and that everybody is happy with the photos you took.
• Bring an extra clothing per person. If one adult will carry the bag with the camera equipment, another adult should be assigned to carry a bag of each family member’s extra shirt. After hours of walking, you’ll all be drenched in sweat. Change into dry clothes so that everybody won’t look tired and sweaty in pictures (and nobody will get sick).
• Don’t bring unnecessary things. Before heading off to your destination, make sure to leave all unnecessary things at the hotel. If you’re going sightseeing, you don’t need to bring all your photography gear. I’ve learned my lesson the hard way when I brought four extra camera lenses to a museum my family was going to visit. It was just unnecessary and inconvenient.
• Capture family pictures, not random things. Save your camera’s memory for photos that really matter. Taking shots of random stuff will just lead to stressful filtering when it’s time to organize your family vacation photos.When you’re on a vacation with your family, just enjoy and live in the moment. Nobody likes capturing awkward family vacation photos, but it’s not worth stressing over. As long as your loved ones are in a photo, it’s perfect as it is. More than just souvenirs from your vacation, photos are a timeless reminder of you having a great time with your family.

“This is a collaborative post”