How to Get Frame-Worthy Family Photos on Vacation

 

 

 

I cannot stress this enough. If you get to the photo location before 9 am, chances are, you will have the place all to yourselves. And on top of that, the lighting is usually best in the early mornings. It’s a common misconception that a really sunny day is best for photos, but it’s actually the opposite. This actually creates harsh shadows and lines on your face when trying to take photos, especially when trying to photograph people. Contrary to popular belief the best time for photos is softer light, so either right after sunrise or an hour or two before sunset.

EARLY MORNING LIGHT MIDDLE OF THE DAY LIGHT SUNSET LIGHTING

OVERCAST LIGHTING

And even though an overcast day seems like it would be the worst day for pictures, it’s actually great for having softer light. So my point is, try to avoid direct sunlight as much as possible! You obviously can’t control the weather, but if you take it at the right time of day, you’re almost sure to get good lighting.

BE PREPARED

Scout out the location beforehand, virtually or in-person. I prefer to do it virtually via Google Maps to make sure I know exactly where to go and where I want to take the picture from. I will scour blogs to find the best photo locations in each city and then choose my top few and drop the exact pin on the map. And then I try to plan my day around the top photo I want of the day and get that first thing in the morning. You also will want to familiarize yourself with exactly what the photo will look like to make sure you know what you are trying to create. It can get a little confusing, especially if it’s not a location that is exactly where the landmark is. A lot of travel bloggers will share their favorite photo spots and I will also be sharing all of my favorite photos spots from each of the places that we’ve been to in a separate blog post so make sure to look out for those.

DON’T PLACE THE SUBJECT DIRECTLY IN THE CENTER

Instead of standing smack dab in the middle of the photo frame, try going on the left third or right third of the frame, whichever side is not going to block the landmark behind you. Usually I try to make sure that we are standing far enough away from the actual landmark to be able to get the full landmark in the picture as well as at least our faces but usually I like to get our full bodies in the photos as well.

There are definitely exceptions. Sometimes it does look best for the subject to be in the middle of the photo. For example, if the landmark is closer to you and acts almost like a hallway, it’s best to be in the middle, like this picture of us in Athens.

Or sometimes, if there is something interesting on both the left and the right sides of the frame, but not in the middle you can place the subject there to highlight both sides of the landscape, like this picture of us in Lauterbrunnen.

CHOOSE A COLOR PALLET

You want to make sure that you are coordinating with the landmark and environment around you, but you do not clash with it. My usual rule of thumb is to go neutral because you can never go wrong with a neutral color pallet. But there are times when a good pop of color really looks great. Usually this works when you have a more neutral background because the subject and background will not be competing, but instead working together. Choose 2-3 colors for your color pallet (with 4 people) and only add in another color if you are adding at least 2-3 more people. And it can only be a max of 4-5 colors, no matter how many people are in the photo.

As usual, there are exceptions to this. For example, this picture was taken in Cinque Terre with a really bold background of many different colored buildings. I wore a red dress. The reason this works is that the red in my dress was taken from the red in a few of the buildings, so it complimented instead of clashed with the background.

FAMILY OUTFIT COORDINATION

If you have more than one person in the photo, my biggest tip is to coordinate outfits, not to be mistaken with matching outfits. Best rule of thumb is to never repeat the same color on the same half of the body. For example, if Quinn is going to wear a white shirt and tan pants, I would make sure not to wear tan pants or a white shirt. I could wear a tan or cream dress, or pick an entirely different neutral. And for the kids, you can either have them both matching exactly or wearing a variation of the 3 neutral colors, neither of them wearing the same color. And if one kid is wearing the same color as a parent, make sure the kid and parent don’t stand next to each other. I will show a few examples of trips from the past to show what I mean.

ATHENS- PASTELS SANTORINI- BLUES & WHITES

LJUBLJANA- PINKS CROATIA- WHITE, BLUES & YELLOW (GIRLS MATCHING)

GHENT-PASTELS

PICTURE SETUP

My biggest piece of advice is to never let someone else take your photo for you. As silly as that sounds, it will save you from being disappointed. Most people will take the picture of you exactly in the middle, blocking the landmark entirely or will take it from a really unflattering angle. So when you set up your tripod, set it up so that your phone camera is at eye level and never, ever use zoom. I repeat… NEVER ZOOM IN!! Move your feet/tripod to zoom, instead of the zoom feature. Trust me, it will cause the picture to be pixelated and it will look like your grandma took it. No offense, grandma.

USE PORTRAIT MODE WHEN NEEDED

Try taking your close up pictures in portrait mode. It functions as a DSLR camera and creates bokeh (a blurred effect) in the background and makes the subject stand out. Overall, it makes a picture look much more professional. I usually capture everything in portrait mode, except when I am trying to get a farther out photo with the whole body in the frame. And I usually try to get each family photo in both portrait and non-portrait mode, just in case. Food photography always looks best in portrait mode as well as any close ups of individuals.

These tips will help you to achieve more professional looking photos that you will want to print out and display on the walls in your home. We have a B&W gallery wall in our living room of each place we have been together as a family and it’s so special to be able to see it everyday. I hope this post was able to help you with your family photos and hope that you’ll be able to take family photos on vacations that you will proudly display on your walls for years to come.