Vacation Pictures – Get the BEST photo!

Vacation Pictures – Get the Best photo!

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Vacation pictures are the best souvenirs. You can look back on them to relive, remember and refresh memories for years and generations to come. You need the BEST vacation photos you can get!

Vacation Pictures – Make photos memorable.

We take photos to remember things, but what things? We are capturing feelings in those photos and so we can enjoy those feelings again and again. One day our photos will be a legacy, too. Our loved ones we leave behind will treasure the feelings they get from looking at our vacation photos. Take the BEST photos possible!

Capture the moment in your vacation pictures!

This moment of fascination with a turtle is so much more fun than two frozen statues of people in front of the turtle exhibit. Capture the real moment and not a manufactured one ‘just for the camera’.

George Lange, author of The Unforgettable Photograph: 228 Ideas, Tips, and Secrets for Taking the Best Pictures of your Life has this to say about travel photos:

“Travel tends to make all of us hyper-aware of details…; when we are away from the distractions of our lives, we come to awake to the small moments. That’s why we travel, and why we take photos.”

Vacation Pictures – Capture the Wigglers

When you travel with the little gigglers and wigglers…sometimes the vacation pictures aren’t all you hoped. When you have a group of people – getting everyone to smile and look in the same direction at the same time is a task indeed.

Worry no more! Kristen at Kristen Duke photography  has the coolest tip EVER for travelers who have wigglers in the group. Head swapping can replace the wiggler with closed eyes with another photo. As Frankenstein as it sounds, it works like a charm.

Vacation Pictures –  AutoStitch for panorama views

This app lets you take several shots quickly and then ‘stitch’ them together for a wonderful panoramic view. Take a look at several before you choose the right one for you: Panorama 360, Photaf Panorama Pro, and Cycloramic are a few to get you started. Be sure to try it out BEFORE a vacation so you don’t miss a thing due to operator error.

Vacation Pictures – Lighting makes all the difference

So many photos are taken with iPhones instead of cameras these days that phone companies are starting to get with the program and offer accessories! Improved lighting can make the difference between a photo that feels mediocre to one that feels like magazine quality!

This BASSTOP Selfie Light LED ring will fill in the shadows of your photos and make you look better!! Get rid of those dark under eye circles and make your eyes shine bright with this extra burst of light.  Who doesn’t want to look more beautiful in their vacation pictures?

Vacation Pictures – Photos without a flash

Many places will allow you to take photos, but without a flash. Sometimes in well lit places like museums, this is no problem, but taking photos in dark spots without a flash takes some know how.  Tom Bricker has a VERY informative post on taking photos in the dark spot like Disney rides.

Vacation Pictures – Handsfree Photos

Ever wonder how some instagram photographers get those incredible photos of themselves? Think they ask someone nearby to just snap their photo? No way!! Have you ever done that? Rarely are the photos taken by random strangers good…sometimes you aren’t even in the photo!! LOL! They go with handsfree photography. We are all familiar with the selfie stick… But be aware!! Some places have banned these….check before you travel.

Instagramers with those amazing accounts use more than just their phone. Sometimes you need to be handsfree with a small tripod. It even has a remote! Control the angle and take the time to get the perfect photo! This cool photography kit by CamKix has all you need to take your travel photography up to the next level!

Vacation Pictures – IPhone photos with cool lens capabilities

Have a camera, but find you take most of your photos on your phone? Me, too! This cool gadget looks like so much fun! I want to try it out. Olloclip – It hooks on your phone and gives the options like fish eye and wide angle that are usually reserved for long lenses. Travel light and still have fun experimenting with photos!

Vacation Pictures – Eliminate background distractions

It is nice to travel to off the beaten path places where you are alone with your exploration, but the fact is that there are lots and lots of busy and hugely visited places you want to see, too! How do you get great travel photos without all the extra people in the background? Follow this excellent tutorial from Too Many Adapters on how to use photoshop to remove extra people in your photos.

Vacation Pictures – Try a new angle

There are too many photos to count of people “standing side by side in front of a famous place”. I have many myself, don’t you, too? Thinking outside the box can give you unusual and AWESOME vacation pictures!

Don’t be afraid of movement in your vacation pictures. Let the kids be kids! This takes a lot shots because some will be blurry but when they work  – they are magic. Can’t you just feel the little boy energy in this photo? His excitement and happiness? I love it so much more than one of him just standing in the same spot. This photo captures him completely because little boys don’t stay still very long!

Photograph the action in your vacation pictures. There are no faces in this photo, but it is a wonderful memory of baking bread in Morocco. Here they are experiencing the culture. Isn’t this more fun than a photo of them all standing there smiling in front of the oven?

Photograph the photographer in your vacation pictures! I love this type of photo because it captures focus and attention. It is always fun to see what the kids choose to photograph, too.

Back up or get closer in your vacation pictures. Shake up the usual poses. I love the look of concentration on this little face.

Capture the feeling – the silliness in your vacation pictures. This photo with a dad and daughter smiling and facing the camera is a slice….different than the usual. While our manners here aren’t fit for dining with the queen, we sure were happy that day and seeing this still makes me smile.

Vacation Pictures – Display your wonderful memories!

I love displaying vacation pictures. I’m immediately transported back to that moment – the feeling, the closeness, the excitement whenever I look at them. It is also really hard for me to take photos down and put them away…instead, I just want to add! I still have baby photos up and about because they just make me so happy to look at. Finding room for ALL the vacation pictures can be tricky!

I love this simple and easy display for photos. We have this in the kids’ rooms because they can choose their favorite photos and handle all the display themselves! They feel responsible for decorating their own space and grown up to have the choices of which photos to display and where they go. It is alway interesting to see which photos they choose.

Another way to display travel photos without having to choose something ‘not’ to display is to upload them to a cool electronic frame! Photos cycle through and you get to see all your photos…all the time! This one by NIX Advance is extra cool because it has a motion sensor. It turns on when you enter the room and turns off when you leave – saving electricity and the environment. 

Sometimes space is at a premium. My desk looks like I have NO organizational system at all with things pile everywhere. I like to say that my…messy system is because I have kids and sometimes they use the computer but…that might actually be a bit of a fib. 😉 I love these small photo cubes and have several that still fit on my crowded working area. They’ll fit on yours, too! These also make great gifts for grandparents and fit into stockings, too.

Enjoy your vacation pictures forever.

Do you have a favorite way to display your travel photos? I would love to hear about it.

Happy travels and lovely photo memories!

Natalie, The Educational Tourist